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³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I BLESSED HIM – AND INDEED HE WILL BE BLESSED!’ Genesis 27

Isaac knew that the blessing he’d spoken over Jacob would be ratified, his words had real power and authority over the future course of his son’s life and he couldn’t reverse them. The blessing of an earthly father/parent is certainly very important and powerful if pronounced in sincerity and with true intent. We should definitely seek our father’s blessing in humility if that’s still available to us.

Isaac’s blessing given to Jacob in Genesis 27 was a powerful blessing and as he said left little for him to bestow upon Esau (Esau represents a type of THIS WORLD).

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, ‘I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’ Genesis 37

I believe that the younger generation should seek their father’s blessing and if there’s been a rift between parents and offspring, they should ask for forgiveness of their parent(s). Even if the parent(s) have passed on, there may still be a benefit to repent and say sorry for hasty words and actions, to cancel our words and say sorry to those we should have honoured and respected.

⁸ Esau then realised how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; ⁹ so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had. Genesis 28

Esau deliberately set out to upset and antagonise his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, by entering into covenant with a pagan woman of the land. There is little thought today that marriage is still a covenant, a lifelong, binding agreement between two people. Esau and later Solomon, bound themselves to pagan women and their gods, displeasing the true God and creator of all.

Christian believers are uniquely positioned amongst all people on this earth to receive Double Blessings – the blessing of Abraham, the father of all who believe whom God blessed in all things.

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ ¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that THE BLESSING GIVEN TO ABRAHAM MIGHT COME TO THE GENTILES through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Galatians 3

We as believers can claim the promise God gave to Abraham as our father in the faith and this is also very worthwhile doing as the children of God.

‘Finally, LORD, I thank you that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, I have passed out from under the curse and entered into the blessing of Abraham whom You blessed in all things: health, reproductiveness, prosperity, victory, God’s favour and God’s friendship. Amen (Derek Prince Ministries, Proclamation Card for Protection)

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

¹¹ SO LOT CHOSE FOR HIMSELF THE WHOLE PLAIN OF THE JORDAN and set out towards the east. The two men parted company: Genesis 13

So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan River. Was there anything wrong with his choice? He chose the best that he could see, BUT GOD was with Abraham. We’ve already seen that the people of the plain warred against each other and Abraham had to assemble all his men and come to Lot’s rescue. Yesterday we saw that the two angels (who resembled men) came down and entered Sodom where they and Lot were threatened by angry men of the city. Before God destroyed Sodom, He Remembered Abraham (Abraham had interceded for Sodom and it’s people) and brought Lot out of the catastrophe. The people of Sodom, including Lot were unaware of Abraham’s intercession. Our estranged family and friends may never be aware of our prayers offered up on their behalf, but God hears and Remembers them.

Lot, his wife and two daughters were alienated in Sodom, the people of the place were wicked and though both women were engaged, their fiancées mocked Lot’s warning of imminent judgment. THEY STAYED IN THEIR WORLD.

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. (The wisdom of this world doesn’t know Spiritual Reality!) Genesis 19

The angels said there was no more time and they led Lot and his family away from Sodom before God’s judgement fell. They left with little or nothing, except what they could carry and Lot suffered a further severe loss, when his wife looked back to see the home she was leaving behind.

²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19

³¹ On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. ³² REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE! ³³ Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. Luke 17

Jesus was speaking of His return and He warned His listeners not to try and hold onto their possessions in this world when the time came. We can’t use what we have here in the Kingdom of God, it won’t transfer. We will have to decide where our true allegiance lies, here in this space/time realm or with the Lord. The children of God must never allow our hearts to be bound to the things of this world and its systems. We must owe unswerving allegiance to the Lord and escape the lure of this world. Lot’s wife was going one way with her family and her body, but her heart remained in Sodom and it cost her dearly.

Derek Prince said that the true children of God hear His voice, just as natural sheep follow the voice of the shepherd. However it’s easy for us to be attracted by other voices and stop listening to our Shepherd. He said this could be very subtle and though we may have stopped listening to the Lord, we could continue ‘going through the motions’ for a long time. That’s just religious pretence because we don’t want others to know our hearts have grown cold. Yet, Jesus warned people about what had happened to Lot’s wife at the very last moment of deliverance from the evils of Sodom.

The Lord said, REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE. Don’t try and hold on to the things of this world and walk with God, it’s not possible. Keep your heart free and continue walking on God’s path for your life in 2025 and He will be with you and help you.

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

 

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, HE REMEMBERED ABRAHAM, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. Genesis 19

We saw yesterday that when news of the capture of Abraham’s nephew reached him, he got together every one he had and went off to rescue Lot. He was the only one who knew Lot as family and he went to his aid at once. We said that we may know someone, perhaps a family member who desperately needs help and God may want use us to deliver them. Abraham was willing to go and help his nephew in a time of crisis and we too may be the only hope for someone in our circle, family or friends. We may have to lay aside our own priorities for a time to help those in trouble. Derek Prince said, ‘that God often calls us when it’s not convenient!’

