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Accounts of 3 women in the Bible mentioned in Jesus’ life.

We looked yesterday at the story of the widow of Zarephath who was given a hidden ministry by God. She was responsible for feeding Elijah, the national prophet to Israel and the one man who could command the drout to lift. Her test was to literally GIVE HER LAST food to Elijah, ‘but  first make me some bread’ and only then could she and her son eat. Elijah only came to her home for a short time, but his presence opened the door to God’s provision for her family. He also raised her son from the dead. Jesus mentioned this widow from Sidon(along with Naaman the leper, a Syrian) centuries later in the synagogue In Nazareth and the people were incensed. Luke 4:26 They couldn’t accept God had chosen to withhold blessing from the Jews and instead bless foreigners. God is Sovereign and creator of all, He will choose to bless and use some very unlikely people in our own days!

At the end of Mark 12, following discussion on ‘the Greatest  Commandment’ and ‘Whose Son is the Christ’ we find four short verses(Ch 13 is ‘Signs of the End of the Age’). Wedged between these hugely significant topics is the brief story of the ‘widow’s offering’ at the Temple(she was probably Jewish). Jesus deliberately sat down and watched the people putting their money into the Temple. Rich people came and ‘threw in large amounts’, but again Jesus singled out a poor widow ‘WHO GAVE ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON’(she was probably there because she had no husband to give her offering). Jesus called His disciples to Him to tell them this widow had given the most. Kingdom finances took a different view of the giving, the poor woman gave all. We know nothing more of her after this, but if the Son of God publicly praised her sacrifice, I believe she too would have received God’s provision. God’s Word tells us of these two women, who GAVE THEIR ALL.

In John 4, we read of Jesus encounter with the Samaritan Woman at the Well of Sycar. She came to draw water at midday, the hottest time, which might suggest she wasn’t welcome when others were there. Jesus asked for some water, Jews didn’t eat or drink with Samaritans. In the following discussion Jesus revealed her past, five husbands and now with someone to whom she wasn’t married but He didn’t condemn her. Instead He told her He was the awaited Messiah, she’d spoken of the Messiah first. She went back to her village and told them, SHE GAVE AWAY LIFE AND TRUTH to people who probably looked down on her. But they believed her and came to meet Jesus and accepted He had come to save the world.

Three women, two foreigners and probably one Jewess, none of high standing, but all recorded in the Bible. They all believed God in their own lives and situations and were willing to stake themselves and their futures on Him.

Three nobodies who became three somebodies in the story of the Kingdom of God – the only one that will count.

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Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you(Elijah) with food. 1 Kings 17:9,10

Israel and the whole region were suffering under a severe famine because of the prophet Elijah’s decree(no more rain) and things were desperate. When Elijah ‘came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks’. He asked her for some water in a jar and a piece of bread(a big ask from a stranger in a drout). Then the widow begins to tell him her plight, she only has enough flour and oil left for one last meal for her and her son, they’re going to eat it and die(she didn’t know Almighty God still had a plan for her life).

How many believers are so downtrodden and lacking in hope today that we think there’s nothing left for us? But the Lord’s plan for the widow and her son was not death, but life. The prophetic was about to break through into her situation, though she lived outside Israel(God’s people). Elijah told her to first make ‘a cake of bread for him and bring it to him and then make something for yourself and your son’. Give away some of the precious little you have left and then came the prophetic decree;

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land. 1 Kings 17:14

She did what Elijah said and what God had commanded. Sometimes our salvation is our calling and it’s not always the public ministry that’s most important. The whole area, Israel and beyond, were in a desperate state. This widow had been given a hidden ministry, to feed one prophet! That was her entire responsibility, she may not have known that Elijah held the key to the drout. Many hidden, faithful servants, known only to the Lord, will be richly blessed after their service here is over.

Faithfulness in difficulty rewarded. In verses 12 and 13, before Elijah prophesied, it’s the woman and her son, but in verse 15;

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her FAMILY. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15,16

Her family, usually the extended family, were fed through her obedience.

