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¹ Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come. Psalm 65, of David 

David begins this psalm by extolling the worthiness of God to receive worship, in many of his other psalms he’s so beaten down by enemies and dread that he has to build himself up to praise. Sometimes we too may have to wait in God’s presence to have our eyes lifted above our immediate circumstances, but on this occasion David started out praising God’s worthiness to be praised.

The next line of the psalm highlights another virtue of our God towards mankind, He’s the God who answers prayer. It’s so easy to take this for granted but the creator of the universe actually wants to answer prayers on our behalf. David continues this thought, with a prophetic statement, ‘to You all people will come’. The people of this whole world will come to the God who answers prayer. It’s interesting that the Bible records when people first began to pray and call out to God for His help and support.

²⁵ Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, ‘God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.’ ²⁶ Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord. Genesis 4

The influence of religion is widespread among believers today and many see God as a tyrant waiting to pounce on people’s mistakes, nothing could be further from the truth. God wants relationship with us and is continually working to bridge the gap between Himself and the people He created.

³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave(covered) our transgressions.
⁴ Blessed are those you choose
    and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
    of your holy temple. Psalm 65

The second part of the psalm refers to the power of the God of all creation and His intervention in the nations of His world. God stills the roaring of the seas and the seas are a picture of humanity, there’s much disturbance in this world today, but God’s moving to impose His peace and presence in it.

⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

The final part of the psalm is a beautiful picture of God’s care for His creation, despite the plans of the wicked to corrupt and pollute it. No matter what the environmentalists say, God will not allow man to destroy His creation. His words will stand in the face of all schemes of the wicked.

⁹ 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.
¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.

Our God is the God of ABUNDANCE, that’s His will for people now and soon we’ll see it manifest. Hallelujah

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

The enemy is quick to use one sin to lead us into others and before we know it we have gone far from the Father’s love. In Luke 15 Jesus spoke of three things that were lost, the sheep, the coin and lastly the Lost Son. The son was warmly welcomed back into his Father’s house when he returned humbled and in dire need, but he’d suffered greatly to learn his lesson. David also suffered for his sin, but the Lord had mercy and gave his heir Solomon after he repented.

We serve a merciful God, but the enemy has no mercy and will use everything he can to bring about devastation in people’s lives. May God grant us discernment to see danger and run from it, like Joseph.

³ The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. Proverbs 22

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

⁴¹ AND ELIJAH SAID TO AHAB, ‘GO, EAT AND DRINK, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.’ ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, BENT DOWN TO THE GROUND AND PUT HIS FACE BETWEEN HIS KNEES. 1 Kings 18

The Lord had just given Elijah a great victory before Israel (Destroying the prophets of Baal (450) and Asherah (400)) but now he’s alone again with his God on the top of Mount Carmel. Interestingly, he tells Ahab to go and feast, BEFORE the drought has broken. He didn’t tell the King or the people to fast and pray before God, but to feast on the top of the mountain in anticipation of the rain coming, ‘for there is the SOUND OF A HEAVY RAIN’.

THERE’S A TIME TO FAST AND A TIME TO FEAST BEFORE GOD, BOTH ARE APPROPRIATE AT A GIVEN MOMENT!

²³ The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. … ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling-place. 2 Chronicles 30

Hezekiah led the people of Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unlevened Bread for two weeks, a double period of feasting, before their Lord.

Returning to Elijah on Mount Carmel, we see him withdrawing from the people to humble himself before God and intercede for the rain. It was Elijah who had declared to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’ 1 Kings 17 Elijah had a responsibility before God to cancel the words he’d declared breaking the drought over the land and call for the rains. His business was on his knees while the people celebrated God’s mercy and goodness, soon to be literally poured out. Elijah persisted seven times, the number of completion, before the breakthrough came, ‘a cloud the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea’.

There will be times in our own lives when it’s right to earnestly seek God in prayer, but there are other times when we should praise God for the answer.

At one of Kathryn Kuhlman’s miracle crusades she stopped ministering and said someone was grieving the Holy Spirit by crying out to God for a healing that had already been granted, a child with severe eczema, I believe. There comes a time when we should praise God for His goodness and believe that the rains or answers are coming. Hallelujah

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

 

¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
    quarrels and insults are ended. Proverbs 22:10

¹⁰ Throw out the mocker, and you will be rid of tension, fighting, and quarrels. The Living Bible 

¹⁰ Kick out the troublemakers and things will quiet down;
    you need a break from bickering and griping! The Message 

This scripture verse may be for someone in difficult circumstances right now. It may also be speaking to us about the need for separation from the ‘slave mentality’ onto a ‘Kingdom mentality’.

