Sunday, July 5, 2009
TEMPTATIONS PATH
Lord Father God in Jesus name don't lead me with your Rod and Staff down the road of
discipline and correction like the prodigal son, Lord don't lead me down the road of
temptation that I might be tested,
Lord don't lead me down the road where I need to be
delivered, but if you do lead me down the road of temptation in your deliverance may
you have the glory and let it strengthen me and compell me to draw nearer to you
Thankyou that in you I have all I need because Jehovah Jireh lives in me and let me want for more of you and less of self.
Help me not to leap ahead before my training and preparation is finished, help me to be patient and to wait for your timing, help me to be completely dependent on you as the sheep are dependent soley on the Shepherd,
We feed from the manger and rather than wanting from you..that which you have already
provided, we bring you gifts of our hearts and give to you In Jesus name amen
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Again we turn to focus and we turn our eyes to The Father,
Firstly lets go to the Manger, or the feeding trough, this may not have been made out
of wood as many depict but of stone, an animal feeding trough and here we have the Lamb of God .
The Son Of God being brought gifts from the magi, here totally dependent on
God, totally dependent on Father, totally dependent and listening to the Great Shepherd.
Jesus's temptations did not start after being baptised and being led into the
wilderness by the Holy Spirit, the temptations were there from the beginning right until the end.
What a temptation to speak out things unknown ?
What a temptation to speak above peoples heads ?
What a temptation to display the wisdom of ages and unravel mysteries untold ?
You say " He did " no , He only displays that which was understood !!
That which He unravelled was only a tiny fraction for us to marvel at, it was the
mystery of salvation.
Think what wonders lie ahead ?
He spoke to people on their level..as they understand...He the greatest mathematician, He the greatest scientist, He the greatest physician, He the greatest inventor, He the greatest theologian, the einstein of Einsteins, kneels down and washes the feet of the disciples !!
What a temptation to wield that power in flesh ?
What a temptation when calling up Lazarus from the dead ..not to call up the entire dead
What a temptation to go ahead and start His Ministry before the allotted time ?
What a temptation to steer away from the Cross ?
What a temptation while on the Cross to call down legions of angels to help ?
But Jesus only walked as His Shepherd Father Instructed
He only said what His Father Shepherd told Him to say
He only moved as His Father Shepherd instructed
Being led by His Father Shepherds Staff and Rod
And we having Jehovah Jireh in us do the same
Jesus was as a Lamb being led to the slaughter by the Father Shepherds Rod and Staff
Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tempted there by satan
He was led out by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted !!
This is the Fathers Rod and Staff guiding Jesus into temptation to be tested !!
NOW it is time for Jesus to go out and for His ministry on earth to begin
( As if it had ever started or ended )
The Father Son And Holy Spirit minister in eternity and have always been ministers
Administering and ministering from the beginning and before time
What a temptation to launch out before His time ? what a temptation to avoid THE
Temptations in the wilderness ?
But we know that temptation is not a sin and we know that there is a way back to God
if we fall to temptation although Jesus never did
We know that the Good Shepherd ...for there is ONLY ONE GOOD SHEPHERD, gives
His life for the Sheep, as the Lamb of God and we in turn give our very lifes..
The Rod and Staff in this picture given in Psalm 23 can be seen as many things, again
we see simple pictures, pictures and images that can be understood by all.
We can in fact see the Rod and Staff as Jesus, the rod was used not just for protection but for marking of the sheep....you see a shepherd would often lay accross the doorway to the sheep pen at night thus protecting the sheep from harm, thus Jesus is known as " the door " "The Rod "
Ezekiel 20:37
"I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the
covenant." And again, "In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley,
shall the flocks pass again under the hands of Him that tells them, says the Lord."
And yet once more, "Concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord."
Also Malachi 3:10
The Rod is also for separating ...
Children can understand the picture of a Shepherd and sheep and they can understand
the concept, this does not mean that they understand the deeper meanings of Gods word
or the deeper meanings of Psalm 23, but they can understand a simple picture
Out of the mouths of babes and infants He has ordained praise and we as baby sheep are lambs
And so we see that Jesus is led out into the wilderness to be tempted there by satan in Luke 4:1-13 and we see then that Jesus starts His journey/ministry
YOU SAY " Lord useeee meeeeeeeeeeeee " oops
Maybe you might have a preparation ahead ? maybe you might be led by the Rod and Staff into temptation to be tested first ?