Jesus Himself referred to this widow in Luke 4:26 while speaking in His home town of Nazareth. He told the people that Elijah hadn’t been sent to a widow in Israel, but to this widow in Zarephath. God is Sovereign and chooses whom He pleases to serve Him. The Jews tried to kill Him but the time and place were wrong so they couldn’t touch Him then.

A hidden ministry and unnamed widow, known only to the Lord, but she saved her family.

For truly I say to you that those who give you a drink of water because you belong to Christ will not lose their reward. Mark 9:41

God bless you today in your service to Him, nothing is forgotten.

 

For God is not a God of disorder but of PEACE. 1 Cor 14:33

So, we come towards the end of the ‘prophetic sandwich’ of chapters 12, 13 and 14 to the Corinthian Church. Paul has exhorted them to seek the ‘Gifts of the Spirit’ to build up one another and the Body. His final word to them on this subject is that the result of moving in the gifts should not be disorder or confusion but Peace. He’s telling them and us that disorder is against the very nature of God Himself.

In Philippians, Paul also talks about the ‘Peace of God’, in the context of prayer, ‘Don’t be anxious, Pray(turn to God)’.

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(like an army garrison guarding a fort!) your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6,7

The Peace of God, ‘which transcends all understanding’; we may not always understand things with our minds but we can know in our spirits if something is of God. If we begin to lose our peace, we need to turn to the Holy Spirit inside and ask what is of Him! It’s my belief that we are entering an age when there will be many signs and wonders and discernment will be key. We will need the witness of the indwelling Spirit of God to confirm what’s of Him(God is never divided).

In my old Bible I have written above 1 Cor 14, three simple tests for prophecy, which I believe were from Derek Prince.

1. Does it agree with the written word?

2. Does it uplift Jesus Christ(the Holy Spirit’s job)?

3. Does it edify/build up God’s people?

D.Prince also had a saying, ‘eat the fish/the meat, but spit out the bones’. We need to practice turning to God and asking Him to show us what’s meat, to eat with thanks and what’s bones, to spit out and avoid harm!

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. 1 Cor 14:39,40

Paul concludes with the same exhortation as in verse 1, ‘be eager to prophesy, but everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way’. It may get noisy and appear a bit messy, but if people are being blessed, healed for example and Jesus is being honoured and uplifted(rowdy doesn’t mean it’s not of God, religious spirits hate our freedom in the Spirit), the enemy will never do that! We can be sure God’s Spirit is moving in the midst.

God bless and keep you today.

 

 

Follow the way of Love AND eagerly desire spiritual gifts, 1Cor 14:1

Paul has just given a wonderful exposition on Love to the Corinthian Church, in 1Cor 13, but he adds an ‘AND’, eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. In 1Cor 12 he told them that the gifts should operate in unity, as one body. The gifts represent the power of God flowing in the body and when real power comes it must be properly channelled to be effective. Power outside the proper channels can do more harm than good, it needs to flow in Love and promote unity.

Paul encouraged them to ‘eagerly’ desire the gifts(plural), but especially the gift of prophecy. Why was prophecy so important?

But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 1Cor 14:3,4

Paul spends some time distinguishing between the gifts of tongues and prophecy, but prophetic words given in a meeting are to build up the whole body. Speaking in tongues is between an individual believer and God and Paul says it’s a way of building ourselves up in the Spirit. Surrendering our tongues to the Holy Spirit gives freedom to our spirit and removes the control from our minds.

I would like everyone of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. 1Cor 14:4,5

My take on these verses is that tongues with interpretation does the same thing as prophecy, it edifies those hearing it, because they understand the interpretation. Prophecy is a wonderful gift and it’s worth highlighting that the Kings of Judah and Israel had their own personal prophets, people who were skilled in hearing from the Lord. I have been greatly blessed in my own life with revelatory prophetic words and strongly recommend believers to seek it out for themselves. Personal Prophecy is about guidance in finding and fulfilling our calling.

