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…he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4

In 1 Samuel 16:12, 13 we read how Samuel anointed David, the youngest of eight brothers, to be king of Israel. In the next chapter,  1 Samuel 17 we see that this young boy/youth found himself in single and mortal combat with the Philistine giant Goliath. David was called to be a warrior king and deliver Israel from their enemies. Straight away he was thrust into a major battle, which he helped his beleaguered nation to win.  Soon the women sang;

”Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands”. 1 Samuel 18:7

The women soon recognised that the greater ‘anointing’ or victory lay with David.

In Luke 3:21, Jesus was baptised along with many people in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. The Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove and the Father spoke from heaven (all three members of the Godhead present), “You are My beloved Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”.

The next words at the beginning of Luke 4 are quite different from the blessings spoken to Jesus at the Jordan.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, were for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and at the end of them He was hungry. Luke 4:1, 2

Jesus, praised and loved by His Father at the time of His baptism at the Jordan was immediately led into the desert for a full blown confrontation with the devil. He too, like David emerged victorious and ‘Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit’. Luke 4:14 Jesus calling described in the first epistle of John;

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 1 John 3:8

In both examples, David and Jesus (God in the flesh), were thrust into situations of extreme confrontation. God sustained them, but both had to fight their battles and win them before advancing with their calling. We all prefer the safe place, but early and late in our Christian Walk, the Lord may call us to fight a battle against the enemy of our faith. To all seven churches in Revelation 2&3, the Lord addresses them, ‘to him who overcomes’, hence the expression ‘fight the good fight of faith’.

Finally a quote from the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe by C S Lewis;

Safe? …Who said anything about safe? Course He isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.

God bless and keep you today.

 

God has a measure/portion just for you, seek Him for it!

In 1 Samuel 25 we read the account of David, Abigail (relates to Joy) and Nabal. David had protected Nabal’s men and flocks in the wilderness but when he sent his young men to Nabal for a gift at shearing time they were rebuffed, by the surly Nabal. Nabal was a wealthy man, he had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep. A gift to David’s men would have meant little to him, but he chose to confront and belittle David’s men in front of his shearers and servants.

One of the servants told Abigail what Nabal had done and that ‘disaster was hanging over our master and his whole household’. 1 Samuel 25:17

In a previous blog (Naaman’s trip to Elisha) we noted how the Bible sometimes lists very specific amounts of goods used in certain situations.

Abigail lost no time. She took 200 loaves of bread, 2 skins of wine, 5 dressed sheep, 5 seahs of roasted grain, 100 cakes of raisins and 200 cakes of pressed figs and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you”. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 1 Samuel 25:18, 19

Abigail realised the danger and started at once to try and redeem the situation. She met David and his men in the ravine coming towards her. I’ve also written before about, the Lord bringing us into a ‘ravine’, a tight place with no way around. God deals with us or confronts us in the ravine. Don’t be surprised if we find ourselves in such a place when God is dealing with us.

This meeting was God’s way of preventing David from taking revenge and blood guilt. Abigail was able to stop David from murdering Nabal and his household. She also gave the gift she’d brought to him and his men and repeatedly humbled herself before them. The gift was very precise and I BELIEVE IT WAS THE EXACT AMOUNT GOD HAD DETERMINED DAVID SHOULD HAVE!

God is not unjust, He knows when we’ve helped others and done something for Him. God remembered Cornelius for his prayers and giving to the poor in Israel. It may well be that God, who is a generous God, wants to reward some of you His faithful ones, just as He rewarded David. He knows our needs and though His blessing didn’t come early in this matter, there was a good reason. The most important item, NOT ON THE LIST, was the ‘beautiful and intelligent’ Abigail, who became his wife after God took her husband.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”. Matthew 7:7

Ask God that He would open His hand and release that which He has for you today.

God bless and keep you in this New Year.

 

 

God blesses hearts and lives that are yielded to Him.

Solomon, derived from Shalom, meaning Peace, was the third and last king of the ‘united nation’ of Israel and Judah. God gave him peace and blessed him greatly and he built the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.

From the Biblical narrative, Solomon’s life was greatly impacted by women. His mother Bathsheba was very beautiful, but married and was stolen by king David, though they later married and Solomon was born. He was visited by the Queen of Sheba, with all her spices. Finally he got into trouble with God because of his many foreign wives who led him astray, into idolatry.