You see Jesus did'nt go His own way, otherwise He would have sinned, He was led by the Father, by the Holy Spirit into temptation !! this was meant to happen !!
THEN it was time , NOW He was ready,
Do you keep on going back to the same temptation over and over and over ?
Why do you think it keeps on hounding you ?
Is this a temptation that you are going back to like the Prodigal son ? or is this a
temptation which you are led into to make you stronger ...is it a testing ?
There is no sin in being tempted, we are tempted all our lifes the same as Jesus was
tempted from the moment he was born in flesh, but there is also a temptation of testing when we are led out and tested to prepare us for what lies ahead.
Why are we speaking about temptation here when this message is about the 23rd Psalm ?
Well while thinking about the 23rd Psalm the Lords prayer kept coming back to me over and over and " lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one "
You can see how this message is backed up over and over by discussions on one of our
forums
So lets look at the 23rd Psalm briefly and I'm going put it alongside Matthew 6:9-13
Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all that I need...
Matthew 6:9-11
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread
The Lord already knows our needs before we ask Him, but He wants us to ask Him, because
like the heavenly Father that He is...He wants communication, He wants interaction.
Although we have all we need because He gives us our daily bread, we might want more
of Him even though He is in us ...the great Jehovah Jirah...
Why do you think He makes us thirsty and leads us beside a stream ?
In the same way as Jesus needed the Father...He listened to the Father, He did all that the Father said, He was completely dependent on the Father, even though He was Jehovah Jireh, in His weakness was the Fathers Strength.
He needed the Father, He communicated with the Father, He interacted with the Father,
He went away by Himself often to talk to the Father, your heavenly Father and My heavenly Father, even though His Father and yours knows the needs and the wants
In a nutshell, we are not too want/need as the world wants/needs and to be tempted into wordly deires that lead to frustration and dissulusionment.
But we are to focus on Him who
is the provider and as we want more of Him and need more of Him and seek Him above all else we will find the things we most desire and find joy and satitisfaction.
The Father is not saying through Jesus " Do not want or need "
Of course we want and need....but seek first the Kingdom of God, because God knows your heart better than you do yourself and only He can fill that need of the heart
We go back to the vision of the steps and looking to Jesus above all else
He gives us the desires of our hearts....needs ....wants....longings, because only He
knows what our hearts are really longing for !!
Like children screaming and kicking for sweets and when they finally get their sweets
it only satifies for a brief time, they look here and there for new things, they look
everywhere and search for that thing they think will satisfy.
And it seems all their lifes they never really find anything that gives them more than a temporary satisfaction...it never really satifies their needs, and really they haven't got a clue what they want
But He gives us the desires of our hearts, only Him , because only He knows what can
satisfy that need, and as we walk in His ways, In His will, in His path ...it may be
hard, it may seem too hard at times...
But as we focus on Him and Him alone and we reach for His Kingdom ...all these gaps and inward longings are met, not always straight away, Gods Kingdom is not always an
instant NOW Kingdom .
We have all that we need because we have Jesus, but we want and need more of Him
Matthew 6:12-13 ( King James )
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Psalm 23 (New International Version)
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Lead me not into temptation , but deliver me from the evil one !!
Mark 1 (New International Version)
12At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13and he was in the desert forty
days, being tempted by Satan.
When you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit see this as a good thing, this is the Rod and staff guiding you away, this is the Rod and Staff leading you, this is correction.
The prodigal son knew of the Rod of correction, he walked the path of his own doing and he knew the Rod of conviction, and he was able to go back to the Father, even though Jesus never left Him.
But here in Psalm 23 we see a valley we see the darkness of death and the enemy, we see the dying to self and we see the total dependence on the Great Shepherd
In Matthew we see the rod and staff leading into temptation for a testing
The enemy may try to condemn you, he may try to twist the word, he may try to deceive you, you can hear the same words uttered in Genesis by the serpent...when Eve hungered the enemy said " did God say ? "
Where is your Shepherd ? why not provide for yourself ?