Paul makes several other noteworthy statements in these verses;

For if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays… 1Cor 14:14. I have heard a prophet to the nations saying he prays in tongues for 1-2 hours daily and telling young people to pray in tongues before going to bed. Opens their spirits to God’s Spirit as they sleep.

Praising God with your spirit… 1Cor 14:16 Singing and worshipping in the Spirit.

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 1Cor 14:18. Paul the apostle was blessed by the gift of tongues, so should we be.

May God bless and keep you today.

 

HOLY, root meaning- set apart, separated unto the Lord(but how much are we separated to the Lord?)

A friend was taking some online teaching over the weekend and one of the main issues being highlighted was what we as believers are feeding our minds and souls. One point was that the news on the media always carries ‘fear’, especially recently with the virus, but many other negative things. Everything we watch, listen to and interact with will leave a residue in our souls. What we continually think on is who we really are! Selah(KJV) – pause and consider.

The online teaching emphasised the need to be filling our minds with the Word and things of God, to allow them to shape us. On 6 May I did a blog around Phil 4:8,9 entitled ‘Think on these things’ giving different Bible versions of these verses(still on webpage fathersloveministry.co.uk). They were told that God would do(be able to do) more for us if we were aligned with Him.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Phil 4:8

On Friday last a football/soccer player and manager called Jack Charlton died aged 85. He was a centre back on England’s World Cup winning team and later became manager of the Republic of Ireland’s national team, against all odds for an English man to manage Ireland! He proved Ireland’s most successful manager and raised the team to new levels(European Championship and two World Cup qualifiers).

One of the players said they changed the way they played and the ‘GOALS AGAINST rate dropped hugely’. Charlton, a central defender, stopped them giving away ‘easy goals’. He said ‘Many games were lost, rather than won’. How many easy goals do we give away by not guarding our hearts?

ABOVE ALL ELSE, GUARD YOUR HEART, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23

Ireland played together as a team as never before, became difficult to beat and won many matches. Christians talk about being in unity(united), perhaps we need to consider how we are playing for the team? Charlton’s team, from a small nation, had all to play his style of game and work as a unit for one another; he was their manager. This also meant that some more gifted players who couldn’t or wouldn’t adapt to playing this way were dropped. There is only one head in the Body and He alone knows the winning strategy for the Church. It’s not always the most talented who play the leading roles but the most committed. I read or heard somewhere that the great evangelist, Rheinhard Bonnke, was the Lord’s third choice to send to Africa.

Charlton’s main tactic was to pressurise opposing teams, go forward relentlessly and play in their half and penalty area, causing them to make mistakes. This type of game was physically demanding on the players but the team began to win. Again if we consider how many believers today, I’m speaking to myself here as well, are content to coast along in our comfort zones and never really exert ourselves for the Lord. Corrie ten Boom said something like, ‘too many teas and cakes and too little prayer’. It takes commitment to play on a winning team!

Guard our hearts, don’t give away easy goals.

We are part of Christ’s body(our team), playing together.

Keep going forward in the Lord, the opposition is vulnerable.

God bless and keep you today.

 

Some lessons from 2 Chronicles, chapters 10 to 14.

Ch 10, Solomon’s son Rehoboam, it says twice, ‘followed the young men he’d grown up with’, he walked with the FAMILIAR. We live in CHANGING TIMES and the ways we’ve known may no longer be of help to us, we will all NEED TO HEAR from and follow the Lord in coming days.

Ch 11, Solomon disobeyed and married foreign wives, who led him to worship/embrace other gods—the root of Israel’s troubles(a door was opened to evil). A warning to us NOT TO BE UNEQUALLY YOKED OR IN AGREEMENT WITH UNBELIEVERS IN ANY AREA. Paul confirms in 1 Cor 7:39.

Ch 12, King Rehoboam became strong and he and all the people abandoned the Laws/Ways of God. They were soon soon defeated by the king of Egypt(the world). The people of God are NO MATCH FOR THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF GOD.

