Author: U1tt9i1d93

God’s Timing is sure, don’t give up, hold on!

We read the story of the Recabites yesterday, Jeremiah 35. The people of Judah and Jerusalem were about to be carried off to Babylon, seventy years in exile out of their inheritance. Before that happened God had Jeremiah call the whole family of the Recabites to rooms in the Temple. They had been faithful and obeyed their forefather Jonadab, lived as nomads and didn’t drink wine. God contrasted them to the people of Judah who’d ignored Him. He made a lasting promise to them (like David) that they’d always have a person to serve Him. In the worst of situations, God pronounced His blessing.

On the cross, Luke 23:40, Jesus was identified at death with the sinners. His cross separated the two unknown thieves. One thief hurled abuse at Him, while the other asked the Lord to remember him when He came into His Kingdom. Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, TODAY(from the cross to a crown in same day) you will be with Me in paradise”. Two men, hours from death, but the Lord graciously saved one who turned to Him.

Rahab, Joshua 2 & 6:22-25, sided with the Israelite spies against her own people and saved herself and her whole family. She’s commended in Hebrews and James for her faith. The entire city of Jericho was about to fall to the armies of Israel and be destroyed, but at the last moment (last minute .com) God allowed Rahab and her family to live and go with His people. King David was descended from Rahab, the woman of faith. Matthew 1:5,6

Jesus sitting alone (probably a crucial part of the whole story) at the well near Sycar, about midday, met the Samaritan woman. John 4 Jesus broke every rule by engaging her in conversation and eventually bringing her to faith in Him as Messiah. The woman who’d had five husbands and now was with someone not her husband, became the bridge to her whole community. Many believed her ‘and because of Jesus words many more became believers’. John 4:41 All because of a timely conversation at a well.

A word of personal testimony from events this week. Father’s Love received a gift late one afternoon and next morning a letter arrived asking for part payment of an outstanding bill. Hours before the letter came, God supplied  the funds, truly He knows our needs even before we ask Him. It’s good to have up to date testimony of God’s faithfulness and so we say again hold on, God’s Timing is sure. Those who have sown will reap in joy, but no sowing, no crop.

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God bless and keep you today.

Fidelity (faithfulness) rewarded, disloyalty punished. Jer 35

The word ‘Fidelity’ has some interesting connotations;

1. Faithfulness demonstrated by ‘CONTINUAL’ LOYALTY & SUPPORT (has there been Lasting support).

Sexual faithfulness to a spouse (intimate relationship).

2. The DEGREE OF EXACTNESS with which something is copied or reproduced (how True it is to the original).

God used the Recabite family in Jeremiah 35 to contrast their obedience to an ancestor Jonadab with Israel’s (Judah’s) unfaithfulness to Him.

The Recabites had gone into Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies(Jer 35:11), so Jeremiah brought them all into the House of the Lord(the whole family were present before God). Jer 35:3,4 God Himself told Jeremiah, the Lord’s Prophet, to give them wine to drink; but they were not awed by the prophet nor by being in the Holy Temple and they refused to drink(they stood as one, a large family together). Put simply the Recabites kept their vow and obeyed their ancestor, the very thing for which God commended them. There are some things on which we as believers must take our stand, we can’t compromise nor accommodate the views of others(maybe even believers who’re not called to our walk), no matter how influential they are.

God told Jeremiah to go to the people in Jerusalem and say, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed Me. Again and again I sent all My servants the prophets to you. Jer 35:13,14,15

God emphasises that this clan obeyed/honoured their forefather’s command, but Judah had not obeyed the Lord. He also says twice that He’d spoken to them ‘again and again’ but they didn’t listen(God speaks before He judges). Jonadab’s command separated generations of his family from many others around them. He framed a different life for them(nomads), but God noted and acknowledged their fidelity to the command. In the midst of great upheaval, we may experience some more of this in our days, God blessed the Recabites. Judah was going into exile, God had finally had enough of them, but this faithful family received an eternal blessing. God gave them His word that they had been found faithful and would always have someone serving Him. Faithfulness is rewarded.

Fidelity; continual/ongoing loyalty, cleaving to God alone, following/allowing the character and nature of Christ to be formed in us.

May we be found faithful as this ancient family, forsaking distraction to follow and obey God alone.

God bless and keep you this day and every day.

 

Secure and Fruitful within our God ordained boundaries.

While I was walking yesterday I had a sense of the Lord’s power to keep us, ‘His Keeping Power’, in testing situations in our lives. It may seem at times as if we’re hanging on by our finger nails but God is able to ‘Keep us’ secure and to work more deeply in our lives when we need Him most.