The Bible identifies that the root cause of trouble, ‘fighting and quarrelling’ in certain situations may be down to one troublesome individual and the suggested remedy is forceful eviction. This may not be a pleasant option but for the sake of peace and harmony in a home or a group it may be the only choice. On such occasions we may well be told we’re not behaving as Christians, meanwhile the person causing the strife has no intention of changing their behaviour and all around them continue to suffer. If there’s no intention to change then it may be that the time for separation has come.

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael born to the slave woman Hagar by natural means i.e. Abraham and Sarah’s solution to getting a son and heir. Later Isaac, the son of the Promise was born to Sarah, the free woman.

²⁴ These things may be taken figuratively: the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: this is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. Galatians 4

Paul, by the Spirit explained the distinction between the two sons, one was born into slavery, while Isaac, the child off a miracle birth was born to be free and to inherit his father’s name and estate.

²⁸ Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time the son born according to the flesh PERSECUTED THE SON BORN BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT. IT IS THE SAME NOW. ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’ ³¹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, WE ARE NOT CHILDREN OF THE SLAVE WOMAN, BUT OF THE FREE WOMAN. Galatians 4

We are Children of God by supernatural birth through faith in Christ. We live on this earth for a time but we come from another realm and as the Scriptures say we are citizens of heaven. Many believers today are earthbound or consumed by the things of this present world. These two sons are fundamentally different and will never share the same destiny, a final separation must come.

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

 

¹² ‘Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be REFRESHED OR RESTORED. Exodus 23

God built cycles of rest into the lives of His people Israel, because He cared for them and the Jews still keep Shabbat to this day, in fact today is the eve of Shabbat. The previous verse also speaks of a cycle of rest or refreshing for the land of Israel.

¹¹ but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. (Built in welfare system for people and animals) Exodus 23

This world system wants to abolish the Sabbath, the Day of rest from work. They don’t want people to have time to rest and be restored and most of all to give thought to the things of God, but God never intended for us to work incessantly. It’s very debilitating to work for prolonged periods without any rest. The words of Ana Werner return again, ‘GOD DOESN’T WANT SLAVES, BUT LOVERS!’

¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, THAT TIMES OF REFRESHING MAY COME FROM THE LORD, Acts 3

There have been many occasions in Church history when God has poured out His Spirit on the Body of Believers to bring refreshing and restoration. Sovereign moves of God to bless and help His people, however those outside of the Lord may never experience these blessings, how sad to miss out on all this.

³² so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and IN YOUR COMPANY BE REFRESHED. Romans 15

¹⁸ FOR THEY REFRESHED MY SPIRIT AND YOURS ALSO. Such men deserve recognition. 1 Corinthians 16 (There are people in the Body who are Refreshing to be around, Barnabas was the Son of Encouragement. Unfortunately not everyone does.)

¹⁶ May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because HE OFTEN REFRESHED ME and was not ashamed of my chains. 2 Timothy 1

Paul was quick to note and commend those who Refreshed him and others. Their names are recorded for us in God’s word, a lasting memorial to their building up of the Body, which is also a mark of the prophetic ministry. 1 Corinthians 14:3

I believe that times of Refreshing are coming again to God’s people, may we all drink deeply when the Spirit of God is poured out in power on the earth.

²⁷ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Numbers 6

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

 

¹⁰ My son, if sinners ENTICE YOU,
    DO NOT GIVE IN TO THEM. Proverbs 1

We must learn to ‘SAY NO’ and mean it, Jesus did!

Jesus first public appearance was the baptism scene at the Jordan river where He convinced His cousin John to baptise Him. Next we’re told that He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

¹⁵ For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. HE WAS TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY THAT WE ARE, BUT HE DID NOT SIN. ¹⁶ Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4, New Century Bible 

The devil was given the right to tempt, OR ENTICE THE LORD while in His humanity here on earth and it happened more than once e.g. when Peter tried to persuade Him not to go the way of the cross. Matthew 16:22

Sometimes the temptations were straight forward,

‘³ The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Matthew 4

At other times they were more plausible, when scripture was quoted, or more accurately misquoted. We must discern the spirit as well as the words spoken.

