The “reality” I live in part 3. The role of the prophetic in the trustworthiness of Scripture

If it’s true what I said yesterday, that our passionate beliefs inevitably affect the way we live our lives, then obviously it’s important to know that we are not believing a lie! In His high priestly prayer Jesus tells us, that God’s Word is Truth (John 17:17). I realize that for many, this opens up a whole can of worms. If I say this in public, I am likely to hear “Can’t you make the Bible say anything you want?” It’s a relevant question, and one needs to be answered. I mean there are between 30,000 and 40,000 registered Christian denominations, many of which make exclusives claims to have the “correct” truth. And the simplistic answer that “my view is the right one,” simply won’t cut it! There is much to say about correctly interpreting Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15).

This morning I want to look at the role of the prophetic in the confirmation of the trustworthiness of Scripture. For me, prophecy plays a huge role. And one of the most convincing sets of fulfilled prophecy centres around the Jew and Israel. In particular the widespread rejection over 2000 years, of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah plays a large role in affirming the accuracy of the transmission of the Old Testament. I mean there is no way that fulfilled prophecies would not have been later altered to fit the facts. The rebirth of Israel in a day (Isaiah 66:8), and the regathering of Israel from “four corners of the earth” (Jeremiah 23:3)come to mind. Certainly some of the prophesied regathering referred to the return from Babylon. But the regathering from all over the globe has only begun to happen since 1948.

One of the most remarkable of the many prophecies concerning the Messiah comes in Daniel 9:26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple.” The time to which “Then” refers is after “the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (verse 25). Standard Jewish interpretation understands the sixty-two weeks to mean a period of sixty-two times seven years. And although there is some dispute as to the exact timing of this decree, nevertheless the stated times fits remarkably well with the crucifixion of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. These examples hardly begin to scratch the surface of this important and massive subject!

Father, as I continue this morning Lord, I am very aware that what I believe affects my actions, and that my actions affect what I believe. And in particular, I am never standing still. I am either increasing in the knowledge of God, or I am decreasing in the same. We are in a war to the death for our hearts and minds with the enemy of our soul, and I need to feed daily upon your life-giving Word. And when I do this Lord your Word is self authenticating. It’s not that I have it all the answers, I certainly don’t know it all! But I do know whom I have believed and am persuaded that You are able to keep what I have committed to You against that day (2 Timothy 1:12). And I worship You again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Part 2 The “reality” I live in feels real, even if it's a lie!

Have you ever wondered why some people can be so sure that they are right, when you are equally sure they are wrong? I have friends who call what I believe propaganda. But I have the very same thought about what they believe. And this is so widespread, that it is no wonder that the world believes that there is no answer to the question “What is truth?” But nobody can live as if there is no truth, well nobody I know does! I mean if we really believed that all truth is relative, then why would we get angry an hateful at other people’s “truth”?

Modern research into the brain, is giving insight into the connection between what we think and what we feel. In particular scientists have learned that every thought comes with an attached feeling. Thoughts and feeling cannot be separated, and the one re-enforces the other in a kind of feedback loop. So for example when we respond to something in anger and we "meditate" on what triggered it, the anger grows together with the belief that we are right and the other person completely wrong (been there!). In light of this, since “The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God” (James 1:20), it is prudent to obey the command to “Not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26).

Our passionate beliefs inevitably effect the way we live our lives. And since it is true that we suppress the truth by unrighteousness (Romans 1:18?), our belief system, in addition to the above, is reinforced by our “deeds done in the body.” This is perhaps seen most clearly in denial and/or guilt. In particular, in order to come into the light, we have to admit that we are wrong, and own up to the fact that our actions have likely caused not only ourselves, but others a great deal of pain. I am seeing this as a kind of investment in our denial. I am also convinced, that all of us are in denial at some level about something! And the greater the denial, the greater the pain involved in coming out of it! But Jehovah sneaky has a way of getting behind this. And one of the ways He does this is to get behind our defences by showing us our potential through prophetic words that build up, strengthen and encourage (1 Corinthians 14:3).

Father, our egos are so fragile! And this is probably one of the reasons why it is so difficult to admit it when we are wrong. It is oh so painful to have to own up to our inadequacies, especially if that involves coming to terms with the pain we may have caused others. We will not likely do this unless we can find a safe place. You are a safe place Lord, because Your love for us is unconditional, and your forgiveness free and generous. But we need safe places down here too. And part of what makes a community safe is the willingness to see the good in each other. We find this hard Lord, I do! And I am beginning to see that Your prophetic word spoken through us is useful not only for the one receiving the word, but also for the rest of us, as it helps us to see others as You see them. And You see the good, because You see them in Christ. Thank You, thank You, thank You Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Part (5) Believe God and be established; believe His prophets, and prosper

For those who have eyes to see, the Lord often uses the “coincidence” of the same numbers coming to our attention multiple times. And when this happens, there is almost always something He wants to say to us. Sometimes the numbers are attached to a verse he highlights, and this is the case this morning's quote from 2 Chronicles 20:20. What I have “seen” three times over the last few days, is the combination 20 – 20, and the connection with sight. And I felt the Lord saying that if we fully process this verse, it will give us 20-20 spiritual vision.

Belief and obedience are strongly linked in the Scripture (c.f. Hebrews 3:18, 19), and believing and obeying are part of what I mean by processing the verse. Peter tells us that he who lacks the biblical virtues of 2 Peter 1:5- 7, is “nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins” (verse 9). I remember a young woman in the Caffe Years ago, saying to me “I don’t believe adultery is wrong!” I looked her in the eye and said not unkindly “That’s because you want to do it.” She could not quite hide her guilty as charged smile. In fact that is a prime example of what it means to suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). In secular parlance, we call it rationalization! Once I too was blinded by my desires, but I am seeing more clearly now!

I was quite discouraged this morning at the start of my quiet time. But as I came to Him, He reminded me of this verse, and its somewhat hidden connection to 20-20 spiritual vision. And as I continued to sit with Him, I remembered a prophetic word over me to the effect that He would open up His Word to me in a new way; and that it would not just be for me, but for others too. And in line with the purpose of a prophetic word (1 Corinthians 14:3), this encouraged me to press in, and to write down some of my thoughts. And it also encouraged me to take my eyes off where He does not seem to be working at this point in time, and to look for where He is working. And if nothing else, I can see that He is working in me, and I “see” once again, that I am the only one, that with His help, I can change!

Father, You knew that I was quite discouraged this morning. But I knew that if I came to You and spent both quality and quantity time with You, You would give me fresh bread. And as You promised Lord, this bread is not just for me, it’s for others. So I pray for myself and all those reading these posts, that You will help us to do our part in coming to You morning by morning, and in meditating upon Your Word. I am sensing that You are telling us Lord, that this will not only give us 20-20 spiritual vision, but also that it will establish and prosper us. And I praise and bless and worship You again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Peter, Ananias and Sapphira, and the sons of thunder

I cannot leave our discussion of no condemnation in New Testament prophecy, without discussing the anomaly of the Ananias and Sapphire incident. I am calling it an anomaly because, as we saw earlier (24th November), God’s normal mode of operating since Christ, is that wrath and condemnation are postponed until the day of Judgement (Romans 2:5). But in the story of Ananias and Sapphira, judgement was not only not delayed until judgement day, it was immediate! They were both (I would argue) taken home prematurely to heaven for “simply” lying about how much they had received for the sale of their land (Acts 5:1-11).

Related to our issue, is the incident where James and John had asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven. They were outraged, because a village of the Samaritans had not received Him. Jesus rebuked them, and in one version we read that He told them “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of” (Luke 9:54). It is interesting to me, that he did not tell them that they did could not do it, that they did not have the authority to do that (Matthew 28:18-20). Kris Vallotton tells the story of an early mentor of his pronouncing death to someone who was resisting him, and the man fell down dead! So it can be done, but I understand Jesus to be saying that that is not of His Spirit!