Nevertheless, (despite God’s commands) Solomon held fast to them in love (he couldn’t or wouldn’t give them up). 1 Kings 11:2

There’s another significant story regarding two women in the account of Solomon, centred around a ‘Baby’. 1 Kings 3 Solomon had asked for and received wisdom from the Lord to rule God’s people. The dispute between the two women over the parentage of the baby was to prove God’s gift of wisdom.

‘And so they argued before the king. …bring me a sword and cut the living child in two’.

The real mother (tender hearted) pleaded for her son’s life. The other woman (hard hearted) wanted the baby killed. Solomon knew the true mother, the one who was willing to sacrifice/hand over her son that he might live.

Lydia Prince, the first wife of Derek Prince, had established a work among Arab women north of Jerusalem and the Lord had blessed it abundantly. But then a missionary claimed that his denomination had been in the area first and the prospering work should be theirs. What would Lydia do? She eventually went to the women and told them to attend the denomination’s meetings and be faithful to them. She gave up her right to the ‘baby/ministry she’d birthed’ and sought the Lord for her next assignment. (The work among the Arab women eventually failed).

Lydia’s house and her extended family of eight adopted daughters became a centre for allied service personnel during World War 2. Many were blessed there and Derek found his wife. In the culture of the Middle East it wouldn’t have been possible for the Arab women to meet with the service men. It could only happen after Lydia gave up the ‘Baby’. (I attribute this story to Derek Prince Ministry).

Solomon refused to give up the Love of his heart and the ‘baby’, the nation of Israel, WAS CUT INTO TWO PIECES.

Is God asking us to give up something for Him as we step into this New Year? No one else can take our blessings (NB this is true) and what He has, the next step, will be greater than before. This may be a key for some of us, a New Step in the New Year.

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The labourer is worthy of their hire. Luke 10

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May God bless and keep you in this New Year.

 

Naaman and Cornelius, two gentile soldiers to whom the Lord revealed Himself in powerful ways.

Both these men were people of rank, yet it’s evident that they were both humbled before the Lord and received blessings.

Naaman came with his own expectations of how the prophet of God, Elisha, would come and minister to him, however, initially Elisha didn’t even come out to meet him. We’re all ready with our own opinions, but God often does things His way and in His time. Naaman was blessed with a creative miracle, new skin and returned to Elisha a different man, no longer in pride, but now with the attitude of a servant.

… for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other God but the Lord. 2 Kings 5:17

Naaman’s heart had been touched and henceforth he wanted to express his gratitude to the God of Israel, he was going to make offerings to Him alone.

Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, had been making prayers  and offerings to the God of Israel and he had an encounter with an angel messenger.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. Acts 10:4, 5

We need to understand and remember that our prayers and  offerings are known to God and recorded in heaven. This was the beginning of the Gentile Church and the taking of the Good News of Christ to the whole world. A tremendous moment for all of humanity.

From their positions as high ranking soldiers, Naaman (mentioned by Jesus in Luke 4) and Cornelius, understood authority and submitted to the Lord. They recognised His authority, but more than responding from just a sense of duty (soldiers understand duty) they both wanted to give to Him out of sincere Love. We’re looking at two soldiers recorded in the Book who both had ‘hearts for God’, to love and serve Him.

The first of the seven churches recorded in Revelation 2 was the Church of Ephesus.

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men… Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from what you have fallen and do the things you did at first. Revelation 2:2, 4, 5

None of us knows what the New Year will hold, but people no longer take things for granted, the world has changed and also the Church. We can no longer walk out our lives by following ‘rote and ritual’(following from duty alone) we must be walking with the Lord and giving of ourselves and our substance to Him.

‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’. Matthew 6:21

Those things that we truly value will determine much of our steps in the coming season.

God bless and keep you all in 2021.

 

 

Today is our last opportunity to GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD in 2020 – don’t miss it.

It’s been a difficult year for many people but God’s people have much to be thankful for, let’s tell Him today.

Oh Give Thanks To The Lord,
All You His People.
Oh Give Thanks To The Lord For He Is Good.
Let Us Praise, Let Us Thank,
Let Us Celebrate And Dance,
Oh Give Thanks To The Lord For He Is Good.

God bless and keep you.

Run to the LIGHT(of God), get out of the darkness.