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down. For it is written:

We’ve already mentioned when the devil used Peter, one of those closest to Jesus, to try and get Him to forego the suffering of the cross. When the stakes were highest the devil used someone very close to plant his own suggestion. We can be sure Peter said it forcefully because it meant the end of the Lord’s time with the disciples on earth, inconceivable to them at that time.

There’s a well known story about Smith Wigglesworth waiting for a bus and a lady coming for the same bus. She was being followed by her little dog and she spoke kindly to the dog and told it to go back home. However, it kept following her and then she became cross, stamped her foot and told it sternly to get home. Wigglesworth laughed out loud and said, ‘that’s exactly how we should speak to the devil’. When we slam the devil’s doors shut we can find all the Lord has for us.

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, ‘AWAY FROM ME, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Matthew 4

When we learn to SAY NO and mean it, then we can discern God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives. I would add a footnote to this, don’t live vicariously I.e. by someone else’s faith and revelation. Build your own relationship with the Lord, just we read in Hebrews 4 above, He wants us to know Him personally.

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

⁵ Let me get you something to eat, SO YOU CAN BE REFRESHED and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” Genesis 18

Middle eastern hospitality is rightly famous as the people will go to great lengths to bless visitors who come to them. Genesis 18 is a very significant chapter because three visitors from Heaven came down and met with Abraham and Sarah. It was Abraham’s offer of hospitality to these visitors that opened the door for God’s miraculous intervention in their lives and the future of all mankind. HOSPITALITY AND WILLINGNESS TO HELP OTHERS CAN OPEN DOORS WHICH MAY OTHERWISE REMAIN CLOSED!

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

⁷ Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.⁸ He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them.While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. 

Abraham and Sarah really went to a lot of trouble to provide for the unexpected guests who’d come to their camp. I believe that there are times when we can encounter people in life who are sent to reveal the attitudes of our hearts and if we receive them then God will bless us in greater measure.

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS, (NOT JUST FRIENDS AND FAMILY!) for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13

If people knew they were entertaining angels then they’d be much more attentive to their guest’s needs, but the Bible says we don’t know. Often the people who come to us may not appear grand or imposing, but it is our choice whether to bless and help them or not. In the case of Abraham and Sarah their willingness to receive the visitors opened the way for the birth of their miracle child Isaac and began the line of Messiah.

⁴⁴ Then he turned towards the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.’

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Luke 7

No water, No kiss and No oil! It wasn’t that Simon the Pharisee hadn’t shown hospitality to the Lord, he’d invited Him to eat in his house, but in his heart he’d been judgemental. It was the woman who’d publicly humbled herself and shown great respect to the Lord who received the blessing. WHEN WE GIVE TO OTHERS, TO REFRESH THEM, WE SHOULD BE GENEROUS. WE SERVE A VERY GENEROUS GOD. HALLELUJAH

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

 

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     HE RESTORES OR REFRESHES MY SOUL. Psalm 23

David was someone who had many demands on his time and his life. He had 400 men with him in the cave of Adullam and later 600 men with their families when he lived in Ziklag among the Philistines. Somewhere in the midst of all his troubles David under the inspiration of God’s Spirit wrote this short, but wonderful psalm, which we know today as Psalm 23.

The psalm begins with a simple statement that God is all sufficient!

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I SHALL NOT WANT. KJV Bible

Derek Prince said that if anything had been added to the phrase, ‘I shall not want’, it would have destroyed it. For example, I shall not want … wealth … health … victory over enemies, then there would have been lack in all other areas. David simply wrote that God could and would supply his needs, period!

This morning I was thinking more of another phrase from the psalm, ‘HE RESTORES OR REFRESHES MY SOUL’. I see this as a beautiful sign of God’s loving care for His son David and for us His children. He cares for our external needs but also for the inner needs of our souls and emotions. He knows better than us when we need refreshing to help continue with our daily lives.

In her book, ‘Seeing behind the veil’, Ana Werner describes a day when she had a sore throat, tonsillitis symptoms, but felt she had to keep going, with two young children and a church Healing Meeting.

‘My throat kept hurting. The more I talked the more it ached. … “Go lie down, Ana,” I heard the voice of the Lord command me.’ Ana lay down on the back row of chairs during the worship and raised her hands while lying down. She saw Jesus, He looked at her and blew Powerfully in her face and her throat stopped hurting. God gave her strength in that moment to pour out and minister to people and her own team. Page 52, ‘Seeing behind the veil’.