If you think about it, if this was the norm of the way that the Lord operates in this day and age, there would be people dying left right and centre. I mean which one of us has not lied? But to say it again, His mercy is designed to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). This does not mean that the Lord cannot, nor does not, take people home when their behaviour is detrimental what He is wanting to do. He is sovereign! In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, it seems to me, that at the birth of the church, the leaven of the hypocrisy that lay behind Ananias and Sapphire’s lie, needed to be nipped in the bud.

Father, I am left with a question, and it is a question not a statement. It is clear that James and John were operating in Old Testament mode in their request. My question is, was Peter operating in the same way with the Ananias and Sapphira? I mean he certainly was later, when under pressure he no longer sat with the Gentiles (Galatians 2:11)! In any case Lord we seem to need Your help, both inside and outside the prophetic, to operate our of mercy rather than judgement (James 2:13), and I am asking You for that help today and every day, in Jesus Name Amen

Discipline, conviction, correction and the prophetic

Because our sense of justice is so strong, and our thoughts that “somebody needs to do something about those people,” have strong emotional components attached to them, it is important to discuss the place of discipline, conviction and correction in the prophetic ministry. The Scripture makes it very clear that in the church we are to purge out the old leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7), that we are not to associate with brothers or sisters who are in deep sin (1 Corinthians 6:17). And was not Jesus in what I have called Old Testament prophetic mode, when he called the Pharisees a brood of vipers, and was not His act in overthrowing the tables of the money changers a prophetic act (Matthew 21:12).

I think the first thing to say, is that because there was no sin in Him, all that Jesus did must have been done in humility and love. We saw yesterday, that “Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). Now clearly Jesus needed no mercy, but we do, so we need to be very careful! I am still trying to work out the what and the how of what it means to be salt and light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation (Matthew 5:13; Philippians 2:15). The second thing to say, is that Apostolic teaching makes it clear that we do not deal with those who are outside the church in the same way that we deal with those who are inside. Indeed if we were not to associate with any who are in deep sin, we would need to go out of the world (1 Corinthians 5:10).

The third point is that New Testament prophetic is for the church (1 Corinthians 14:22; Ephesians 4:11,12). Paul does however talk about the response of prophecy to unbelievers who come into the church. We read “The secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God” (1 Corinthians 14:25). Now there may well be conviction (verse 24), but this does not come directly from the words of the prophecy, since such words are for “building up, strengthening and encouragement (verse 3). Any conviction then must come from the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). After all this is His job not ours!

Father, what I am seeing here, is that while discipline and correction are a necessary part of church life, these things are not to be done in the context of the prophetic. From my own experience, discipline is more easily received when it’s done in a relationship of love, respect and tenderness. On the other hand the most significant prophetic words I have received, have came from those who don’t know me from Adam (though they do know me from Eve!). I want to thank You Father for the depth of Your Word, and that Your greatest desire is that we be built up and comforted. Thank You that You are the God of all comfort and I thank and praise You again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Part (II) Mercy triumphs over judgement): New vs. Old Testament prophetic ministry

A former Bishop of the city of Amsterdam, a city which has long been a strong contender for the sin capital of the world, is reported to have said that if God does not judge Amsterdam, then He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. He certainly rained down Judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), and in fact the nations too. This was according to His promise of blessings for obedience, and cures for disobedience (Deuteronomy 30:19). So why has God not judged Amsterdam? The short answer, is that before Christ, God dealt with mankind under the Old Covenant, under the Law. But since Jesus came, we are no longer under Law, but under Grace. And as I said last day, under the New Covenant, judgement is put off until the last day in order to give time for the unrepentant to turn in repentance and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

At some level, moral outrage is out of fashion in this post-Christian era. But moral outrage cannot be so easily denied. In fact, there seems to be as much moral outrage from unbelievers (admittedly over different issues), as there is from those who are marked by hypocritical self-righteousness. Part of this, is that being made in God’s image, we are moral agents, and our moral outrage can reflect God's own moral outrage. What I am saying, is that our strong sense of justice is God given. We rightly believe Hitler should be judged, and we are offended and appalled by genocide, rape, child abuse and the like. And we have the sense that something should be done. In fact there is coming a day, the day of Judgement, when every wrong will be put right and justice will prevail.

But there is another side of God’s nature that resides, or is at least meant to reside, in us. I am of course talking about His mercy. This however, is much easier to suppress. I know this first hand, because as I have been wrestling with these posts, I find my own sense of moral outrage that “something should be done,” is often accompanied by strong emotion. And these strong emotions do not easily subside even as I meditate on what the Scripture is saying about these things. And that is why I believe, we need the equally strong teaching from the context of this morning’ verse. It is “Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). We need to let this sink in, and we need to let it permeate all that we think and do, and especially in the way that we give and receive the prophetic word.

Father, it is obvious to me that the Pharisee is alive and well and living both on the left and on the right, in the conservative and in the liberal, in my brothers and my sisters, and in me! It is not that long ago that You convicted me of judging those who judge, “Those blankety blank judgemental people!” I need to extend mercy to others Father, because I need mercy for me! I need Your help Lord, and I choose to humble myself before You this morning, and ask You to help me to see others the way You see them, to see the treasure not the trash. And I ask You Lord to give me prophetic words to draw out the treasure, and in this way to draw others to Yourself in Jesus Name Amen

Mercy triumphs over judgement: New versus Old Testament prophetic ministry (I)

If God never changes, would not prophesy in the Old Testament be exactly the same in the New? Well since Christ, we can all prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:5,31). So you had better hope that it is different, because under the Old Testament if you got it wrong, they had to put you to death (Deuteronomy 18:20). In fact we are told in the New Testament, that we see things imperfectly, and that our prophecy is “in part” (1 Corinthians 13: 12, 9). And a sure implication of this, is that the way we understand how to give and receive a prophetic word has to differ from the Old Testament model. So while God never changes, I thank God this morning, that His way of dealing with us has changed!

Some have understood prophecy as being purely predictive, as in prophet receiving revelation from God pertaining to something that would occur in the future. Certainly, this "foretelling" is a big part of the prophetic in both the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament for example predicted the Messiah. In the New, Jesus predicted the fall of the Temple. But prophecy is more than foretelling. The prophet Jeremiah’s ministry involved being set over the nations to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). On the other hand, the references to the purpose of prophecy in the New Testament, pertain exclusively to building up, encouragement, comfort and the like (1 Corinthians 14:3; Ephesians 4:12). Some have called this “forth-telling.”

The Old Testament is rife with fulfilled predictions of famine, the withholding of rain, defeat in battle, deportation etc., etc. And this is reflected in Old Testament prophecy. In the New Testament, it’s not that with our Holy God condemnation and punishment no longer apply, but rather they are delayed. We read that unrepentant hearts accumulate “wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5). In other words judgement and condemnation are put off until Judgement Day. Peter tells us the reason for this delay, is because God is longsuffering toward us, and His desire, in the delay, is that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). This being the case, surely this needs to be reflected in the New Testament prophetic model. In particular the way we give and receive prophecy, needs to conform to the purposes (as stated above) of New Testament prophecy. In particular, mercy needs to triumph over judgement (James 2:13). There is more to say!