Genesis 19 is the account of God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. After the Lord’s visit with Abraham two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening and Lot strongly insisted they spend the night in his house. (Kat Kerr recently said that some warrior angels, special forces units in heaven, have flesh; they look like men. She also said that Melchizedek was their head) Some time later all the men – young and old – came to Lot’s house and demanded he bring out the men to them, but Lot wouldn’t agree to it. In the end the two angels pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the aggressors outside.

⁹ ‘Get out of our way,’ they replied. ‘This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.’ They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. Genesis 19

The men of Sodom were all angry that Lot wouldn’t agree to their demands and condemned him for daring to judge them. When believers today call, ‘sin as sin’,  they’re often vilified by the perpetrators. However, they may be setting themselves up for much harsher punishment from God by refusing to heed the warnings of the righteous. In the end the two angels pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the aggressors outside.

God ultimately destroyed all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They’d crossed a line and He wouldn’t tolerate their sinful behaviour any longer. However, before He destroyed the two cities, Lot and his immediate family were brought to safety. GOD REMEMBERED ABRAHAM and his interceding for the people who lived there. Abraham’s rescue of Lot after his abduction is recorded in the narrative, but ALSO HIS INTERCESSION for the righteous. If God lays a burden on us to pray for Mercy for those we know, we should be faithful in prayer. Though we may not see the final outcome, God can use our prayers to extend His Mercy to those who need it.

¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, FAITHFUL IN PRAYER. Romans 12

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

 

¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’ Genesis 18

This is the account of Abraham and Sarah ABOUT TO STEP INTO GOD’S CALLING UPON THEIR LIVES. They’d waited many years but God said after all hope seemed gone, THIS YEAR you will step into My calling upon your lives and a son will be born to you. The whole world has been waiting for God throughout 2024, wickedness abounds everywhere but God is on the move and nothing can stay His hand! Once God spoke everything began to change,  but nothing they’d done before that helped their situation. In fact the birth of Ishmael, orchestrated by their flesh, has proved a disaster for the descendants of Abraham to this day.

‘He thinks he’s missed it and he thinks his time is past, but it is not so says the Lord God. For I will do what I’ve said I will do and I will build what I’ve said I will build and it’s your hands that will oversee it and build it.’

The beginning of a prophetic word we received in 2024. I will be seventy in one week’s time, God willing, so like many of you I’ve had to wait upon God’s timing, but God is faithful and God is able, so hold on and see what He has for you in this year ahead. I believe many of you will be surprised and blessed during the coming year!

God can still accomplish everything He has for us, if we’ll stay submitted and let Him take lead.

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

 

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, FOR WE ARE BROTHERS. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? LET’S PART COMPANY. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.’ Genesis 13

Often parting or separation can be the result of negative circumstances, but in this case it was the result of God’s favour and blessing upon two close relatives. They’d received so much of God’s abundance that the land where they lived could no longer support them both.  We might say it was a good problem to have but it would result in a dangerous situation for them both.

Though Abram was the senior and called of God, he allowed Lot to have first pick of the land. Only after they’d separated did God speak to Abram about his inheritance in the land. The way of the world is to grasp all that we can and hold onto it, but God is better able to protect all that He has marked out for us.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring for ever. Genesis 13

Genesis 14 continues with an account of various battles between the kings of the land, all recorded and named in the Bible. (Proof of the validity of the Book) The fighting eventually saw the seizing of Lot and someone who escaped went to Abram and told him of Lot’s capture.

¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. Genesis 14

ABRAM ANSWERED THE CALL to get everyone and everything he had to go and rescue his nephew. Lot had no other relatives, nor close friends who would go to his aid, Abram was his only hope. Some of us may get a call in 2025 to set aside what we’re doing and help rescue someone we know. We may be their only chance of help and it may cost us, but if we’re willing, the Lord may be able to use us deliver them from serious trouble. We serve a merciful God who has rescued us many times, let’s be available to help others in their need.

¹² For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favour as with a shield. Psalm 5, by David 

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

¹³ ‘YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. 

¹⁴ ‘YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5

Matthew 5 is the beginning of the Beatitudes, where Jesus went up on the hillside and began to speak to the crowds. Early on in His discourse He made these two statements to His audience, ‘You are the SALT OF THE EARTH. You are the LIGHT OF THE WORLD’. He told them, and us, that part of the main reason we’re here is to carry God’s presence with us wherever we go. We are to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God to the lost people we come into contact with. If we fail to activate this call upon our lives, then we and others will lose out! Our lives should show something different that draws people and for sure, each of us will have opportunities to touch lives that no-one else will. It’s not about becoming red hot evangelists, but allowing God presence to be seen in and through our lives. Somehow in 2025 we need to promote God and His Kingdom, because that’s the only hope for those we encounter.

