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¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 1 Samuel

When we turn away from the Lord and His Spirit we open ourselves up to harmful things of this world and from the dark side of the spirit realm. It may seem all right at first, but we may be on a slippery downward slope, king Saul was such a man. His life was afflicted by periods of torment from an evil spirit.

¹⁵ Saul’s attendants said to him, ‘See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better.

Saul’s attendants offered a solution to his suffering, find someone who played the harp well and let him play when king Saul sank into a dark and disturbed state. How much contemporary music of our day, even Christian music, would offer such relief to someone in distress? In many cases it could aggravate their condition. Music is very powerful, it bypasses a lot of our defences and excites the emotions. Satan was the master musician among the angels in heaven and knows how to use it to influence people today. We need to be alert to what we allow to enter our lives and hearts because it’ll programme us in the opposite way of God’s Spirit! WE MUST NOT ALLOW OUR MINDS TO BE LULLED INTO DWELLING/FEEDING UPON THE INFLUENCES OF THIS WORLD. I believe this has never been more important than at the present moment.

¹⁸ One of the servants answered, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.’

So David’s name came forward as a possible candidate to help the king during times of trouble. The scripture lists the good points about David, his bravery, good appearance and most importantly, God’s favour upon his life. The public anointing by Samuel resulted in a visible change in the young David’s life. The blessing of a father or mother is also of great benefit to children, but all true blessing is valuable.

¹⁹ Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, ‘Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.’ ²⁰ So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.

So the Lord brought David from the sheep to the king’s palace, initially as a musician to comfort Saul. The favour of the Lord on David’s life made him popular and the king chose him to be his personal armour-bearer. We don’t have to stay where we start out, God’s favour should lift us higher as we progress in life. So the calling of the man who would be the next king of Israel had begun.

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us and we surely need Him.

¹¹ So he asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’

‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesse answered. ‘HE IS TENDING THE SHEEP.’

Samuel said, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.’ 1 Samuel 16

God knew where the man he wanted as the next king was and he had him brought from the sheep pen to the feast. David, (means Beloved), was apart from the rest of the family who had gathered in Bethlehem with Samuel, but God had him called to the feast. All seven of Jesse’s eldest sons had been rejected by Samuel and now they had to await the arrival of David, their youngest brother. How often God surprises people by His choices, often calling those whom we see as the least qualified.

¹² So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, ‘RISE AND ANOINT HIM; THIS IS THE ONE.’

¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and FROM THAT DAY ON THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME POWERFULLY UPON DAVID. Samuel then went to Ramah. 1 Samuel 16

Samuel did what the Lord instructed him to do and then moved on. There’s nothing to say that he imparted anything to David. David’s future calling was going to be walked out with the Lord Himself. He did have friends and advisers along the way, but his calling was to walk with the Lord. Don’t be surprised if God calls you out that your brothers, or sisters, won’t accompany you on the journey. I know someone who recently gave a word TO A prophet that, ‘God is enough’. When God’s proposing something new and different in a life, then He alone needs to direct it. There will be many coming forth in the days ahead who will have unique and powerful callings on their lives and they will be set apart for God’s purposes. We may be able to speak some words of guidance and encouragement to them, but we should never seek to control them.

May the Lord bless and guide all of us as we walk out His call on our lives today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

13 This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 2 Corinthians 13:1, Deuteronomy 19:15

God is speaking to us as we walk through our daily lives, listen for His nudges!

At the beginning of last week Anne’s granddaughter rang to ask for help with a maths question and thankfully we were able to assist her. The answer to her question became the beginning of a trail led by the Spirit during the forthcoming week.

I had to go to an auto shop to buy something for my car a couple of days later. The salesman wasn’t sure which product to give me as there were several options. He checked and then told me that the one I wanted had the same number as the answer to the maths question. I only realised that it was the same number on Friday evening. I told Anne that the number had come up twice during the week and wondered if the Lord was giving us a message.

So I was awake early on Saturday morning past and eventually I decided to turn on my phone. When I touched the phone the time which appeared on the screen was exactly the same number to the minute that I’d already seen twice previously during the week.

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and REVEALED THEM TO LITTLE CHILDREN. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. Matthew 11

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, UNLESS YOU “CHANGE” AND BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18

Children are curious and I believe childlike curiosity and trust is something God looks for in us, His Church family. I’m not trying to build a theology out of these events, but do be aware of the leading of God’s Spirit as you walk with Him through your week. Be willing to change and grow some childlike faith, you might be amazed at how He’ll speak to you. Then you’ll have all the fun of deciphering what the Spirit is saying to you, more childlike faith required.