Father, I am grateful that we are no longer required to stone our rebellious sons and daughters (Deuteronomy 21:18- 21). We love them Lord as you do, even in their rebellion. In the meantime Lord it is our earnest prayer, expectation and sure hope, that You will pour out Your Spirit on them (Isaiah 44:3), that You will teach them, and that their peace will be great (Isaiah 54:13). We trust You to do this Lord for You are faithful to perform Your Word (Jeremiah 1:12), in Jesus Name Amen

Believe in His prophets and you shall prosper: Chronicles 20:20 Part (4)

I was talking yesterday with a Pastor friend of mine about prophecy, and he told me one of the reasons he had not embraced it, was because he and others, had had bad experiences with it. But this is to throw out the baby with the bathwater! There is much to say, and the first thing is that this is one of many, many the enemy has robbed us of, over the years (John 10:10a). But God has been restoring them. First of all through Luther and others, He restored the rightful place of the Scriptures. He has restored missions, the place of the Holy Spirit, and more recently, the Fatherhood of God (this through the so called Toronto blessing and other moves). The needed restoration of His Fatherhood is to what is probably the most spiritually orphaned generation there ever was.

I have always felt that, while we must not be naive, we do need to be open to what the Lord is doing through streams in the Church, other than our own. The Scripture puts it this way “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). In accordance with this philosophy, I visited the International House of prayer at Kansas City in 2007. I wanted to check out the 24/7 prayer meeting that at that time, had been going on for eight years. I was fascinated, because prayer for me was somewhat boring. But I digress, what I want to say it that I received a prophetic word there to the effect that I have a book in my bowls. Well perhaps I am constipated, because if it is true, it must still be there (at lest the time of writing) in my bowls.

In the coming days, I want to talk about the need in receiving a prophetic word to discern, to have the word confirmed, and having done so, to press in. The first thing I need to say though, is just because the fulfillment does not happen in our desired time, does not mean it was not an accurate word. In terms of discernment, the word I am talking about resonated with me, since I have always wanted to write. But I struggled with my “constipation” for years, changing titles, writing and rewriting introductions and chapters etc., etc. I could not find my focus. Finally I decided to write a blog, which at first was spasmodic. Then about a year and a half ago, after attending a prophetic conference, I got a new impetus for my blog which I now write almost every day. More recently a sister in the Lord asked me “Why don’t you write up these posts as a book?” This is a long overdue confirmation, and all I need to do now is to press in!

Father, Your Word tells us that the purpose of New Testament prophecy is for building up, for encouragement and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). And You used the above prophetic word, which I believed, to enable me at least to not give up, if not always to persist. Lord we all need building up, encouragement and comfort, and my sense (if I am right) is that this is why You are leading me to blog on this much neglected subject. The coming days will either confirm this or not!In any case I need Your help to press in with the blog, in Jesus Name Amen

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard …

There was a glorious sunrise here this morning. It stretched from the East to the West with a thousand shades of orange. And it changed from moment to moment, as I watched. And several times I tried in vain to catch the fullness the glory on my camera. But while the eye of the camera can catch something of the glory, in the end it is a pale imitation of reality. And somehow it reminded me the verse “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

I do however catch a glimps of these things in a sunrise or a sunset, or in the fall colours. And this morning as I gazed at the sunrise, the phrase "eye candy" came to mind, and I had this picture of a beloved sister and I driving to Corner Brook when I was there, and her chuckling with delight at the fall colours. If we delight over these things, how much more must He, our Father delight in our delight? After all “He delights over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). He is the prince of delight, He is the author of joy and peace and hope and love, and in these thoughts, He is indeed giving me a glimps of all that He is, of all that you and I mean to Him, and of the pleasures for evermore that He has in store for us (Psalm 16:11).

Some people think heaven and hell are here on earth, and I think know what they mean. I mean I think that we catch a glimps of hell if we think about the here and now with everything remouved that is true and noble and just and lovely, and whatever is of good report. And we can catch a glimps of heaven if we think about the here and now with everything that the opposite remouved. But this morning’s verse is essentially saying “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” And I am caused to wonder again why anyone would not want that. But then again I know that “the god of this age has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe” (2 Corinthians 4:4). And it brings me to ask again “How shall I then live” (2 Peter 3:11)?

Father, I want to thank You this morning for the beauty and the glory of creation. Thank You Lord that for those who have eyes to see, the invisible things of Yourself are so very, very obvious (Romans 1:20). Once I too was blind Lord, but now I see. And I ask You this morning Father, to help me to live a life that points to You, and for You to give me courage to be Your ambassador, speaking Your words when You want me to speak, and the serenity to be silent when You want me to be silent, and to know by the nudging of Your precious Holy Spirit when to do what. In Jesus Name Amen

Believe in the LORD, and you shall be established: Chronicles 20:20 Part (3)

King David also talked about being established in Psalm 40:2. And in the context of this morning’s verse and the wider context of Psalm 40 (i.e. Psalms 38, and 39), it is clear that being established has a lot to do with patient endurance, with waiting in hope, and in trusting the Lord in spite of all that is going on. In the Chronicles reference, Israel was facing an overwhelming force arrayed against it in battle. David describes his trial as being in a horrible, desolate pit (Psalm 40:2 again), a pit that is reminiscent of the pit into which Jeremiah was thrown. It was nothing but mud, and he sank in it up to his waist (Jeremiah 38:6).

What I’m seeing this morning, over and over again, is that the saints in Scripture were only established through the refining furnace of trials, temptations and difficulties. And although Paul could describe his furnace as “light momentary affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17), the trials that we are called to endure can seem anything but light, and can seem to last forever. Rest assured however, that there is an end to these things. In particular after we have suffered a little while, the Lord will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, establish and settle us (1 Peter 5:10 ESV).

These thoughts may not be too easy to receive this morning, especially if you are already discouraged. But what the Lord seems to be reminding of me this morning, is that the call to be a Christian, is a call to die. In one of the so-called hard sayings of Jesus, He tells us “Unless you take up your cross every day and follow Me, you cannot be my disciple” (Matthew 16:24). And we likely cannot do this, if we take our eyes off Jesus “who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Having said this, there is much help available. In particular the quotation in the title of this post continues “believe His prophets, and you shall prosper,” and I want to talk tomorrow, about the vital role the prophetic plays in all of this.

Father, Paul in reasoning for the resurrection of the dead, says that if there is no resurrection, his fight with beasts at Ephesus would have been in vain (1 Corinthians 15:32). Indeed if we have believed cunningly devised fables, our faith would also be in vain. But I choose to believe the witness of Peter and the other disciples, who experiences His Majesty (2 Peter 1:16), and that our faith is indeed not in vain. And I also choose to believe that these things are working a far more exceeding weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). And I know Lord, that when You have tried us we will come forth as gold (Job 23:10). We need your help, we need Your grace, we need Your mercy. Thank You that we are not alone, that You will never leave us nor forsake us. Give us overwhelming, joyful endurance this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Part 2 Believing: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper

I don’t know where you are with the prophetic this morning. Perhaps you are new to the prophetic, and have many questions. Perhaps you, or someone you know has been hurt by the abuse, or the misuse of the prophetic. Perhaps you fully embrace the prophetic with or without discernment (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You may even believe that prophecy disappeared with the completion of the New Testament. But surely I can start with the need to believe at least one of God’s prophets, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. After all He is prophet and priest and king (John 4:19; Hebrews 7:17; John 18:37! But also wherever you are, the battle to believe it is likely to be strong. For example Jesus told us that whoever believes in Him would do greater things than He (John 14:12). Are you there yet? Have you raised the dead yet?

There is much to say about prophets and prophecy, about the differences and similarities between Old Testament and New Testament prophecy, and about the need to test all things etc. etc. It very clear that there are false prophets both in the old and the New Testament (i.e. 1 Kings 22; Matthew 7:15), and we certainly don’t want to believe false prophets! Nevertheless the aspect of what I want to talk about this morning is believing, believing both God and His prophets. In a certain sense, the whole of the Bible is prophetic, and I want to start with something that I hope we can all agreed on. We have all likely had the experience of the verse “jumping out” at us, this is the Holy Spirit illuminating the verse. The Lord illuminated one for me just recently through a sister in the Lord. It is “I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,” (Isaiah 44:3). I believe such illumination is prophetic in nature, but as I say what I want to talk about most this morning, is the battle to believe.