³ They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ Genesis 11

Genesis 11 is the beginning of the account of the Tower of Babel, when men DECIDED TO BUILD WITHOUT GOD. They were intent on making ‘a name for themselves’, God wasn’t present anywhere in their thinking. This is still the motivation in the world today, God is superfluous to the needs of many and unfortunately it’s also true of many in the Church.

⁵ But the LORD CAME DOWN TO SEE the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ Genesis 11

This building without any thought of God was so significant that God came down to see the situation for Himself and ultimately to stop it. There are many things that men want to build in their own strength that God does not allow. He may stop us building indefinitely, like the Tower of Babel, or it may not yet be the right time for us to build. I received a prophetic word at the end of 2024, when I was told that if I’d been allowed to go ahead and build things, that by now they would have been rubble. The word given to me said, ‘now is my/our time to build’, so God has given a green light to go forward and build. Nehemiah was a builder in his day and I believe that NOW IS THE TIME FOR MANY TO BUILD whatever our hands find to do, but we must remember to KEEP GOD UPFRONT AND CENTRE IN EVERYTHING WE SEEK TO DO. God help us to build wisely in the year ahead and may our work endure and prosper.

May we find many opportunities to be Salt and Light for the Kingdom, today and throughout the forthcoming year.

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

 

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ Matthew 2, Hosea 11:1

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, … Matthew 2

Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. Matthew 2, (NB there is no specific Old Testament prophecy for this verse) 

Mary was chosen to bring forth the Messiah upon the earth, but Joseph was responsible for protecting both of them under the direction of the Spirit. Even Jesus early life, while He was still growing up and under His parents’ care, saw the fulfilment of many prophecies. (A speaker we heard near the end of last year said that 48 prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus) The point is that though these prophecies had been pronounced, Joseph and Mary still had to walk them out and that may be very important for some of us in this New Year. Personal prophecy may be both encouraging and directional, but even in the Lord’s life they had to be acted upon!

Graham Cooke was once flying on an aeroplane and a fellow passenger was quite anxious, but he encouraged them not to be afraid. He said that she (I think it was a lady) was on the second safest seat on the plane, because he had a number of unfulfilled prophecies over his life. He was at peace on the journey because of the prophecies spoken over him or to him directly. We don’t know how Joseph felt but he acted upon the dreams he received and the family were  kept safe. There is much blessing in following the path that God has laid out for our lives, not least because He is then responsible for caring for us as we walk towards His Plan for our lives.

Continue to follow the Lord in 2025 and you will walk in safekeeping and blessings.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5

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

²⁰ BUT AFTER HE HAD CONSIDERED THIS, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1

JOSEPH CONSIDERED OR PONDERED, HE GAVE THE LORD TIME TO SPEAK! Another version says, ‘WHILE HE THOUGHT ON THESE THINGS’.

Joseph was faced with a difficult situation, Mary was to be his wife, but Mary was pregnant. He didn’t want to embarrass her publicly but neither did he feel he could go ahead and marry her. Had Mary tried to explain the situation to her husband to be? We don’t know, but the Lord sent His angel to tell Joseph what he should do. Joseph was thinking about their situation from a human standpoint but heaven’s perspective was completely different AND IT OFTEN IS! We need to give God TIME TO SPEAK IN OUR OWN SITUATIONS because our viewpoint is often so limited. Many times God’s solutions are beyond our understanding.

Derek Prince told how their ministry was one time going through financial difficulties. They prayed and sought the Lord and the answer he received was to begin TO GIVE AWAY THEIR RESOURCES TO POOR PASTORS WHO COULDN’T AFFORD THEM. So they began in a measured way to make some of their material available and the financial need began to diminish.

The birth of Jesus was to change the destiny of all mankind and no one could have known the steps that would be necessary to see the mission completed. We can depend on our own experience and abilities in 2025 or we can ask God to begin to reveal His hidden plans for us in this new season of our lives. When we ask for His help and guidance, then we need to pause and listen for the next steps to take. He may speak quietly to our hearts, through the words of friends or by supernatural guidance. Though our way be unclear, if we pause and listen, like Joseph, the answer will come and His ways are best.

May the Lord bless and keep us as we seek His path for our lives in 2025. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, Psalm 1, NIV

⁶ For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of the godly, Psalm 1, TLB

⁶ God charts the road you take. Psalm 1, MSG

Many people make New Year Resolutions/Plans but God Promises to watch over the way His children take in 2025. Thank you Lord for your concern for all of us throughout the year we have entered. May we know that you are with us to help and guide us on the path, even when we stumble, You’re still beside us. Hallelujah

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ ‘Tell Aaron and his sons, “This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

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

God always wants to bless those who are His, just like earthly parents.

Wishing all our friends health, strength and blessing in 2025. Happy New Year!