Wishing all our friends health, strength and blessing in 2025. Happy New Year!
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
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.
6 LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord. (Hallelu Yah)
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD.
Praise the Lord. Psalm 150
The last psalm of the Bible on the last day of the year and it’s a psalm of Praise to God. This has been a difficult year for many, but we still have much to thank God for as we get ready to step over into 2025. Take some time today to thank God and rejoice in His goodness to you as you approach the threshold to the New Year of 2025. May you know much blessing as you cross over and leave behind all the problems that you encountered in 2024.
May the Lord bless and keep you today and throughout the year ahead. Immanuel, God is with us. Hallelujah
The late Neville Johnson said, ‘WE BECOME WHAT WE BEHOLD’. Whatever you and I Focus on will be a powerful factor in shaping our lives in the coming year and beyond.
A Psalm of David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, praise His holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who forgives all your sins,
and heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
and crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your desires with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103
It’s good to be reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness to us in 2024. David identifies a number of areas where we should be thankful to God for His care and compassion for us His people.
I was looking on the internet last night and I came across a book by Strahan (pronounced Stron) Coleman called BEHOLDING. I haven’t read the book but I’ve been thinking about my need to spend more time just sitting before God, not to ask things of Him, but just being still in His Presence. That’s something we may need to get better at in the days ahead, BEHOLDING GOD.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “BEHOLD! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ John 1
The late Neville Johnson said, ‘WE BECOME WHAT WE BEHOLD’. (Focus on and think about) Whatever you and I Focus on will be a powerful factor in shaping our lives in the coming year and beyond.
May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.
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
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.
5 BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE HELP IS THE GOD OF JACOB, WHOSE HOPE IS IN THE LORD THEIR GOD. Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord.(Hallelu Yah)
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE HELP IS THE GOD OF JACOB,
WHOSE HOPE IS IN THE LORD THEIR GOD. Psalm 146
This is quite a short Psalm and begins with the writer’s declaration that he will praise the Lord as long as he lives. He contrasts this with looking for help to others who are mortals, just like ourselves. No matter how powerful they may be, at some stage they too will leave this earth and everything they had here will come to an end.
The psalmist goes on to describe in detail all the different ways our loving God reaches down to help mankind, the pinnacle of His creation. We are all made in God’s image and He loves us no matter what how humble our circumstances. Take some time to read and consider, Selah, all the groups of people God helps in the remainder of the psalm.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them –
HE REMAINS FAITHFUL FOR EVER.
7 HE UPHOLDS THE CAUSE OF THE OPPRESSED
AND GIVES FOOD TO THE HUNGRY.
THE LORD SETS THE PRISONERS FREE,
8 THE LORD GIVES SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
THE LORD LIFTS UP THOSE WHO ARE BOWED DOWN,
THE LORD LOVES THE RIGHTEOUS.
9 THE LORD WATCHES OVER THE FOREIGNER
AND SUSTAINS THE FATHERLESS AND THE WIDOW,
BUT HE FRUSTRATES THE WAYS OF THE WICKED.
It’s interesting to read the verbs, the action words in the second section of this psalm, God helps fallen man in so many different ways. Greek thinking, derived from the philosophy of Ancient Greece, makes a clear distinction between ‘their gods’ and fallen man. This thinking, so prevalent in the western world today, sees God as a remote figure who wouldn’t involve Himself with fallen man. An example of this is the difference between white collar (managers) and blue collar workers (hands on). Greek thinking elevates those who work with the mind and diminishes manual workers, but the God of the Bible first anointed the craftsmen. Exodus 31:1-5 We first meet God in His Word as the creator builder of the Universe. God still loves and cares for all people today, but the enemy and the father of lies, does everything in his power to prevent this and God often gets the blame.
10 The Lord reigns for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord. Psalm 146
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
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
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.
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
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.
23 Then you will know that I am the Lord; THOSE WHO HOPE IN ME WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED (PUT TO SHAME). Isaiah 49
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;
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul,
in you I trust, O my God.
2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 NO ONE WHO HOPES IN YOU
WILL EVER BE PUT TO SHAME, (Hallelujah) Psalm 25
David was truly confident that God would come through for him, despite all the difficulties he faced.
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.