And it is a battle! I have been waiting many years for the fulfilment of a promise that the Lord gave to me. There is something of a fire in the delay between the promise and its fulfilment. He tells us to wait patiently upon him (Psalm 40:!). But when it doesn’t happen immediately we, like Abraham can try to make it happen or settle for Plan B. Been there done that, and I have T-shirts to prove it! On the other hand I have written down many of his promises. And when I am in danger of being discouraged, I take them out and read them, preferably out loud. The Scripture tells me, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Romans (10:17). So I rehearsed my promises, remember ones He has already fulfilled, and I remind Him over and over of those not yet fulfilled (Luke 11:8), sometimes with many tears.

Father, You are not a man that you should lie, and the Scriptures tell me that what You say You will do. You watch over Your Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). Believing is not easy Lord, especially when there are long delays. But Your timing is perfect, and while You are never early, You are never late. And I have learnt to trust that what You need to do in me during the waiting period, is every bit as important as the fulfilment of Your promise or prophetic word. Thank You Lord that as I choose to believe You and Your prophets, You will continue the process of establishing and prospering me. I believe on that day when we meet, I will be able to say ”You have done all things well.” And I praise and thank and bless You again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper (I)

I am thinking that it is no coincidence, that the Lord brought this verse to my attention this morning, after having blogged for the last couple of days on not losing our confidence, and on pressing in. The focus of both blogs was on claiming promises and concerns concerning our (my) loved ones. And part of what the Lord is reminding me this morning, is that His goals, while they include our loved ones, are much, much bigger. The context of this morning’s verse from 2 Chronicles 20:20 has to do with the establishment and the prosperity of the nation of Israel. And the clear application for us, is His concern in these areas to our cities, to our provinces to our nation, and even for the world.

I heard a prophetic word last night concerning the role Canada is to play in the healing of the nations. And again, it is no coincidence, that the Canadian flag contains a Maple leaf, since leaves, we are told, are for the healing of the nations Ezekiel 47:12. But before looking more closely into this verse, I need to say something about what it means to prosper. In this covetous age, many have understood words like this to refer only to financial prosperity, and the accumulation of stuff. I want to talk about pressing into the prophecies. But if we are pressing in only on financial prosperity, then according to James 4:3 we likely will not receive, because we are in danger of wanting to spend it on our own pleasures. As I say, His goals are far, far greater!

The same word (prosper) is used in Psalm 1, where we are told that if we delight in the Law of the Lord, and meditate on it day and night, then we will prosper in everything that we do (verses 2, 3). The meaning of the Hebrew word has to do with success in our endeavours. In the context of this morning’s verse, Israel faced an overwhelming Army coming against it. So the promise to prosper, if they believed the prophets, was of victory, success and of overcoming in the coming battle. New Testament application of physical warfare in the Old, pertains to the spiritual warfare. This warfare, we are told, is against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12) And yes we do need to be concerned about the welfare of our loved ones, but we also need to be concerned for the welfare, prosperity and success in the spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of the up and coming generation. Father, this battle is fierce. So we need to take the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6) and to fight with the spiritual weapons of our welfare (2 Corinthians 10). The primary weapon this morning’s verse is talking about, is faith. So I choose this morning Lord to believe the promises that You have given, and to believe the prophetic words spoken over Newfoundland, Canada and the nations. I pray reign and rule of God come, bring heaven down to Earth in revival Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Forgetting those things which are behind, I press in towards the goal

For the longest time I used to wonder what Christians meant when they talked about pressing in. It is Biblical as we see in this quote from Philippians 3:13,14. It is helpful to understand the context of what Paul was talking about in in these verses. In particular the phrase “Forgetting those things which are behind” is important. For example, in seeking to win our loved ones for the Lord, we may have blown it in the past. We may have nagged them to death, we may have done things or said things which we now regret. But the wonderful thing about being a Christian, is that we have a redemptive God, and when we turn from our sin, He will redeem (make up for) our mistakes.

In some ways, my thoughts this morning continue last days thoughts, where we were talking about not losing our confidence. And I am feeling this morning that I need to press in to the promises that the Lord has given in His Word. For example He promises “I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring” (Isaiah 44:3b). Promises needs to be claimed! For the longest time, I used to let my promises just sit there, thinking “Well if God has promised, it will happen." But then why does He tell us in His Word “We do not have because we do not ask" (James 4:2)? Jesus speaks of the need to keep on knocking (Matthew 7:7). It was because she kept pressing in, that the unjust judge finally gave in to the windows pleas (Luke 18:1- 8).

And this morning there is something rising up within my spirit to lay hold of my promises, and to do this in the same way the world would contend and fight for a contended earthly inheritance. In particular I come before Him to intercede for my loved ones, I press in, being determined to not let go until He gives me the assurance that He will do what he says He will do. I tell Him “You are not a man that You should lie, and I bring this one and that one before You, for their freedom, for salvation, for healing, for restoration of relationships. And I will not let You go until You bless me.”

Father, thank You for your promise that if we refuse to be weary in well doing, to press into our promises, to continually go forth weeping and sowing seeds, then we shall surely reap what we are sowing (Psalm 126:6; 1 Corinthians 15:58). And as we do this Lord, I know full well that You are working a work in me, in which when I press in to You, You press in to me. And in this way the journey is every bit as important as the goals and the answers You have promised. Thank You Lord, thank You Lord, thank You Lord in Jesus Name Amen

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded

Have you been discouraged? I have, and in fact I was this morning. With 20/20 hindsight I had ignored the nudge the Lord had given me to blog on this morning’s verse from Hebrews 10:35. In my discouragement, I had dismissed it, partially because it was the verse the Lord had given to a prayer partner yesterday. So I was thinking it was for her, not for me, and I was at a loss as to what to blog. But I noticed a message from her on facebook telling me that the Lord actually given this verse to her three times in the last two days. And she had clearly felt nudged to tell me, so I thought I had better take a second look.

In the context of this verse, the writer to the Hebrews had been talking about the tremendous struggles and difficulties his audience had successfully overcome. And it is in light of this that he tells them they should not throw away their confidence. And I realized again, that many times it is the small setbacks, rather than the big battles that can discourage us. And as I prayed about it, the Lord showed me that it was the less than enthusiastic response of two different people that I love, that I had allowed to discourage me. And “allowed” is the operative word, as it became clear that I had taken my eyes off the Lord, and had placed them on the response of my loved ones. So after a time of prayer with my prayer partner, I made a conscious choice do not throw away my confidence, and to choose to believe in the promised great reward.

Now the context of this promise in Hebrews, is of the hereafter, and I by no means dismiss these future rewards. But as I wrestled with my discouragement, the Lord reminded me of a verse that has meant a lot to me in the past. It is Psalm 27:13 (NKJV) which says “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD, In the land of the living.” And in reminding me of this, the Lord was once again affirming that as I pray, He is at work in the here and now, in the lives of those I love, and that great rewards in the land of the living, the here and now, are also coming!

Father, I want to thank You Lord for the “coincidence” of my sister messaging me with this message of encouragement, at the very time I found myself in discouragement. Your promise is true Father, that You will supply all of our needs according to Your riches in glory. Thank You for Your encouragement Lord, thank You that You were not silent in my moment of need. Thank You for the fellowship of the saints, thank You for the comfort of Your Holy Spirit, thank You for reminding me, through my sister, of the need to give thanks in all things in Your precious Name Amen

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (II) in truth

Last day we were looking at what it means to worship God in spirit, this morning we will be looking at what it means to worship him in truth. In some sense it is totally artificial to separate worship in spirit from worship in truth, for they are inseparable. David hints at this when he declares that God desires truth in the in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6). But what does that mean? Well, in this Psalm David was repenting from having committed adultery and murder. So at least part of what is must mean, is what Jesus told when under the New Covenant, He equated the outward sins of murder and adultery, with the inner sins of hate and lust (Matthew 5:21, 27). But what exactly is truth?