V8 God said Judah would have to learn a lesson for abandoning Him. WE TOO OFTEN LEARN THE DEEPEST LESSONS IN THE HARD TIMES.

V12 God said ‘THERE WAS SOME GOOD IN JUDAH’. GOD LOOKS FOR THE GOOD IN US EVEN WHEN WE TURN FROM HIM AND GO OUR OWN WAY.

Ch 13 YOUR BATTLE MAY BE YOUR TURNING POINT! Israel and Judah fought a major battle, the king of Israel never recovered and God struck him dead. The king of Judah grew in strength.

Ch 14 King Asa REMOVED ALL THE GARBAGE(IDOLS) from the land, a thorough clean out. This is God’s Order for getting right with Him and then seek His Face.

BUILD YOURSELVES UP IN THE TIME OF PEACE. He said the land was still theirs because they had sought God.

A LARGER MORE POWERFUL ENEMY CAME, ‘SEEMS TO BE THE NORM’ FOR GOD’S PEOPLE. THEY HAD TO CALL ON GOD TO HELP THEM IN BATTLE.

Chronicles(records) wouldn’t seem a rich place to look for a word from the Lord, but it’s a Living Word and He can speak to us from any part. All of the above comes from this week’s Spreaker broadcasts, so there’s always something for us when we come to listen.

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We will seek a personal prophetic word to encourage and help, please contact us on the page above.

God bless and keep you today.

LOVE, the essential ingredient to life in the body of Christ. 1 Cor 13

1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13 and 14 is known as the ‘Love sandwich’. Chapters 12 and 14 which talk about the spiritual gifts are the bread but the short chapter in between, 13, is the filling, or we might say the meat(the nourishing, tasty part).

Paul begins(and ends) this part of his message with the pronouncement that ‘love is the most excellent way’.

Moving powerfully in spiritual gifts(we are only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol, using gifts can be noisy!)or making great personal sacrifice without love is meaningless. Love must be the motivation and basis for everything we do as Christian people, after all it was God’s love that sent Jesus to the cross. Spiritual gifts can be powerful and exciting, people are drawn to them as they were to Jesus’ miracles, but using them in a wrong attitude can cause divisions in the church. Paul earlier told the Corinthians that unity in the Body is so vital.

God’s love is ‘Agape Love’, mainly an act of the will. It is sacrificial love, willing to pay any price to care for someone. This is the love that God had for us—that while we were still sinners, God loved us. The reason why so many churches have been divided over charismatic issues is that there has been a lack of agape love. This sort of love can bring people together who may have very different views on the matter. They can choose to love one another despite their different points of view. (David Pawson, direct quote).

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude(does not dishonour others NIVUK), it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Cor 13:4-8

Paul concludes by telling us that spiritual gifts will pass, they’re only given for a season here on earth, they’re not ours but Love will remain. It’s also significant in the midst of his talk on gifts(revelation etc), Paul says we only know in part, like seeing an image in a mirror. 1 Cor 13:12 May God give us grace and enable us to focus on knowing Him, even more than spiritual gifts.

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God bless and keep you today.

Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Cor 12:27

Paul introduces chapter 12 on the subject of spiritual gifts, about which he doesn’t want the Corinthian Church, or us, to be ignorant(usually means something is out of order). The basic test to identify the spirit behind anything, is what is being said about Jesus! Cursing Jesus is not from the Spirit of God and no-one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.

V7 Now to each one the manifestation(dancing finger of God) of the Spirit is given for the common good(for the good of the whole body).

Paul goes on to list the 9 Gifts of the Spirit; 3 spoken gifts prophecy, tongues and interpretation; 3 revelatory gifts word or message of wisdom, knowledge and distinguishing between spirits; 3 power gifts faith, healings and miracles. Paul reminds us all these gifts come from ‘the same/one Spirit’, only one source. It’s significant that there are also 9 Fruits of the Spirit listed in Gal 5:22.