It seems a bit strange to be urging people to walk in the light at the darkest time of the year, here in the northern hemisphere. Light and darkness cannot exist together, we will either be in one or the other.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we WALK IN THE LIGHT (our choice) as he is in the light,  we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:5, 6, 7

A long time ago now I read a book by an Anglican Minister, Charles, where he confessed that he was having feelings of attraction towards a young woman; he was happily married. Instead of ignoring the feelings he decided that he needed to address the problem and went to an older clergyman. He was open, the first essential for getting help and talked about his misplaced feelings. The older brother counselled him and they prayed together, but at the end of their time he said to Charles, ‘you won’t have any more problems with this, now that it’s been BROUGHT INTO THE LIGHT’. Simply confessing and sharing what had started to manifest inside, out of sight, had broken the power of the false attraction. The devil loves to keep things hidden and covered, but as John tells us, ‘God is LIGHT’.

King David, the greatest king in Israel, committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband, Uriah, to cover up his sin. But God, who ‘lives in Light’, couldn’t let him away with the sin and called him to account through his own personal prophet, Nathan. We all have blind spots and God may use others to speak to us and identify areas where He requires repentance or change. Don’t be hasty to reject those who bring correction, God Himself may be speaking to us. David wrote Psalm 51 to acknowledge his sin before God and it’s been kept in God’s Word for eternity.

Isaiah 9:2 spoke of the coming of the Lord;

The people walking in darkness have seen a GREAT LIGHT; on those living in the land of the shadow of death A LIGHT has dawned.

Don’t focus on the problem, focus on the Lord;

For with You is the fountain of LIFE; in Your LIGHT WE SEE LIGHT.  Psalm 36:9

The Life and Light OF THE LORD are the answer we need.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT. 1 Peter 2:9

God called us before time began to be His own special people, out of darkness into His Wonderful Light.

May God bless and keep us this day and in the year ahead.

 

Wishing all our friends and followers a very blessed, peaceful and safe Christmas 2020.

God bless you.

Sometimes God can do nothing until our thinking changes! Romans 12:2, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We’ve been looking at the encounter between Naaman and Elisha the prophet. It’s probable that this was a ONE TIME TRIP and Naaman was only going to have this one opportunity to meet with the God of Israel. Sometimes the change can be sudden and dramatic, e.g. Paul on the road to Damascus. Naaman experienced a major Turnaround;

A Turnaround – an abrupt or unexpected change, especially one that results in a more favourable situation.
“it was a remarkable turnaround in his fortunes”

God apprehended Naaman, by giving him a stark choice; obey and be healed or refuse and succumb to the leprosy.  God may put many of us in similar situations, for our own good. Naaman was initially outraged but his servants calmed him down, ‘wash and be cleansed’. 2 Kings 5:13 Naaman followed Elisha’s instructions and received a miracle, but he also had a ‘Turnaround’ in his thinking and his life.

“Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel”. 2 Kings 5:15

In Naaman’s day and also in our own time people worship many things, so this was a profound change of thinking. He also returned to Elisha in humility, no longer in arrogance. He pressed Elisha to accept a gift but the prophet wouldn’t because God had forbidden him. Even well meaning people can suggest things that are not right for us before God, we need to be careful.

Naaman asked for earth from the land of Israel to take home; ‘for your servant will never again (lasting change) make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord’. Naaman’s whole perspective had changed and he declared from now on he would only worship the Lord. It seems he had an intuitive understanding of what God required and the Israelites so often turned away from.

His final request before Elisha was that God would forgive him when he had to accompany his master to the temple of his god Rimmon and bow with him. 2 Kings 5:18 This request showed his sincerity to Yahweh; he didn’t want God to misunderstand how truly he was now devoted to Him alone. Elisha told him to, ‘Go in Peace’, God’s blessing. God was willing to forgive him for something he was obligated to do, but not by choice. There may be people today who are in similar situations, but God knows our hearts.

Naaman had to change his whole outlook before God, Elisha wouldn’t even come out to meet with him until he’d done that! Is God waiting for us to change our outlook, to take a Turnaround before He can bless us today? Only each one of us can really know, but God won’t bargain, we must obey and go His way. It’s the perfect way for us.

Father’s Love would welcome your support today.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

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We are available to seek personal words of encouragement for those who need them. Contact us on the webpage, a donation is required for this service.

 

 

The second part of the story of Naaman has an underlying  theme. (Yesterday’s blog looked at the servants’ roles, speaking truth to power).