As I wrestle this morning with trying to put down something coherent from my many thoughts, I am very aware that the things of the Spirit of God, are foolishness to the natural man, (1 Corinthians 2:14). And part of this, is that “we speak the wisdom of God in mysteries” (1 Corinthians 2:7). And it seems to me that there is nothing more mysterious than what the Bible says about truth. In particular, Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6), and the Word of God is the truth (John 17:17). So then part of what I think it means to worship in truth, is for us to live in the truth, and this is all about abiding in Jesus and letting His Word abide in us (John 15:7), meditating on it and obeying it.

The NIV brings out another aspect of what it means to worship in Romans 12:1, where the presentation of our bodies as living sacrifices, is described as our spiritual worship. The next verse commands us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So then trying to put all this together, worshiping Him in truth is about living the truth in the both the inward and the outward parts. It has to do both with abiding in Him, and being holy in thought, word and deed. Indeed, He tells us “Be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

Father, it is said, that we become like what we worship. And part of this is the natural desire to imitate what we admire. I know Father that the more I know about You, the more I want to know You, and the I want to be like You. And worship not only facilitates this Lord, but it also draws me ever deeper into Your embrace. And for this and many other things, I praise and worship and adore You this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (I) in spirit

The context of this quote from John 4:24, is of the Samaritan woman bringing up the dispute about where is the correct place of worship (verse 20). Part of what Jesus was saying, is that in the soon coming New Covenant, it would not be about the correct place, but rather that true worship will be about spirit and about truth (verse 23). And it doesn’t seem to be much of a stretch, to apply this to our denominational disputes, so that true worship is not about which is the correct denomination, but rather again, that true worship involves spirit and truth. But what does this mean?

In Romans 8:10 (NIV), Paul tells us “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” The human spirit can be thought of as that part of us that relates to God. And what we are being told here, is that before we become Christians, we are spiritually dead (see also Ephesians 2:1), and unable to truly relate to God. So part of what Jesus is saying, is that true worship is only possible for those who are in Christ. I came to this morning’s Scriptures, through meditating on the phrase “deep calls to deep” (Psalm 42:7). Light is shed on this, and on this morning's verse in 1 Corinthians 2:10, where we read that the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God, and that it is the Spirit who reveals these things to us.

What I am seeing here, is that as the Spirit reveals to us the deep things of our fascinating God, our hearts naturally turn to worship. The picture given in Revelation 4:10 of the twenty-four elders falling down before Him who sits on the throne, and worshiping Him, paints a picture of moment by moment revelation of ever new facets of His glory. These ongoing revelations are so wondrous and amazing, that the 24 elders can do nothing but fall down and worship. I have caught glimpses of this in the here and now, in some of the dramatic encounters I have both witnessed and experienced of the deep things of God calling to deep things in our spirits, in this way!

Father, part of what I am seeing here this morning Lord, is that in each and every one of your children, there is a depth spirit that we have not yet begun to plummet. So I pray for myself and all reading this blog, that You would give us a spirit of wisdom and experiential revelation knowledge of You, and that as Your deep calls to our deep, You would open the eyes of our heart so that we may truly worship You in spirit and truth. In Jesus Name Amen

As Iron sharpens iron so man sharpens man

There is a companion Scripture that goes along with this morning’s verse from Proverbs 27:17. It is “He who speaks first seems to be right, until his neighbour comes along and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). Both scriptures seem to be saying, that we will not know the whole truth, if we do not engage with one another. And not for the first time, it came to me this morning, that many Christians seem as reluctant to engage in debate with other Christians, as do non-Christians with Christians. In either case in order to know the whole truth, and to sharpen each other, we do need at some level, to engage!

A Christian counsellor I know told me that in a dispute, particularly a marital dispute, each side knows only about 10% of the truth. If this is true, then when we are a loggerheads, there is a whopping 80% that remains unknown. Now the iron sharpening iron analogy, cannot likely be done without friction. And the refining and sharpening process occurs as we rub up against each other. We need to learn to do this respectfully, gently, and in a non-argumentative way. This does not come easy to any of us! In an argument, as opposed to a discussion, both sides are likely to be more interested in proving a point, rather that arriving at the truth. In a respectful discussion, we are trying to get at the truth, not to win the argument!

The world is likely, but perhaps overly simplistically, divided in two, those who are more than willing to engage in argument, and those who avoid conflict like the plague. Clearly in light of this morning’s Scriptures, both extremes are wrong! And it seems to me this morning that in order to get the balance right, we need courage and wisdom and Grace. We need courage to engage, at least I do, we need wisdom to know when and how to engage, when to be quiet, and when to simply listen. We need Grace so that our discussion is loving and respectful, and looking for win, win solutions. Otherwise it’s lose, lose! We need to learn to do this in house, for if we do not lean it here in the Christian community, how can we possibly respectfully engage with the world? And it is something we need to learn, for it does not come naturally.

So Father, I pray for these things this morning Lord, courage, wisdom and grace. I pray the same thing for those with whom You want me to engage. I am very aware this morning Lord that our woundedness plays a big role in these things. I know that in my first marriage I fought too much, and in my second not enough. I was too wounded from the first. But fighting is not really what needs to happen, or if we do fight, we need to fight fair, in the ways I have described above. But it’s hard to do that Lord when you know that you’re right! I’m joking of course, but You know that Lord. In fact the older I get the more aware I am of how little I know! We all need help in this area Father, and I am asking for it this morning, in Jesus Name Amen

The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms;

They say that the only thing that is constant is change! But actually the eternal God is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And in a world where change is everywhere, we need a safe place, a place of stability, a rock, somewhere secure, someone and something that can be relied on. The Scripture tells us “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save (Psalm 146:3). In the end, at some level everyone will eventually let us down, but the faithful God will not.

There’s a chorus that we sing where we tell the Lord “I need you more, more than yesterday.” For me this is not just words, I know for sure that without my relationship with Him, I would not have made it. Life is far too hard, and I am far too soft. Some people would call that a crutch, but for me it is more like a brand-new pair of legs. But actually I don't see anyone who is not limping! Moreover, in Him is life and health and peace, in Him there is comfort and rest, in Him there is joy and forgiveness and cleansing. And that’s just in the here and now, in the hereafter there is life forevermore.

And on top of this, underneath are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27). “When I fall down He lifts me up, when I am dry he feels my cup.” With Him I cannot fail, He is always proud of me, He always loves me. And that love is tangible, it comforts me when I am sad, it strengthens me when I am weak. He believes in me, when I cannot believe in myself. He sustains me through the hard times, and He even brings joy in the midst of trials. Why would anyone not want Him? All it costs, is the giving up of my foolish pride and the giving up of my stubborn and rebellious ways, ways that left me wounded and bleeding and empty!

Father, I want to thank you this morning Lord, that when I found myself in a very dark place, You came to me, You showed yourself, and You welcomed me home with open arms, You took me in, You healed my heart and You brought peace, and hope, and meaning, and joy. I even got to like myself! There is no One like You Father, no one even comes close! You are my refuge and my strength Lord, and underneath are Your everlasting arms, arms of love that keep me safe and secure, and I give you honour glory and praise again this morning in Jesus Name Amen

Identity, authority, resources (IV) Resources

In 2 Peter 1:3 we read that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Notice the tense here, all things are already given! We may need to ask for things (James 4:2), but from Heavens’ point of view all the things we need are already in place! In verse 4, Peter goes on to talk about the resource we have in the exceedingly great and precious promises, also already given. But if we are going to claim a promise, we do need to believe it belongs to us. Jesus told us that all things are possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23). And we won’t likely believe, if we don’t know who we are in Christ, if we don’t know that we have authority, and that as sons and daughters of the living God, He has already given the resources we need even before we ask!