I was touched by what Ana said she’d learned that night.

“I learned two things tonight. Number one: it’s OK and necessary to take a step back, lie down and rightfully so, TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF. GOD DOESN’T WANT SLAVES, BUT LOVERS. Sometimes we can work ourselves too much, FORGETTING THAT GOD VALUES THE PERSON OVER WHAT WE CAN DO.”

I thought that line by Ana Werner, ‘GOD DOESN’T WANT SLAVES, BUT LOVERS’ is a wonderful line. God loves us no matter the circumstances. Religion wants to make slaves of those loved by God. It’s not about performance, it’s about a loving God and His children here on earth and those gone on to heaven. Hallelujah

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

AND SUDDENLY DAVID WAS IN EVEN WORSE TROUBLE. There was talk among the men, bitter over the loss of their families, of stoning him.

^6-7 David strengthened himself with trust in his God. 1 Samuel 30 MSG Bible

Trouble can come suddenly and unexpectedly, BUT GOD HASN’T ABANDONED US! DON’T GIVE WAY TO DEFEAT IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, God will still be there for us in the most difficult situations. David and his men had returned to the camp at Ziklag to find that their wives and children had been kidnapped and their camp plundered. The men were talking of stoning David, people often look for someone else to blame for their misfortune, but the leader was the one who would take action and rescue them. David sought the Lord and a way opened for them to rescue their families unharmed.

I said at the end of my last blog that Friday was a public holiday here, so my wife and I went to stay away overnight in County Donegal, by the Atlantic Ocean. Anne loves to be by the sea and walk along the beach, she finds it restorative. We spent the night away and began a fairly long drive home that morning as I had a cold. When we got home, Anne did some washing and while she was ironing saw a leak from the ceiling into the utility room. It turned out that we had a leak at the shower control valve in our upper floor. So what could we do? I rang a man who has helped us in the past and even though it was a holiday he agreed to come and see what could be done. EVERYWHERE WAS CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY BUT I HAD BOUGHT A SHOWER VALVE SOME TIME BEFORE AND STILL HAD IT IN THE HOUSE. To cut a long story short he eventually got the valve fitted and the leak stopped, after a couple of hours work. Praise the Lord.

Trouble can come suddenly, perhaps to rob us after a time of blessing, in this case a brief stay by the sea. No matter how unexpected, God is still with us as He was with David and his men and He stands firm to rescue us from every circumstance. Hallelujah

¹⁵ Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
    do not plunder their dwelling place;
¹⁶ for though the righteous fall seven times, THEY RISE AGAIN,
    but the wicked are brought down by calamity. Proverbs 24 

GOD’S PEOPLE ARE MARKED BY RESILIENCE, WE MAY FALL AT TIMES BUT GOD HELPS US TO RISE AGAIN, EVEN SEVEN TIMES! AMEN

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

⁵⁷ YOU CAME NEAR WHEN I CALLED YOU,
    and you said, ‘Do not fear.’ Lamentations 3 (Written by Jeremiah at the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple)

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close (NEAR TO THOSE SUFFERING) to the broken-hearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34 (When David fled Saul and pretended to be insane before Abimelech, the Philistine king)

Some further scriptures on the Lord being Near, especially during times of deep distress. Jeremiah and David both knew that God had not abandoned them, despite all that was happening to them. God is Faithful!

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. THE LORD IS NEAR. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4

Paul suffered much for the sake of the Gospel, indeed the Lord said that of him when he had his vision on the road to Damascus. But Paul tells us to Rejoice, because the LORD IS NEAR.

Paul and Silas were severely flogged and then thrown into prison, but they still worshipped the Lord while in stocks after being beaten. THEIR SPIRITS WEREN’T BEATEN DOWN and as they praised a miracle occurred. Then the jailer and his whole family gave their lives to the Lord.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 

²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ Acts 16

Two final New Testament scriptures that speak of the REWARD for those who stand firm in their faith in the face of opposition.

³⁶ YOU NEED TO PERSEVERE so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ³⁷ For,

THERE WILL BE A REWARD FOR THOSE WHO STAND FIRM NOW, A REWARD ON EARTH AND ALSO IN ETERNITY. AMEN

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

(PS two days public holiday in N.Ireland)