It’s interesting that the Word records in detail how Naaman prepared for his trip. ‘So Naaman left, taking with him 10 talents of silver, 6000 shekels of gold and 10 sets of clothing’. 2 Kings 5:5 Why does the Bible record these amounts? Well we would be right to say that it was expected that the services of God’s servant be paid for. Saul said he had no money to go to Samuel, but his servant had a piece of silver. 1 Samuel 9:7, 8 Payment was expected and there may even have been an element of fear, mistreat God’s servant and perhaps you would come off worst.

Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house with his whole retinue; horses, chariots and servants. He was a somebody, an important man. He believed he should have been treated with respect and received the personal attention of the prophet but it wasn’t to be. Elisha sent his servant out with a message, ‘Go and dip seven times in the Jordan River and be clean’. Naaman turned and went off in a rage; he didn’t get his own way! (So true of many religious people today.)

I believe Naaman’s mentality towards this encounter was something more in the nature of a contract. I will bring a good recompense for this prophet (maybe they had prophets in Aram too) and he’ll be obliged to give me his personal attention. (Contract, one party does something and receives a payment in return, naturally the payer calls the shots or is in charge). God graciously restored Naaman’s flesh, ‘like that of a young boy’, but he was somewhat humiliated and had to humble himself by dipping seven times (number of completion, fully) in the Jordan.

Elisha had been told not to touch the gift, I believe severely;

The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing”. 2 Kings 5:16

Naaman had expectations, he was the one paying, but God wouldn’t permit it. Naaman was a high official and we’re told God had given victory through him, but he was still only a man. God would never come down to meet Naaman’s conditions and he’ll never allow anyone to dictate to Him. RELIGION is all about how much we’re doing and surely God must acknowledge that He owes us for our service, Not at All! We can never stand in our own merit before the King of all creation.

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Luke 17:10

Fortunately Naaman’s heart changed and not only was his leprosy cured but he acknowledged the God of Israel (his wife’s young servant girl alone knew the key to his miracle!) was the only true God. Complete surrender is the only way to God, on His terms alone.

God bless and keep you today.

Don’t be overawed, be bold and make the most of every God given opportunity.

There’s a very old saying in English and other languages;

Even a cat (lowly/humble person) may look at a king.

In the story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, we see servants who played important roles. 2 King’s 5 Naaman was highly respected because the Lord had given victory through him, but he had leprosy. A young girl from Israel had been taken captive and she served Naaman’s wife.

She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy”. 2 Kings 5:2

This unnamed young Jewish woman was the first link in a chain of events that would lead to a miraculous healing and salvation, probably for Naaman’s whole household. She’d been placed in his house and God used her, a captive to initiate/open a door for a valiant soldier to know Him. We may not be aware what God’s doing in our situations, just like Job, but He’s often planned things for us to play a part.

The king of Aram wrote a letter to the king of Israel, ‘I’m sending my servant Naaman to you, so you can cure him of his leprosy’. The king of Israel thought he was trying to pick a fight and panicked, but Elisha said, “Make the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel”.

Naaman went with his chariots and horses and attendants and stood outside Elisha’s house. He had false expectations of what would happen next and they could have robbed him of everything the Lord had for him! God rarely does things as we expect, so don’t try to pre-guess the way He’ll answer us. Naaman expected a public display before those with him, but Elisha sent a messenger to tell him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan and be healed’.

Naaman, a soldier, went off in a rage. The God of Israel told him how to be healed but he’d have to humble himself. Fortunately Naaman had some more wise servants with him, also unnamed, who spoke to him;

“My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, wash and be cleansed?” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times as the man of God told him and his flesh was restored and became clean, like that of a young boy (more than just healed, perfection). 2 Kings 5:13, 14

Naaman, a great man who served a king may have died if his servants hadn’t spoken to him on these two occasions. They had access and knew how to speak to him when he was being headstrong. They stopped him from losing everything and going on to perfect healing and salvation.

Through PATIENCE a ruler can be PERSUADED (Patient Persuasion is best) and a GENTLE TONGUE can break a BONE. Proverbs 25:15

Has God opened doors for us to speak to some who will only hear of Him through our voices? Timing may be important, but God gives opportunities and grace. Be sure to grasp those chances to be a blessing in the lives of others. They may need them greatly.

God bless and keep you today.