Jesus was in need ..He hungered...and the enemy goes for the weakness and Jesus goes for the Fathers strength "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread
alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God "
Completely dependent, focus, seek first the King..the Kingdom.
Listening to God the Father, speaking His words, doing as He says,
There was never a sin in temptation, but O for the one who is tempting
Or you may be the prodigal who fell to temptation, but Jesus is always there with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you and He will bring you back to the Father
The Prodigal learnt much from this road of learning and he came back to the flock
In John Chapter 10:1-21 we read about The Shepherd and His Flock the Good Shepherd
David having been a shepherd and being a King understood the role of the Shepherd,
David had to go through the preparation time, David had to wait for Gods timing, he
had to learn to wait upon God the Father and to listen and wait.
David had needs and wants, David went through severe times of testing when all seemed
against him, and David was tempted when alone and fell to this temptation 2 SA 11:2
David knew that all the treasures he had were nothing, because he still had wants and
needs and desires that could only be satisfied in God alone, because only God can
give the real desires of our hearts because only God knows what we really need.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Psalm 27:4-6 (Amplified Bible)
4One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently]
require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.
5For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His
tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock.
6And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; in His tent
I will offer sacrifices and shouting of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Philippians 1:21-23 - "To Die Is Gain"
You see Jesus was baptised...baptism is symbolic of dying to the old and living to the new, then Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tempted there by satan !!
Every day we die to self as Christians, because we have Christ in us, it is no longer I but Christ in me and the life that I live I live by faith.
Jesus having been baptised went to the wilderness, He was led out, He faced death
, He walked through that valley, we walk through that valley
At the point of weakness, at the point of greatest need , at the point of hunger and thirst temptation comes, temporary satisfaction looms, But Jesus looked to the still waters
He looked to that stream, He was thirsty, He was in need, He longed and wanted for
His need to be quenshed, he had'nt eaten, He hungered, He thirst, and at the point of His greatest need, He looked to that which is eternal
He died to Himself and spoke into the face of His enemy
And He spoke the words of His Father
Man shall not live by bread alone by by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God
We are not be be afraid in this valley of death, for we have the great Shepherd guiding us
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
And when we thirst we have the still waters of His voice
Revelation 7:17 (New American Standard Bible)
17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide
them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their
eyes."
The Father Shepherd prepares a feast for us in the prescence of our enemies
He is preparing a place for us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death
We shall fear no evil for He is with us Guiding us on with His Rod and Staff
We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
He has anointed our heads with oil
1 John 2:20 "But you have an anointing from the Set-Apart One, and all of you know the truth."
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of Lords favor."
2 Corinthians 1:21 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in
Jesus. And so through him the "SO BE IT, AMEN." is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Him. He anointed us, set his
seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Psalm 23: 6
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Pray with me now
Are you like the prodigal son right now ? away from God and hearing Him calling you
back home ?
Speak out to God now and run back to Him
Speak out these words with me
Lord Father God in Jesus mighty name I want and need you and I ask you back into my life as I run back to you for help and I ask for your forgiveness and cleansing and filling and restoration and thankyou thatt you forgive and forget and you wipe the slate clean, I want to start again in Jesus name amen
Are you going through a testing time ? we all walk through the valley ...but how do we walk through the valley ?
Pray with me...and speak out the words of life
Lord God in Jesus name I know you are there with me always, Lord help me not to be afraid, renew my strength and restore me, protect me and let me know the refreshing of that stream of life rushing through
Lord I come to you as nothing, that you might be my everything, help me through this time of testing and lead me on with your rod and staff to do your will in Jesus name amen
Sunday, May 31, 2009
SIGNPOSTS AND LIFEMAPS
I noticed over a period of several days that a "message , paraphrase bible" had been
sitting on the worktop in our kitchen and I have no idea what it was doing there or who
put it there and no one would have known I was searching and looking for what to bring
and how to bring a message.
But some after time I decided to glance at the page
, and lo and behold it was opened at Psalm 19 and so we read Psalm 19 from
" The Message "
.