Part of what it means to have already been given all things that pertain to life, life in the Spirit, is that God will never give us a command that, with the command, He will not also give us the necessary resources to carry through. So if He calls you to be a pastor, then He will give you both the financing, and the tenacity and intellectual ability to get through the courses that you would need in order to be qualified in this area. Likewise if He calls you to a ministry that requires finances, He will provide the necessary finances. But we will likely need to step out in faith, before He puts the said finances in place. This is how He seems to work! And again this will be difficult if we don’t know who we are in Him, if we don’t know the authority He has given us, and if we don’t know His faithfulness in resourcing us for His Kingdom work.

In the ministry that the Lord has given me, there are many who are trapped in addictions. In such cases what it means that He has already given us all things that pertain to godliness, is that the resources to be overcomers are already in place. In fact when we totally surrender to Him, He not only gives us the wherewithal to overcome, but He works in our desires to do that too (Philippians 2:12, 13). But all of these things are part of our journey, and as I have already said, it involves an ongoing battle to believe who we are in Him, to believe the authority that we have in Him, and to believe that the resources are already there waiting for us to claim!

Father, the battle to believe is indeed ongoing. I know from experience, that when I have gained victory in a particular area, then I am likely to be tested in another area. And the new battle to believe seem just as strong as the earlier one. When this comes Lord, please remind me, in the midst of it all, that You have already given all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that You always lead us in triumphant procession in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). I want to thank You this morning Lord, that it is You who keeps me in these things (2 Timothy 1:12), and that I am never alone in these battles. Keep me growing in faith and confidence in all these areas Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Identity, authority, resources (III) Authority

Just before He left to go to the the Father, Jesus told the disciples that all authority had been given to Him. He then told them to go make disciples teaching them to observe all the things He had commanded them (Matthew 28:18- 20). In otherwise He told them to go teach others to teach others, to teach others etc., etc. In doing this He was not only giving them authority over all the works of the devil (Luke 10:19), but He was also giving authority to those of us who believe through them! And some of the things over which He has given us authority are, cleansing lepers, raising the dead and casting out demons (Matthew 10:8). As John Arnott likes to say, this was the beginners list! We, me too, need to let this sink in, no really!

Authority, is not the same as power. After the Lord had used Peter and John to heal the lame man in the temple, Peter tells the crowd “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk (acts 3:12)? So it was not by their power. It was however by the authority that the Lord had given them! It is as though the Lord has given us a blank check to do Kingdom work. If we want to cash a check in the natural, what is important is the name on the check, and the funds that are available in that person’s account. Well, when the Name on the account is Jesus, and all authority has been given to Him as we read above, then we need to have confidence to “write the appropriate checks!”

We will not do this, if we do not know who we are, and whose we are! The name on the check, is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we are His sons and daughters, princes and princesses in the Kingdom! And as His sons and daughters, it is we who have been given authority over all the works of the devil. This is our inheritance! But you and I know, that it is a battle to believe, a battle to enter into the reality of it all. And we will not enter into it by being passive. We are in a war to the death with the Enemy of our souls, and so we need to daily take the armour of God and the sword of the Spirit to overcome. I am certainly speaking to myself again this morning.

Father, Your Word tells me that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So Lord I choose this morning to read out loud some of Your promises and principles. Lord You have given me authority over all the works of the devil. I received this, this morning Lord. And I ask You Father to open my eyes to see what you are doing in this wicked and hurting world, in order that like Jesus I may do what I see You doing (John 5:19). Help me Lord to truly tap into the exceeding greatness of Your power by using the authority that You have given me. And I will give You all the honour, all the glory and all the praise as Peter did on that day In Jesus Name Amen

Identity, authority, resources (II) Dignity

I have a painful memory of an incident many years ago, where I was giving a mathematical lecture to a group of mathematicians. Sitting in the the audience was a high-powered (as in famous) mathematician. My lecture was torn to pieces concept by concept as I presented it, with each thing being dismissed as trivial, and not worthy of utterance. For the longest time I couldn’t quite, figure out why it was so painful. Certainly it was humiliating, but I could later understand that not only the lecture, but also my dignity was under attack. In other words, not only was my lecture being dismissed, but I was being dismissed as well. There’s a lot of that in the ego enriched culture of academia!

I remember a statement by Mother Teresa, she said “Nakedness is not just for a piece of cloth!” The type of nakedness that we feel in a public humiliation, or in an out of hand dismissal by somebody who is important to us, has a lot to do with not being afforded dignity. Dignity can be defined as our inherent sense of self-worth and value as human beings. It is different from respect, which likely needs to be earned. Dignity should not have to be earned, it should be a human right. Jesus it is the supreme example of someone who affords dignity, even while at the same time, disagreeing. The woman caught in the act of adultery is a prime example. He treated her as a person worthy of dignity, while at the same time not condoning her sin (John 8:1 – 11). No wonder the Scripture speaks of Him as One full of grace and truth (John 1:17)!

It’s not easy to walk the fine line of balance, giving both grace and truth in our interactions with others. And it is part of “in many things we all fail” (James 3:2). Too often, being right overrules our need to be gentle and full of grace. But it works two ways as well, even when something is delivered in grace, it may not be received in grace. In the extreme, disagreement can be confused with hate and fear. And sometimes those who appear arrogant are acting out of a sense that attack is the best form of defense. My “friend” at the lecture had, at the beginning of the lecture, been caught out by taking at face value, something that was a joke.You have to wonder how much of a part that played in his behaviour!

Father, I have learned that if we expect to get our dignity and self worth from others, we are likely to be disappointed. When I find myself in such places, I need to come back to You, and to remember again that You have a very high regard for me. My value is in what You were willing to pay for me, the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. So I need to take my identity and value and dignity from You Lord, not from the world. I have dignity Lord, because You afford it to me. When I loose my sense of this Father, help me to choose to care more for what You think about me, than what others think about me, be good or ill. And I give You honour glory and praise again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Identity, authority, resources (I) Identity

When I eventually surrendered to the Lord at the tender age of 29, I had left behind a string of broken hearts. But I had a broken heart of my own in the aftermath of the rejection that accompanied a failed marriage. And the longing that we likely all have for deep, personal, intimate relationships was raw within me. In fact, for the first twenty or so years of my Christian walk, this desire both for reconciliation and deep human relationships loomed far larger in me than was healthy. In particular I was driven to be accepted in a church which, certainly at that time, tended at least by some to regard divorced people as lepers. And I now describe that period of my walk as my being a Christian workaholic, and I took my identity from this!

But this phenomena is not by any means restricted to me. When you ask people who they are for example, they are likely to tell you what they do. “I’m a plumber, a builder, a mathematician.” But that is not who they are, that is what they do. What I’m saying is that too often we tend to get our identity mixed up with our works. In fact this is one of the reasons why unemployment is so difficult. It is because we loose not only our job, but our identity. For the Christian however, our identity needs to be rooted and grounded in how God sees us. And as with Jesus, He sees us as His beloved son (daughter), and He is well pleased with us (Mark 1:11). Yes I know in this quote that He was speaking to Jesus, but we are His brothers (Hebrews 2:11), and there is no favouritism with God (Romans 2:11).

It is easy for the wonder and the enormity of this, to simply bounce off our hearts. The Scripture tells us that we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Daddy, Father” (Romans 8:15). But I have to wonder how many of us disqualify ourselves, feeling we are unworthy. And part of why we need to be as little children, is that a little child, in a loving relationship with his daddy, has no such fear. And as with earthly adoptions, a child is adopted not because of anything the child has done or can do, but rather it is out of love and compassion of the adoptive parents. However, like a child who has been too long in the orphanage, it takes a while for us to feel safe, secure and loved. That is why the Scripture tells us to behold, to look, to see, to let it sink in how much the Lord has loved us that we should be called the children of God. But this is what we are, this is who I am (1 John 3:1)!