V 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

We are all one in Christ, just as there’s one single body. We are all different but we’re meant to function together as one. Christianity unlike other religions embraces diversity and indeed thrives on the variety God has put within us and in His whole creation. We shouldn’t try to be what others are in the body, we need to find where we fit and what works for us. This is very important, God has a specific calling for each one of us and there are no clones in Christ, who alone is Head! The Corinthian Church was recognised as a charismatic church(operating in Spiritual gifts) but Paul was telling them that they all needed one another. The spirit of competition, so prevalent in the world, should never be present in Christ’s Body.

V31 But eagerly(or you are eagerly) desire the greater gifts.

Paul encouraged them to desire spiritual gifts. To young believers I would say TRY TO BE AROUND THOSE WHO ARE MOVING IN THE GIFTINGS/AREAS WHICH EXCITE AND BLESS YOU. We learn by being around people who are doing what we want to do, by association. That’s how you’ll grow and develop in that area, but remember that the way it works out in you will be unique to your calling in Christ.

God bless and keep you today and every day.

Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Cor 9:24

Paul spends much of chapter 9 talking about his calling as an apostle(Greek apostolos, literally ‘send away’. Acts 13:1 Sent out by the Holy Spirit and the elders in Antioch).

We know Paul faced many hardships, but he begins the chapter by reminding the Corinthian Church that he was an apostle to them and their church is the seal or proof of this.

Paul has certain rights as an apostle, to food and drink and to take along a ‘believing’ wife, like the other apostles, but he and Barnabas chose to work for their living. A double labour to support themselves and birth the new church. He gives three natural examples of people who benefit from their own service, a soldier, one who plants a vineyard and a shepherd who tends the flock. He also quotes scripture, that an ox should not be muzzled while treading the grain.

12  If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

Paul is reminding the Corinthians and us today, how much he and Barnabas sacrificed to bring the word of God to a place where Christ wasn’t known. They endured hardship and worked to support themselves, though others may have been receiving the support due to them by the church.

Derek Prince said that everybody should be supporting and giving to the work of the harvest before the Lord returns. He said many people wanted to hear the Gospel, Good News of Jesus and had to be given the opportunity. The white horse in Rev 6 precedes three others bringing judgement.

Paul had to preach the Gospel and he made himself like all those he met to draw some of them to Christ. There is a real joy in leading someone to the Lord, please pray for opportunities to do this, even if you haven’t done it for a long time. God can use us to reach people whom no one else can reach and by all means pray for them first if certain people come to mind. We can be a part of the harvest and we can give to the work of the harvest, before He returns. There is change all around us and people are going to need Jesus more than ever. This is a time to be increasing and not decreasing in our service for the Lord.

‘Run in such a way as to get the prize’, as Paul encouraged his hearers.

God bless and keep you as you reach out for Him today.

 

 

Love others more than doing our own thing. 1 Cor 8

Be careful and thoughtful not to do something that might damage those still growing in their faith.

Paul begins chapter 8 by making an incisive comment about the difference between knowledge and love;

Knowledge puffs up, but LOVE BUILDS UP. 1 Cor 8:1

God sometimes says a lot in a very short sentence! Knowledge is something we accumulate/grow in ourselves. Love is given to others, not for self, not self-centred.

Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. 1 Cor 8:2,3

There is a big difference between head knowledge and heart love. Just because we know something doesn’t mean we’re doing it in our lives, whereas love often demands commitment and often sacrifice. ‘God knows those who love Him’, as opposed to those who are casually interested. How much do we really love God? The Laodicean Church, the last Church in Rev 3 was judged for being lukewarm, it may represent the last church of this age.

Paul’s instruction to the Church is to be careful what they do in front of weaker believers, eating meat sacrificed to idols. Don’t be ‘puffed up because we know something’ won’t harm us, it may damage another who doesn’t have our understanding.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. … so this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

Paul is calling for the church not to recklessly exercise their rights and hurt or destroy their brothers and sisters’ faith. We need to love those growing in their faith and not do anything to hurt them(their conscience). Christ died for them and loves them as His children.

Remember, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. It’s our privilege to help build up others in Christ’ body.

God bless and keep you today.