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

 

¹² When they had all had enough to eat, He said to his disciples, “GATHER THE PIECES THAT ARE LEFT OVER. LET NOTHING BE WASTED.” John 6

The account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand occurs in all four gospels but only in John’s gospel do we have these words of Jesus recorded.

Last Saturday Anne and I were in a local town and after a coffee we separated for a short time. I went to a local church charity shop and bought two small books, for fifty pence each. One book is entitled, ‘FAILURE IS NOT FINAL: The secrets of spiritual greatness’, by a lady from the Netherlands called Janny van der Klis. (Foreword by Brother Andrew) The author described how she’d left her family to attend a Bible College in Swansea, Wales. Then she’d come to live in N.Ireland for a time, before eventually leaving to take up her call to be a missionary in Africa. Her life as a missionary in Kenya and later in Namibia wasn’t easy but she’d made it her priority to integrate with the local communities. She was a ‘People Person’. After some time and some serious medical complications, she became fatigued, and depressed and left the mission field. She underwent much personal suffering at this time which she didn’t gloss over, as she returned to live in N.Ireland.

She opened her story with the words highlighted above and then about 140 pages into the her life story she referred to them again as she finally began to see them outworked in her life. Janny became the coordinator of the Women’s Study Fellowship in Belfast Bible College and through her own experiences she was able to ENCOURAGE WOMEN to see their worth and step out in faith to accomplish things for the Lord. We’re living in a time when the Lord needs ladies and everyone else to take their place and contribute to the building of the Kingdom.

As I’m reading this short book I’ve been touched by the words of Jesus after feeding of the five thousand men, plus women and children. He tells His disciples to go and gather the leftovers, ‘Let nothing be wasted’. Janny thought she’d failed and was of no further use to the Lord, BUT HE RESTORED HER AND BEGAN TO USE HER AGAIN TO REACH OTHERS. She understood people who felt beaten down by life but needed to be loved and encouraged to stand up and start again. The Lord ministered powerfully to the multitudes of hungry people, but like the GOOD SHEPHERD HE IS, HE STILL CARES FOR THE LEFTOVERS! So should we as His Church on Earth today. Some of the broken ones now will be the heroes of the future, through His restoration. Amen

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

 

⁸ The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. 2 Kings 7

The four men who initially discovered that the Arameans had fled and left everything had first pick of everything for themselves. However, after they’d met their immediate needs they began to think of the others starving inside the city and they had a change of heart. Many people start by thinking only of themselves, but then something shifts inside and they want to bless others. God alone knows those who will break free from the, ‘Me, Me, Me attitude’ and reach out to help others.

⁹ Then they said to each other, ‘What we’re doing is not right. THIS IS A DAY OF GOOD NEWS AND WE ARE KEEPING IT TO OURSELVES. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.’ 2 Kings 7

The men’s consciences began to rebuke them and they knew that they must go at once and tell their starving countrymen that the enemy had fled leaving everything in their camp, food and riches, all lying around for the taking. They knew that everything had changed, but the king and the guards in the city were afraid to believe their message of deliverance. The same thing could easily happen again today when God finally gives people the freedom they’ve longed for.

¹² The king got up in the night and said to his officers, ‘I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, “They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.”’

The king sent out scouts to investigate that the enemy had gone and it wasn’t just another cruel trap, but news came back that they’d followed them as far as the Jordan river and the ground was covered with valuables all the way. We shouldn’t be surprised that God gives the enemies over to His people as plunder, Israel didn’t just leave Egypt, they plundered it. Exodus 12:36 The Egyptians were willing to do anything to stop God’s judgement coming on their homes again. The Arameans also fled in such fear leaving everything behind them.

¹⁶ Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, AS THE LORD HAD SAID. 2 Kings 7

At the darkest hour, when hope was almost gone, the Lord stepped in and delivered His people. What God has done before, He can and will do again. Those who’ve been misusing their power to hurt God’s people may soon find they are the pursued and their wealth is gone. Amen, do it Lord.

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

 

² The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, ‘Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?’

‘You will see it with your own eyes,’ answered Elisha, ‘but you will not eat any of it!’ 2 Kings 7

The Lord had spoken His word of relief from the siege of Samaria through Elisha, whom a desperate king had sought to kill. Now, one of the king’s officers foolishly spoke against the word of Elisha because it seemed too far fetched and it would cost him his life. Sometimes the word that seems the most impossible is God’s Word, only He can accomplish it.

³ Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, ‘WHY STAY HERE UNTIL WE DIE?’

Desperate circumstances may be the Lord’s way of bringing us to the place where He needs us to be. These four men with the leprosy realised that they needed to do something or else they would die. This really was their last chance to escape death and it didn’t look very promising but they decided they had no choice but to go to the enemy camp and plead for mercy. It turned out to be a move ordered by God, a move during the night, a move in darkness, that would bring great relief to those starving in the city of Samaria.

⁶ for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, ‘Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!’ ⁷ SO THEY GOT UP AND FLED IN THE DUSK and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. 2 Kings 7

The God of heaven doesn’t need an army to win victories against earthly foes, the fear of God came upon the Aramean army and they fled for their lives. The four men with the leprosy walked into an empty camp with the valuables of the whole army spread out before them.

⁵ YOU PREPARE A TABLE BEFORE ME
    IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever. Psalm 23, by David 

There’s much talk today about a great wealth transfer coming and many people are frustrated and exhausted waiting for their deliverance, but in the darkest time of the night God’s salvation came to the starving. The first and only ones to know were four outcasts, men with leprosy, excluded from all society, BUT GOD! God can use even the poorest around us to speak a word of relief into our situations. Lord give us ears to hear you speak through the lowliest people. Amen

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

 

²⁴ Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilised his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. 2 Kings 6

The King of Aram (could also represent a demonic king/principality) came back and besieged Samaria. The enemy returned to attack the capital city of Israel again, this time with the whole army. Elisha was trapped inside with all the people and he shared in their suffering, he wasn’t immune to it.

²⁵ There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.

MONEY IS A MEASURE of earthly values and just as the scriptures say elsewhere, those values can quickly change.

The people were crying out to the King for help but though he still had some power inside the city, he was unable to relieve their suffering.

²⁷ The king replied, ‘If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?’

God was the only one who could deliver Israel from the enemy outside their gates. The King had humbled himself secretly to plead for mercy for his fellow citizens.

³⁰ When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, HE HAD SACKCLOTH ON HIS BODY.

Then the King couldn’t endure the suffering of the people any longer and decided to lash out in anger and take the life of God’s prophet, Elisha. Prophets can become targets when they speak God’s words to suffering people, but on this occasion Elisha was forewarned and told those with him to block the door of his house.

³³ While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him.

The king said, ‘This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?’

7 Elisha replied, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: about this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’

Elisha proclaimed the word of the Lord over the situation; God says this time tomorrow, just 24 hours more and the siege will be over. The money measure will completely change and everything will become plentiful again. The devil, wanted Elisha murdered because he could declare God’s word of victory and relief over the situation. That word came at the very lowest point when the king could take no more. I believe we are approaching such a time right now, when God’s word breaks the siege of the enemy from the neck of His people and circumstances become much easier for many. Lord, rescue Your people from the hands of the wicked we pray. Amen

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

 

¹⁸ As the enemy came down towards him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, ‘Strike this army with blindness.’ So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. 2 Kings 6

We said previously that Elisha had prayed for the eyes of his servant to be opened and then he prayed that the eyes of the enemy, coming towards them, would be closed. The Church of today hasn’t realised the authority that the Lord has delegated to us, but the prophet took his authority to stop the enemy army in its tracks. I also said that the opening remarks of the speaker at a meeting we attended was that God was going to SHARPEN THE PROPHETIC. I say Amen to that, may we all stand in the authority given us and see the enemy become powerless before the God’s people.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN ME. ¹⁹ THEREFORE GO and make disciples of all nations, Matthew 28

These are incredible words of the Lord before He ascended into heaven. We call them the Great Commission, but often there appears to be a disconnect between Jesus’ statement that ALL AUTHORITY IS HIS and the actions of His Church. I have been hearing Jesus’ words earlier in Matthew’s Gospel of late,

⁷ ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’ Matthew 7

Lord help us not to live far below our entitlement as children of the Great King here on the earth, help us to walk out our lives in all that you have for us.

Elisha prayed one final time that the Lord would open the eyes of the enemy after he’d led them into the city of Samaria. What a shock that must have been, but he wouldn’t allow the king of Israel to kill them. Instead Elisha told him to feed them before they were released and sent on their way. God had delivered Israel’s enemies into their hands but the prophet instructed that they be shown mercy and even blessed as guests of honour.

⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Luke 9

Jesus later rebuked two of His closest disciples who did understand their authority for wanting to destroy a Samaritan village, in the same area, because they didn’t recognise nor honour the Lord.

The authority of believers is to be used with mercy and not in harsh judgment.

Elisha’s actions stopped the raids from Aram without the shedding of blood. They probably realised that further attacks would result in confrontation with the God of a people much too strong for them.

God give us boldness and open our eyes to know our authority in You.

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

 

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord OPENED THE SERVANT’S EYES, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha. 2 Kings 6

Elisha’s first prayer in this account was to calm the fear of his own servant. Once his servant’s eyes were opened his fear disappeared because he saw the fiery armies of heaven were also on the hills around the city of Dothan (the name means two wells).

¹⁸ As the enemy came down towards him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, ‘STRIKE THESE PEOPLE WITH BLINDNESS.’ SO HE STRUCK THEM WITH BLINDNESS, AS ELISHA HAD ASKED.

Once again Elisha prayed that the approaching army would be blinded and the Lord did as he’d asked. The soldiers could somehow no longer see or recognise the prophet they’d come to capture. God was able to open the spiritual eyes of a servant and at the same time obscure the eyes of the army. In Acts 9 we read how Saul was temporarily blinded when he encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus. Sometimes our natural senses may be dimmed until the Lord’s plans are accomplished.

Elisha prayed twice in a time of danger but the prophet was constantly attuned to the Spirit of God as he was able to warn the King of Israel when to avoid danger. Are we Emergency Pray-ers or can the Lord speak and warn us of things around us? I recently heard someone say that the prophetic is operating at a very low level in the Body at present. Also in a recent meeting one of the speakers began by saying that there is a SHARPENING COMING to the prophetic gifting in the Body at this time.

Smith Wigglesworth never prayed for more than half an hour, but never went more than half an hour without praying. We must become more God centred and God aware in an age when technology is so prevalent. The speaker in the meeting we attended opened by saying God was going to SHARPEN THE PROPHETIC, so there must be a need for this today. How can we as believers become more inclined towards God and less available to the call of this world? That’s a question we must all ask ourselves. We’re only here for a certain window of time, then we’ll move on into eternity. May the Lord help us to focus on Him more than the passing things of this world.

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

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes (OPEN OUR EYES), LORD, SO THAT HE (AND WE) MAY SEE.’ 2 Kings 6

The antidote for fear is to see  the Lord and His forces in our midst!

In the previous chapter 5, we read how Naaman, the commander of the armies of Aram was healed through the prophet Elisha and became a worshipper of the Lord. Now in chapter 6 we read that the King of Aram was once again at war with Israel and positioning his soldiers to attack Israel’s forces, but Elisha kept warning the King of Israel where the enemy were waiting.

¹¹ This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, ‘Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?’

¹² ‘None of us, my lord the king,’ said one of his officers, ‘but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.’ 2 Kings 6

The King of Aram suspected a traitor in his camp but one his officers revealed the truth, that it was the prophet Elisha who was responsible for exposing his plans. God is still showing His prophets today the schemes and plans of the enemy, made in secret places, but fully visible to Him. How foolish for God’s enemies to believe that they can do things that He won’t know about. God uses people to change the course of wars. In the book, ‘Rees Howells, Intercessor’, Norman Grubb revealed how God had used their prayers to alter the course of battles in World War 2 and give the allies victory. Derek Prince also described how God told him to, ‘pray for a leader that He could use to give victory’. After a plane crash, General Bernard Montgomery was appointed to lead the allied soldiers in North Africa. He gathered his officers to pray before battle and they won their first victory after a long time in retreat.

¹³ ‘Go, find out where he is,’ the king ordered, ‘so that I can send men and capture him.’ The report came back: ‘He is in Dothan.’ ¹⁴ Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

The enemy moved under cover of darkness to surround the prophet in Dothan and when Elisha’s servant arose in the morning he saw the enemy was all around them. He ran to Elisha, fearing the worst, but the prophet wasn’t afraid, because he saw the armies of God were present with them.

¹⁶ ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, ‘OPEN HIS EYES, LORD, SO THAT HE MAY SEE.’ THEN THE LORD OPENED THE SERVANT’S EYES, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha. 

When we begin to see and know as the Lord does, fear will not dominate us. May the Lord open the eyes of our spirits this day to His presence and the presence of His angels. The Greater One is with us, ask for open eyes to see the forces of heaven around us.

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