In Jeremiah 32 & 33, both chapters begin with the prophet ‘confined’ in the courtyard of the guard, surrounded by soldiers. These two chapters reveal a whole series of prophetic words spoken from God to His prophet outlining the future of the Jewish nation. God was going to Banish them(Jer 32:5) but also Gather them(Jer 33:7). He was bringing Calamity on them but He would also bring Prosperity to them(Jer 32:42).

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the GOD OF ALL MANKIND. Is anything too hard for me?” Jer 32:26, 27

Don’t make God too small, He’s over everything, all of mankind and all creation is in His Hand. We may struggle in our flesh with chafing circumstances but they can actually be the most productive, because God gets to do things His way while we’re unable to interfere.

Do we realise just how many chosen servants of God in the Bible went through tests and trials before coming to their destiny in God:

Joseph sold as a slave and then locked in a prison. Moses grounded as a shepherd in the ‘backside’ of the wilderness for forty years. David, the man called to be king, running for his life and living in a cave with three hundred outcasts. Paul who was in chains, but his Gospel message wasn’t.

In our age, John Bunyan, the Puritan, who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress while spending years in prison! Amy Carmichael who touched many lives, especially children, in India but spent her last years mainly confined(same as Jeremiah) to her bed.

In the natural people do everything they can to avoid and escape these types of situation, but God seeks to bring us to His outcome, His way. We seek for promotion, God requires us to yield and obey;

For you, O God, tested us; your refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance(Amen, yes Lord). Psalm 66:10, 11, 12

God has arranged/fixed specific trials for each of us but He is able to keep us in the trials – His Keeping Power is there for us today.

God bless and keep you in trials and testings.

 

The Spirit softens our lives to produce a crop for eternity.

The second part of Psalm 65 speaks a lot about water and it’s contrast in the world and in the Hand of God. Water can be a great blessing, indeed the very Water of Life, a necessity for Life itself. But it can also be very powerful and destructive. We had a storm pass through Ireland this past weekend and the seas were magnificent but we wouldn’t have wanted to be out on them.

Who STILLED the Roaring of the seas, the Roaring of their waves and the Turmoil of the Nations. Psalm 65:7

In the Bible the seas can represent the nations, all of humanity and the words used to describe them are the ‘Roaring’ twice and Turmoil. That’s a picture of our world at present, mankind is in Turmoil, and there’s much Roaring and Raging on the earth, but God STILLED the seas. We may think conditions are bad at present but without God they’d be much worse! For those who are going through storms in our personal lives we can ASK GOD TO CALM OUR SITUATIONS AND WE CAN SPEAK TO THE STORMS AROUND US TO BE STILL. I met a young apostle from Greenland called Niels and I was told by his friend that he’d  gone to the front of a ship in a storm and commanded the sea to be still and God honoured His Son.

The rest of the Psalm 65:8-13 is much gentler in nature and shows God’s love towards His people;

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. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its crops. Psalm 65:9, 10

Ground can’t produce anything until the soil’s been softened, until the rain has fallen on it. God has to soften our lives too so that we can produce a crop. The ‘furrows and ridges’ (low and high places) alike have to experience the rain of the Spirit and the Word before we become softened and able to bring forth a harvest.

You crown the year with Your bounty (this year isn’t over yet) and Your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert (even dry places) overflow; the hills are clothed with GLADNESS(Amen).  The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with corn; they shout for joy and sing. Psalm 65:11, 12, 13

This Psalm is a beautiful picture of God’s graciousness and kindness, He provides abundantly for mankind, but I believe it also speaks of His hand in our lives. He works patiently and gently with us to produce fruit for the kingdom. Take some time today to submit afresh and thank Him, the Creator of all, for His care for us.

God bless and keep you this day.

 

All around us might look bleak, but the Lord may be speaking to our future. Be thankful if He is!

While Jeremiah was still confined (a prophet’s prison) in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him a second time. Jer 33:1

Jerusalem was under siege and about to fall to the Babylonians and the Jewish people were going into exile. It was a terrible prospect for all those in the city but in the midst of it all God was speaking to Jeremiah regarding the future. The present was awful but God was saying when all this was over, He had a good future planned for them.

John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Movement in Anaheim, California was mightily used by the Lord, but he had some health problems later in life. He told about being wheeled on a trolley along a Hospital corridor to surgery with medical equipment attached to his body. The Lord began to speak with him as he was being taken to theatre. He was saying in his mind Lord don’t you see what’s happening here, but the Lord just continued talking to him as if everything was normal. The Lord focused on the future rather than his present temporary trials.