Psalm 19 (The Message)
.
1-2 God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren't heard,
their voices aren't recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4-5 God makes a huge dome
for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun's a new husband
leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
racing to the tape.
6 That's how God's Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.
7-9 The revelation of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
and easy on the eyes.
God's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
down to the nth degree.
10 God's Word is better than a diamond,
better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You'll like it better than strawberries in spring,
better than red, ripe strawberries.
11-14 There's more: God's Word warns us of danger
and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins,
from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
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Lord Father maker of heaven and earth we come to you todaY and we give you all that we
have and are in Jesus name, we give you our worries and our troubles and our despairs
and we lay them at your feet, for we do not want these things to grow over us like a
sin and blot out your light.
We want the Son and not the sin, we ask for the sun to expose and bring to light the
darkness.
We do not want our problems and worldly fears to grow like weeds and overgrow in our
lifes like the seeds scattered by the farmer overgrown by worldly things and choked.
But we need your seed to germinate and grow and produce 100 fold and more that the weeds
would have no hope but to move out and run scared.
We give you all these things in Jesus name as we give you are hearts and as we give over
to you Lord release in us a new hope and expectation .
Create revelation Lord to our hearts, direct us in all your ways, create and produce
signposts and life maps for us as we walk along your path, that we might walk in your
will and be directed by you,
Show us the way to walk that we might walk in this way, not going to the left or to
the right unless you instruct us to and to have listening hearts that are always eager
and ready to listen to your voice and instruction,
That we would not be blinded by words of men but that we would be instructed by your
very simple and clear guidance that speaks to us alone and also speaks to the body
as a whole , that we would not be fooled by the craftiness of men and their words
in Jesus name amen
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In Genesis 1:6-8 we see God divided the waters and created the stary skies and we read in
Romans 1:19 that people have no excuse for not knowing God , as they whole of creation
speaks of Him and the whole universe echoes His divinity and power and His Holy Spirit
sends wave upon wave of revelation about His works.
.
Yes the testimony of Gods creation speaks out and you wonder how speech can be heard
without sound or word , but in Gods Kingdom His voice can be heard without sound and His
voice never heard, and again we "see " a kind of paradox
We see and yet we do not see with our eyes always, we hear and yet we do not always hear
audibly,
You see the whole of the bible produces before the reader a series of pictures, parables,
images, stories and tales that we might learn and be instructed and see the signposts and
directions of His voice
Where even the simplest and youngest can understand and find revelation
You do not have to be a scientist or great theologian , you do not have to be a scholar or
rocket engineer to hear Gods voice or to read Gods word and to understand and hear His
voice
God can speak through a few simple words and change a life and the pictures and parables
in His word can speak a thousand words.
His creation can speak myriads of words unspoken, the sun shining in its socket in space
can speak out of Gods creation and bring revelation of the works of His Hands more than
a million times over.
Pictures can speak without words more than just words alone
We can fill our minds and fill our time with theologial discussion and debate, but in
the end it comes down to a simple " yes " to the Father.
He is not impressed with big words or fancy theology, He simply looks for a heart that
is willing and waiting and ready and He simply wants a heart that says " yes "
In Gods Kingdom you need ears to hear, but the ears that you have are not ears that
protude from your head but they are ears that hear and see the unseen, and reside in you
Every day God speaks through the seen picture, of His days that He creates beforehand.
He lays out before us each day in its turn, like a fleece that we might walk through
that day that He has given us and see the rich tapestry of Him who made all
Day after day He calls out, day after day He speaks, day after day , day after day.
He never tires or grows weary , He never slumbers or rests, He has nowhere to lay His
head and sleep and does not live in houses built by man.
In fact God speaks out so much that humankind can stop listening and simply ignore Him
Like the youngster who no longer listens to the parents voice and year after year their
voices go unnoticed, and the parent echoes the same instruction over and over and over,
But the child hearing the same thing over and over no longer hears,...until one day
the child realises and has revelation and it suddenly dawns like a new day
the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" John 1:9
The problem is that "men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil," so would not come to the light John 3:19,20
You see in the end " Do we really want to change ? "
Sometimes our prayers can be halted because simply, we are not willing to change
We might ask " Lord do this , Lord do that , Lord Make this happen "
And He might say " Okay , You do this , You do that , "
We see layed out before us in Psalm 19 another rich imagery and picture, almost like
a vision or a childrens story to illustrate and give us a mental image of God and His
creation.