Father, Daddy, Abba I come to you again this morning Lord, needing this relationship with You so very, very much. Forgive me Lord, for the times when I have had a heart of unbelief, failing to fully receive all of what You have given in the salvation of my soul. I pray for myself again, and all those reading this blog, that You would root us and ground us in Your incredible, healing, amazing and unconditional love. I choose to believe Lord that I am Your beloved son, and that You are pleased with me. Thank You for the assurance in Your Word, that I am accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6 NKJV), and that You have qualified me to be an inheritor of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). Lord I choose to believe and receive and rest in You this morning, in the precious Name of Jesus Amen

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart

The “also” in this quote from Psalm 37:4, indicates that there are a number of other instructions that need to be heeded, before the desires of our heart can be claimed. The context explains and amplifies both the instructions and the desired result. In terms of instructions, we are told three times not to fret (verses 1, 7, 8); to cease from anger (verse 8); to trust in the LORD; to do good; to dwell in the land, and to feed on His faithfulness (verse 3); to commit to the Lord; to trust in him (verse 5); to rest in him and to wait patiently for him (verse 7). Concerning the results, in addition to receiving the desires of our heart, we are assured that he will bring it to pass (verse 5) and that he will vindicate us (verse 6).

There is a strong connection between our emotional state, the things that we do, and the desires of our hearts. If we are involved in destructive habits, it will be difficult to trust in Him, we will not find rest, and though we may have no choice but to wait, it is unlikely to be patient waiting. I speak from experience! There is much that can be said about these things, but I want to mention this morning a connection between dwelling in the land, feeding on his faithfulness and delighting in Him. In this age of instant gratification, it is far too easy to be focused on what we do not have. When we do this, we miss what the Lord is doing outside of this focus!

There is a saying that rather than ask the Lord to bless what we are doing, we should cooperate with the Lord in what He is blessing. Similarly, we can get so caught up in all the ongoing evil that surrounds us, and be so stymied by it, that we fail to see the good things He is doing, and to fail to do the things that He is calling us to do. This is what He means by dwelling in the land. Perhaps the main point, is that when we obey the instructions given in this Psalm, then our desires will be right. We will have gotten out of the Lord’s way. In this way He can deal with the situation at hand, rather than having to deal with us and our anger and our fretting!

Father, Your Word shows us that peace, rest, stability, delight and hope, these things are both the fruit of the Spirit and commands to obey. Part of our obedience is our total surrender to You, and as much as it within us to do the things commanded in this Psalm. The words of the hymn come to mind: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look for in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and Grace.” Help me to do my part this morning Lord, because I know that when I do my part, You are at work in me both to give me the desires and the wherewithal to do it (Philippians 2:12, 13). And I praise and bless You again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life

We don’t seem to want to talk about the wrath of God anymore, and I suppose in times past, we spoke about it too much! But if we are to take the whole counsel of God, we should not forget that we all needed to flee to God for refuge (Hebrews 6:18). And for the believer, the contrast between the momentary nature of His anger, and the eternal duration of His favour is more clearly brought out in John 3:36, where we are told “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.” The rest of the verse tells me “He who does not believe the Son shall not see life.” And I am reminded this morning, of the need to pray for my unsaved loved ones!

But it was concerning His favour, to which the Lord brought my attention this morning from Psalm 30:5a. I am fond of saying that I am His favourite son! But then so are you (favourite daughter if you are female). But how can we all be favourites? Well I explain it by using a false etymology (derivation) of the word favourite. I see favourite as “favour – right.” In other words the believer is given the right to His favour! So what does His favour look like? Well it’s all over the Word. First and foremost we are given the right to be called the sons of God (John 1:12). He daily loads is down with benefits (Psalms 68:19), He calls us His friends (John 15:15), He tells us that if we abide in Him, and His words abide in us, we will ask what we desire, and it will be given (John 15:7) etc., etc.

I suspect that most of us don’t really believe this! I am reminded of a prophetic word that was given to Kris Vallotton and was followed by another which said “History will tell us if you believed me.” This slowness to believe was characteristic even of the first disciples (Luke 24:25). I cannot condemn them, because after having seen literally hundreds of miracles on a short-term mission trip with Randy Clark (see the testimonies in on the Global Awakening webpage), I still had far from fully entered into faith to believe for more. But I knew and know what to do! In particular, the Scriptures tell me “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17), and since “Man does not live by bread alone every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), then I need to daily feed on His Word.

Father, the prayer “I believe, help my unbelief” comes to mind again this morning. Your word tells us Lord, that faith is not of ourselves, even this is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). So Lord please increase my faith this morning, and help me to do my part by being consistent in reading and meditating on Your Word. I thank You this morning Lord for Your many favours, I thank You for Your patience with me, and I thank You that You who have begun a good work in me, will keep right on working until You come (Philippians 1:6). And I pray these things in Jesus Name Amen

Sorrow may last for a night, But joy comes in the morning

The Scriptures tell us that rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), and whether that is rain on your parade, or the necessary rain on your crops, we all get a share of good and evil. The context of this morning’s verse from Psalm 30: 5b is of course, sorrow and difficulty and pain. The Lord underlined the truth of this verse for me at a dark time in my life. In fact it would get even darker, and at the very darkest time He connected this verse for me with the line from the ancient hymn “Oh joy that seeks me through the pain, I cannot ask to hide from thee, I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not in vain, that morn will tearless be!”

There are at least three advantages the Christian has, over the unbeliever. They are the principles and promises of His Word, and His Presence in our lives. All three of these give those who trust in Him, a sure hope. This is not a vague hope, as in “I hope it doesn’t rain!” Such a hope may or may not have a positive outcome. But the hope all which we speak is a certain hope, a living hope, the hope of an inheritance that does not fade away. This hope anchors our soul, and connects us, in a tangible way, to His presence. (Hebrews 6:19; 1 Peter 1:3, 4). The surety of this hope, enables us to stand in the face of what, without it, would surely devastate us. But as we stand by faith, and push through the pain knowing, as in the above hymn, that pain is a barrier, the other side of which is joy, then our anchor holds, and we obtain the grace to stand and having done all to stand.

No one is saying this is easy, but we grow stronger by overcoming. It is in the testing and the trials and the temptation that we know whether our faith is real or not. Do we really believe that joy will come in the morning? Or do we listen to the voice of the enemy that can come, even through those who love us. Was it not Job’s wife who told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9)? Will we believe and with Job reply “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity” (verse 10)? Remember that through all the pain, and the trials and the betrayals, Job could eventually say “I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes” (Job 42:5). In other words through it all he had been drawn into the Presence behind the veil!

Father, it is by grace that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8), is by grace that we stand (Romans 5:2), and it is by grace that we endure (Hebrews 4:16). So I want to thank You this morning Lord, for Your amazing Grace. Thank You too for your principles, your promises and Your Presence. I give you all the honour and glory and praise again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Though the fig tree does not blossom …. yet I will rejoice in the Lord

The context of this quote from Habakkuk 3:17,18 is of devastation following the spiritual decline of God’s people. Habakkuk had been questioning the Lord, he could not seem to understand why people were able to get away with what they were getting away with. There was such injustice, such depravity, and people were seemingly living at ease (Chapter 1). However the nation stood under the discipline of God, and was starting to reap the consequences of having turned its back on Him. Under the law, God would actually send pestilence and famine, and would even bring down armies on Israel and send them into exile. In the midst of this Habakkuk wrestles through his pain, his questions and his angst, and in spite of it all declares “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” He can do this, for he knows that the Lord is in His holy temple (Habakkuk 2:20). In other words he knows that God is still on the throne, that He is still in control.