God’s will revealed for the Jewish people in their trials;

Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. Jeremiah 33:6, 7

“Give thanks to the Lord almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever”.

“Give thanks to the Lord almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever”.

(I realise this line is repeated but maybe some of us need to hear it more than once).

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before, says the Lord. Jeremiah 33:11

It’s important we get GOD’S PERSPECTIVE on what’s happening to us now and what’s going to happen after this has passed! WE NEED TO LIVE FROM GOD’S VIEWPOINT because He will take us there if we let Him.

Cast your bread upon the waters, after many days you will find it again. Eccl 11:1 If we don’t sow, then we won’t reap, God will have nothing to multiply for us.

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Carry only what God has appointed and nothing more.

But Moses did not give any (carts and oxen) to the Kohathites because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, FOR WHICH THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE. Numbers 7:9

When we carry that which God has appointed for us His grace will be there to help us! Going beyond His limits may result in much wasted self effort. When our work is very heavy we should ask the Lord if we’re in His will? (His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2) I recall that the Lord spoke to someone recently and said, ‘that there was much uncommanded work in the Church’. That work will be a burden and unsatisfying, because God is not in it.

IN 1991 I went to Spain, my first time as part of an international prayer team, praying for a nation. Mariology, the worship of Mary, is very strong in some Catholic countries. We learned that during some feast days a statue of the Madonna would be carried through the streets on the men’s shoulders. This was supposedly a great honour for those chosen to carry the Madonna, but the statues could be very heavy. Other nations could have their goddess statues with a different name for their country and culture(Queen of Heaven). We were told in some places that the goddess statues were known as ‘the man breakers’, because of their excessive weight.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Cor 3:17

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28, 29, 30

The Lord’s yoke is easy, THERE SHOULD BE AN EASE in carrying that which God calls us to, but religious spirits can try to load us down and wear us out with heavy burdens, ‘man breakers’. It’s right and good to be serving the Lord, but we need wisdom to know His work for us, especially in the Church. Younger believers are especially vulnerable in church settings to being given something to do, which may not be suitable for them. We need to Seek the Lord for His will and work for us at every stage of our lives.

Should you be blessed to know that you’re in God’s will and that there’s a joy and peace to your serving, even though it may be demanding, then hear Paul’s word to the Corinthian Believers;

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 1 Cor 4:2

The charge to the Kohathites to carry the holy things on their shoulders was an honour bestowed by the Lord. We too should find where God has given us grace to serve Him. There are blessings in serving our King, here and hereafter.

The Aaronic Blessing, at the end of Numbers 6, just before the Levites are allocated their places of service;

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.  So they will put My Name on the Israelites and I will bless them. Numbers 6:24

 

 

 

 

Soul Satisfaction, David found it as he sought God in all his testings and trials. Psalm 63

We were looking this morning on Spreaker broadcast at an obscure verse in Job 12:11;

Does not the ear TEST words as the tongue TASTES food?

Our ears should be the Gatekeepers of our souls, ‘Testing what we hear’. The tongue ‘Tastes what we eat’, if it doesn’t taste good then we spit it out and protect our bodies. We need discernment and awareness what we’re listening to and looking at in these days of digital media. If it doesn’t sit well with us, or we feel a check about it, then reject/spit it out and protect our souls.

David was one who earnestly sought God, more than likely because he and his men’s lives were in constant danger;

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You(a God Seeker); my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water(David’s outer world around Him was desolate and bleak). Psalm 63: 1

I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. Because Your Love is better than life my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live (David didn’t know how long he would live) and in Your name I will lift up my hands. MY ‘SOUL WILL BE SATISFIED’ AS WITH THE RICHEST OF FOODS(David’s inner world was like a rich feast!); with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63: 2,3,4

David was able to rise above his circumstances and his desolate surroundings, constantly fleeing for his life, and meet God and worship Him. His Praise Song proclaimed the goodness of His God, like the RICHEST OF FOODS, in the midst of continual testings. If you’re finding life tough today, take some time to turn to the Lord, speak to Him and yes, even sing and worship Him. Your soul can be greatly blessed in the midst of difficulties, God is bigger than the problems. Turning to Him and worshipping Him will help put things in perspective and give us hope.

God bless and keep you this day and every day.

 

 

 

My soul fines rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I shall never be shaken. Psalm 62:1,2

Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I shall not be shaken. Psalm 62:5,6

David, the man Samuel anointed to be king went through some very tough struggles, fleeing for his life many times. David says his soul, probably a very troubled soul at times finds rest in God alone – then HE COMMANDS HIS SOUL to find its rest in God alone. My Soul don’t look anywhere else but to God for comfort. The word ALONE is mentioned in each of these four verses so he’s emphasising the only place he can go for comfort, his only help, is the Lord.