We see the morning giving thanks and the evening lecturing of the maker, we see the sun
bounding accross the sky like the bridegroom chasing His bride, running the race and
encouraging the bride to run on
We see that God instructs , He makes signposts that we might follow and its a very simply
picture as we walk and run along the path thats called " the narrow way "
Becasue basically it is simply, we wait for God Father maker of all to show us the way
and He does, so what do we look for ?
Well that comes with relationship and seeking and time and growth and learning.
This morning in sunday school we looked at how God the Father spoke to Jacob and how
Jacob just happened to find the "Rock" and Jacon "rested " and had a vision or dream,
and how God spoke to Jacob and blessed him.
You see how all this ties in ? this is a signpost !!
Do you think the bible I found opened at Psalm 19 of the message bible just happened to
be there ? well no , the answer is "no"
At the time I was looking for what to bring and I could'nt make head nor tail of Psalm
19 until I read it from the " Message paraphrase "
This was a signpost...a very simple signpost...but none the less...it was a signpost.
The commandments of the Lord are right..yes, we listen for Him to speak and we do as He
commands becasue He is the Lord of heavens armies
Love your neigbour as yourself, as God loves you and love your enemies as God sends His
sun to shine on evil and good, do you think Christ only died for good people ? we were
once enemies of God.
We wewre once alienated and enemies, but through His son we became joint heirs and sons
and daughters, so in turn we love our enemies, for God would not ask you to do something
that He would not do.
Keep His commandments and walk as God instructs, for the laws of the universe are made
out of love, for all things are made out of God.
He made all the laws of the universe and all things work within these universal laws
Reverence for the Lord...
“The fear [reverence] of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 111:10
This is a Holy fear, a fear that does not freeze up a person , but a fear that causes
action,
Psalm 130:3-4, "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But
with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared."
For this fear works in Holy Spirit comfort and acknowledges God for who He is,
But to those who see a false image , who's minds have been blinded !!
2 Corinthians 4:4 International Standard Version
In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe
to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the
image of God.
The enemy copies and counterfeits, he cannot create so he copies God, and he distorts
and twists the truth, he makes the image distorted and causes a picture to become something
else, he takes the childrens book full of pictures and imagery and he blinds the reader.
Now we glance back to last weeks message...
"changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,
and to birds and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" Romans 1:20,23
Evolution ? have we changed the image ? or has the enemy ?
has the picture been changed or corrupted ? is there a virus ?
Has the picture that God gives us of creation and His works been twisted and changed
and distorted into something different ?
Have we been deceived into thinking that somehow Genesis is simply a symbolic book full
of imagery and symbolism that is no more than a book added to Gods word like a fable
or fairy story ?
Have we believed within peer pressure of societies beliefs that somehow we have two
beginnings ? you know we either believe God or we believe a lie.
Does the world try to deceive by showing a different image where we are no more than
animals, where we are merely a fact of evolution and that we evolved from mere animals.
Is it any wonder that some behave like animals ?
I wonder how many have been deceived by this lie and how many walk in this deception,
I wonder how many have been blinded by the enemy ? I wonder how many of Gods children
also walk in this lie ?
Romans 1 ( Kings James )
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts,
to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
I wonder how many have the wrong picture ?
I wonder how many entertain the wrong image ?
You say " well Guardy that scripture is to do with the worship of demons and such "
Yes thats right...where do you think the lie comes from ?
We do not look at the false god being worshipped ...we look at what is behind the false
god..
You see satan wants to be worshipped , he wanted and wants to be god and in fact is a god
to millions, but they do not realise this because they have been given a blindness, a
false image....
And his hordes of demons want to be worshipped and they will put themselves behind any
object of worship, whether it be a piece of stone or money, whether it be a false worship
of the world or a false image of creation, they will put themselves behind anything they
can to be worshipped.