It is my understanding, that in the new covenant God does not actually send calamity, He does however allow for the law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7), and when we as a nation turn our backs upon Him, then He withdraws His hand of protection. And we do need to remember that we have an enemy who seeks to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10a). Nevertheless it remains true that the Lord is in His holy temple, that He is in control, and that He has plans for our good (Jeremiah this 29:11). In particular He is working in ways we cannot see, and so with the eyes of faith we set our eyes on Jesus who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). And in doing so, we can choose with Habakkuk, to rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of our salvation (Habakkuk 3:18).

In my own experience, Joy is one of the first things to go when I take my eyes off Jesus. And by drawing my attention to this verse again this morning, the Lord is reminding me that I need to choose to rejoice over and over. I mean Habakkuk’s struggle seems so strangely current, with the spiritual bankruptcy of his time paralleling the spiritual bankruptcy of our own! But if we exhibit joy in the midst of it all, then together with the other fruit of the Spirit, it becomes a strong testimony to the world that there is a deeper reality than the temporal reality of the here and now. So if I am fully convinced that we have not believed cunningly devised fables, and I am, then with Habakkuk I choose this morning to rejoice in the Lord, and to joy in the God of my salvation.

Father, in the verse following the one just quoted, Habakkuk declares “The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like hind’s feet.” It is my understanding that a hind is a kind of female deer that is able to stand in very precarious places. In this morning Lord I am asking you to help me and anyone reading this blog to stand, and having done all to stand. And I ask You Lord to do Your part in helping us to rejoice. And if nothing else Lord, we can choose to rejoice that You have clothed us with garments of salvation, and covered us with robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). And so I praise and bless and worship You again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest (II) Diligent rest

The paradox in the title of this post is perhaps best seen in the context of the quote which says “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9- 11). We are told that are three interrelated ways the Israelites of old did failed to exercise due diligence. They were disobedience (Hebrews 4:11), they had an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God (Hebrews 3:12) and their hearts were hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13).

Part of this was that they did not enter the promised land when they were told to, and they tried to enter when they were told not to (Numbers 13 and 14). The unbelief came out of fear of the in inhabitants of the land, and the hardness of heart came in terms of their wilful disobedience in seeking to enter when they were told not to. I have seen this many times in Christians doing works the Lord had to not called them to, and not doing the works He has. I have been there at times too! However, it is only as we have rest from such works (verse 10), that we can enter into His rest and operate out of it. Operating out of His rest means that we move when He says to move, and stand still when He says to stand still. In other words when we are operating moment by moment in complete dependence on His guidance and leading.

And this only really works, when we know who we are, and we know whose we are. And we need due diligence in this, for as with Jesus the Evil One comes along and tempts us to forget these things. In the words of a chorus that is popular at the moment “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God!” As children of God we have authority over all the works of the evil one. And it is our identity many times, that the Evil One seeks to attack, casting doubt in subtle ways. As with Jesus he comes and whispers in our ear “if you are a child of God… “ (Matthew 4:3). Jesus answered by quoting Scripture. And it is no coincidence that the very next verse (after Hebrews 4:11) tells us that the Word of God is living and powerful and cuts both ways in terms of our inner temptations and our outer challenges.

Father, the due diligence of which we speak, has a lot to do with staying vitally connected to You, knowing who we are in You, knowing our authority and knowing that “If You be for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31). Due diligence Lord has to do with keeping short accounts with You, confessing when we need to, and coming boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Thank You Lord for Your care and concern, thank You that You are far more interested in us coming into life in all its fullness that we could ever be. Thank You that our walk moment by moment in obedience is the safest place in the universe in Jesus Name Amen

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest (I) What it means

The word “strive” in this quote from Hebrews 4:11 in the ESV, is not an accurate translation, but it makes a good blog title! Thayer tells us that the Greek means “to make haste, to exert oneself, endeavour or give difference.” Other translations have “labour, or be diligent.” We will look at this later, but today I want to look at what the author means by rest. There are several "rests" referred to in the book of Hebrews. Two are relevant to our discussion. The first is the rest that the Israelites failed to obtain, when they were refused entrance into their rest in promised land. The second, is in verse 9 where the author argues that “There remains a rest for the people of God today.” This he says is because the admonition to "strive" to enter into rest in Psalm 95:11, was given many years after the Israelites failed to enter their rest.

So what is this rest that is available for us today? It is I think helpful to compare it with the three aspects of salvation. I was saved from the penalty of sin (justification), I am being saved from the power of sin (sanctification), and I will be saved from the presence of sin (glorification). In the same way firstly, the Christian can rest from the need to earn his or her salvation. Secondly there is a rest available in the here and now, a rest from striving against sin. Then there is the eternal rest of heaven. It is this middle aspect of rest I wish to address. Jesus calls this “soul rest” when He offers “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28, 29).

What I want to say this morning, is that those Christians who have some of the more obvious addictions (alcohol, drugs, pornography, anger etc., etc.) actually have an advantage, in terms of entering into this rest. And the advantage is this, the addiction can be a huge aid to help us to come out of denial. This is what the first step in any 12-step program is all about, namely coming to terms with the fact that we cannot live the Christian life without a lot of help. It is hard, though not impossible, to be a Christian and a Pharisee in the midst of your addiction. If you are that, it means is you are still in denial! So then this rest is first of all knowing that we need to come to Him, and to come to Him. Then “all” we need to do it is to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. More to come!

Father, I put the word “all” in inverted commas in the above sentence, because although it is very simple, it is far from easy. But what seems to be true Father, is that the greater our need, the greater the deliverance when it comes. And Lord my experience of being diligent to enter into your rest, is that it needs to be a daily diligence. And it is indeed all about coming to You, about our ongoing relationship with You. Thank You that this promises is true Lord, for You are faithful. And I worship You this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Conflict intimacy and the cross (IV) Time out

To my knowledge there are just two scriptures that speak about a timeout in relationships. The first, with no obvious context, is found in Ecclesiastes 3:5b. It says “There is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.” The second is in 1 Corinthians 7:5 which, in the context of marital relationships, says “Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you.” The context of prayer and fasting may or may not be related to conflict, but it certainly can be. As recently as last night I was hearing testimonies of marriages that benefited from a timeout. But it’s not just marital relationships are can be helped by these things!

One of the songs I remember from my youth had the line “You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn’t hurt at all.” Again this is true not only of marital relationships, but friendships in general. Being fallible humans we let each other down all the time, and as I posted earlier I am convinced that a deep and intimate relationship cannot be established without a period of conflict or mutual suffering. So we may indeed need time out to lick our wounds, to engage in the process of choosing to forgive, to figure out our own part in the conflict, and then to come together again as we submit first to God, and then to each other (Ephesians 5:21).

Taking a timeout should be a last resort, but it may be necessary at times because of the weakness of our flesh (Romans 6:19). It is best however, if we settle our disputes quickly, amiably and in love and humility. The Scripture admonishes us to “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:26, 27). The point is, that when we leave things, they can easily fester. And as in the 1 Corinthians 7 quotation we do need “to come together again.” It is helpful to not leave this vague, but rather to agree on a time to do this. If we don’t do this, because of the weakness of our flesh, it is far too easy to “just let her slide.” In fact this is one of the many ways, we can indeed give place to the devil!

Father, I am so aware this morning of the need to commit to each other in relationships. I mean relationships seem to be one of the most, if not the most, difficult things we need to deal with in life. And if there is no commitment, we can easily drift apart at the first sign of conflict. As I said above, it may be necessary at times to take a timeout. I know this Lord because of the many times I myself have been deeply hurt. But I’m asking You this morning Lord to help me not to nurse my hurt at such times, but rather to take hold of the grace that is so readily available to us in Christ, to come again to the foot of the cross, so that I may be humbled again as I consider the price that You paid for our reconciliation, both with You and each other. And I thank and praise You again this morning Lord, for Your willingness to answer this prayer which I pray in Jesus Name Amen