He proclaims twice, ‘He/God is my rock and my salvation; He alone is my fortress, I shall never/not be shaken’. David’s often in desperate situations, but he keeps telling himself that God won’t fail him (we can and should affirm God’s faithfulness to our own souls!) and that God is bigger than anything or anybody who comes against him. David wrote these Praise Songs/Psalms in very tough times, he proved God while under severe threat and worshipped Him.

The words of the Psalm that have touched me most today are near the end of it, a final affirmation of God’s character;

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that You, O God, are STRONG, AND that you, O Lord, are LOVING. Psalm 62:11,12

It’s one thing to be strong, many people in the world may be strong or powerful but strength accompanied with love is much less common. God is not just strong, He’s omnipotent (ALL Powerful), omniscient(ALL Knowing) and omnipresent (ALL Present/Everywhere). This God, who created you and I and the whole Universe, is Loving. He cares for us, our concerns and problems and is ever seeking to help us.

Know for certain this day that we serve a STRONG AND LOVING GOD.

God bless and keep you this day and every day.

The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they eat this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. Joshua 5:11,12

The clock went back an hour(Falls back and in March Springs forward again) on Sunday morning from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time. Not quite as dramatic as the Israelites entering Canaan, but very noticeable for the first few evenings, when it grows dark an hour earlier.

Israel had been banished to the wilderness for almost 40 years and suddenly they’d crossed the River Jordan into the Land God had promised them. God had miraculously opened the Jordan in flood, just as He’d done with the Red Sea coming out of Egypt. His people crossed over on dry ground to their new home. Suddenly everything was very different, instead of collecting manna every morning, except Sabbath, because they’d had to keep Sabbath in the wilderness. Now they had to drive out the Canaanites and occupy the land the Lord had marked out for them (struggles don’t necessarily mean we’re in the wrong place, God may be permitting us to be tested and grow up in Him). Believers today may have to overcome enemies within and without as we walk out our individual callings, but none of the enemies in Canaan were ever a match for Israel so long as the Lord was with them.

Nevertheless Israel had finally come into their land after a generation in the wilderness and had to adapt to their changed circumstances. They had to learn to work the land and within the cycles of the seasons, to plant and sow and then reap. The verses above say it all happened the DAY after Passover, which for the Believer represents New Birth in Christ/death of the old man. But then it goes on to say, ‘that YEAR’, they ate the produce of Canaan. Something happened at once, the food from heaven stopped, but that year they ate a richer, more varied diet form the land of their inheritance.

God has much to teach about the Land where He’s placed us and as we said, there may be struggles and opposition. God is incredibly creative and has a unique plan for each one of His Children, don’t be put off by difficulties, He wants to show each of us how to prosper/be blessed in our situations. The time had changed for Israel and their lives would never return to the old system. The time for that way of life was over, God had given them a whole new land to conquer and take charge of. Seek the Lord for the new things He has ahead for your life and don’t be daunted, ‘with God all things are possible’.

God bless and keep you today.

Two of the Beatitudes(Beautiful Attitudes) are different to the others because they relate directly to God Himself.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:8,9

They are quoted together in Matthew’s Gospel, Purity and Peace, essential conditions for knowing God, right at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in the Galilee.

Ana Werner, a young prophetic seer today, told an interviewer that she has to be very careful to keep her eyes pure(careful what she watches) because that’s the channel through which God speaks to her.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Psalm 24:3,4

One of the Lord’s Names is the ‘Prince of Peace’. Isa 9:6 Long before He came to earth He was given a prophetic title identifying Him with peace. He has opened the way for peace between God and man, but conflict still remains on earth. The name of Jerusalem also means, ‘City of Peace’, yet it has been attacked and captured many times by enemies. God would not allow King David to be the one to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, because he’d shed blood. Solomon, his son, whose name is derived from the Hebrew word for Peace(Shalom) built it and God gave Israel a time of peace to complete the work.

At the time Jesus was promising His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit, He also promised them Peace;

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

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard (mount garrison, like an army in a fortress) your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians  4:6,7

Don’t be anxious, pray and trust the Lord and stay in Peace.

We’re going through the Book of Job at present in the Speaker broadcasts, not the easiest book to read. Job was ‘stubbornly righteous’, he wouldn’t allow others to move him from his position. The enemy tries to move us from our place in the Lord. Our righteousness is in Him alone and also our peace. We need a tenacious faith to hold on to what He has won for us that we may stand as God’s children here on earth.

God bless and keep you this day.