Now we are not demon hunting or witch finding here and we as Christians have nothing to
fear, because we can in fact take Christ from center stage in our lifes by being
distracted by other things and anything that takes our attention and stops us from racing
ahead with Jesus is to be avoided.
Instead we focus on the race and the path ahead, not being distracted by silly arguments
or theologies of denominations or human reasonings but we focus on the goal in front.
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON JESUS, nothing else matters.
I wonder how many see the wrong signposts ? I wonder how many read from the wrong life
map ? I wonder how many have a distorted image ?
2 Corinthians 4:4
In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe
to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the
image of God.
You see evolution ...that is saying as so many teach that we evolved from animals and
that we are animals is not merely tellin gus that we are mere animals that have evolved
into intelligent life, but it is actually saying that God Himself is the same and in fact
denies the existence of God
In the last message we looked into " spiritual evolutiopn " and how we in fact are
evolving and as Christians we do evolve in a " spiritual sense "
So many walk in this false illusion of evolution that denies God and His creation
...and Gods voice still cries out
If only they would turn and listen and see God leaping out like a bridegroom from His
Chamber running the race and leaping out in all His splendour to adorn their lifes
with good things,
If only we might see the strong man leaping and bounding like the sun in all His glory
running the race before Him and leaping for joy through the heavens
If only revelation might abound in the eyes of the unseeing and hearing might break
loose in the ears of those who have been deceived.
If only the light of the world might iluminate and bring revelation upon lifes like the
son shining in all its magnificence.
The heavenly runner chases His bride the Church through the skies
"run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross"
Hebrews 12:1,2.
And so we see a picture and a metaphor at the beginning of Psalm 19 and we see the sun
as "The Light of The World" JESUS...The Bridegroom after His wedding eager to run the
race.
We see a similiarity or metaphor, like a secind meaning, like a parallel.
And we see the sun....and we see the Son
Say " I am in the Son and He is in me "
You are married you see...
Nothing can hide from the suns heat, the radiation that the sun omits radiates throughout
and across space and all earth is sustained by the suns heat and light and in the same
way.....no one can hide from God, no one can hide from Jesus, no one can hide from the
Holy Spirit of God, He radiates throughout and everywhere, and He sustains all things
and all life.
Psalm 139:7
American King James
Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence?
You see like a great athlete He bounds after His bride accross the skies and she can
never run from His prescence becasue He radiates out and is everywhere.
Only in Him can she be sustained and have life.
You see Madame Days classes and Professor Nights lectures continue to speak without a
sound or word, their voice is never heard and yet their message has gone thoruhgout the
earth and their words to all the world.
The sun omits radiation and produces,creates and sustians life
The Son omits His word, becasue He is the word and creates and sustains.
His word goes forth into all the earth and brings light and ilumination
The suns rays never return without having produced, without having been received, without
having produced and suatained and without giving life and ilumination
The Sons word never returns void.
Now we go to Psalm 19:7-14
Psalm 118:89- 176
(Psalm 119:103). May the words of God be the most pleasurable, the most enjoyable
thing you could even comprehend.
More to be desired then gold
And In Psalm 19:7-14 we look to Revelation, signposts, life maps,directions and
decisions,
Sweeter than the honey on the honeycomb...and as a jewish child on your first day at
synagogue you wait in expectation to learn the Torah off by heart and be able to
memorise Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy by the age of ten.
So you wait in eager expectation on your first day at the age of 6 years old to learn and
memorise Gods word as the rabbi smears honey on your slate and intructs you to lick the
honey from the slate, so too is the word of God a sweetness in the bitter waters.
As John the baptist fed on the honey and proclaimed the word and announced the coming
word to men so we look into the Psalm of the son and have our hearts iluminated .
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16).
the law of the LORD is perfect . . . that the man of God may be perfect"
(Psalm 19:7; II Timothy 3:17).
As we go on our journey in life we need to look for signposts to find our way on our
lifemap, remember that every day is already written in His book and you great jigsaw
puzzle that we see is already made complete in His eyes and He can see the full picture.
We may now and again not understand what God might want us to do only becasue we cannot
see the whole picutre or where a piece might fit and even when we see where the piece
fits we may not understand where the journey is going or why .
On our life map that God has for us and has designed especially for us it might be
that we spend forty years before we reach the land of milk and honey
Or it could be forty days before we see the " why and how and when and what "
depending on how we walk and where we walk and depending on what signposts we look
at on our journey.
Each day that we live is already mapped out, the day is alrady layed before us, our day
is already written in His book, and He lays signposts for us to follow,
Bible in Basic English Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even
those which were purposed before they had come into being.
You see many see the Christian life as a restriction, they see signposts that say "
do not go here " "WALK THIS WAY " " YOU MUST NOT " " DON'T DO THAT "
As if God is stopping them from enjoying themselves as if God is this parent who wants
His children to be boring and unhappy and a parent who places restrictions on life
And they say " I want to be free " Its my life "
But they do not see past the signpost and look beyond,
True freedom is in God alone and true freedom is only found in the life that God wants
for us .
He wants the best for His children and does not want then to get hurt..
He can see what lies ahead and what is around the corner and He simply talks to us and
tells us and instructs us the right way to walk in so that we might avoid the enemy
snares.
And so we ask the questions , "WHAT, WHERE , HOW , WHY, WHEN"
And we simply have to wait and listen and learn to walk in relationship with Him who
shines in our hearts.
And it is as simple as that
Father God in Jesus name may the wrods of our mouths and the meditations of our herarts
be pleasing to you, may we chew on your word and digest its meaning and apply it to our
lifes and see the power of you Holy Spirit bring wave upon wave of radiating life.
And as we come to the Rock and rest in you may you send angel upon angel to comfort and to
bring messages of hope and expectation, and create a ladder to heaven that bridges a
relationship between us.
Let that ladder be a ladder of constant words and messages to the one we love and let
that ladder be covered in angels coming back and forth bringing revelation and light,
bringing answered prayer and hope, bringing expectation and life.
we speak out Psalm 19:11 - 14 as our prayer Lord
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep us from stupid sins,
from thinking we can take over your work;
Let us start this day sun-washed,
scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
Let These words in our mouths;
Be the words that we chew on and pray.
Accept our words Lord Father God when we place them
on the morning altar,
O God, our Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
In Jesus name amen
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The God Of Seven Thunders
Lord let us know more and more in our lifes the reality of your presence, let our eyes be opened
and go deeper into the spiritual truths of your heart and let us see you move not just
in our own hearts and lifes but in others.
Make us astounded Lord and count your blessings , make us astonished and speechless at
the things you are going to do, blow us away with the wind of your Spirit.
Renew our minds that we might have the mind of Christ and become mature in you.
Let us not focus on the past or the future but let us focus on you alone and not our
circumstances , let us focus directly ahead at the race and prize and as the specators
gaze and cheer us on let us have the knowledge of your prescence ...your shekinah Glory,
In Jesus name amen
I had a vison or picture ealier this week of a man - a person clothed in white and He was
motionless like " A pillar of salt " and after this some time later on another picture
came of a hand reaching down, this was accompanied by another picture given to someone
else at the same time that was similiar in nature of hands.
God wants us and me to move on, not to stand still,not to look back,to focus on Him alone.
He is building and He is the builder and architect and He is the Rock and foundation and
cornerstone.
We move on with God and we do not stand still or look back and Gods sword swings from
many angles and divides.
But lets go onto this message.
THE GOD OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS
In Psalm 18 we see many sides of God and we see a vision or pictures put into music by
David, a song of the heart...a melody, a new song..a poem..a series of pictures are shown
here by David and we see lots of imagery and we see the many sided God who comes through
this series of pictures as an "angry God " a " fearsome God " a God who strikes terror
into the heart of gods and a God of justice and righteouness.
We also see the other side of God like a two edged sword, who comes to save and deliver
and in love He saves David from His enemies.
And David being in relationship with Father God hides under the shadow of His protection.
David knows by experience the love of the Father God and proclaims His maker as the Rock
and Fortress and Shelter.
And so we shall look into some of the imagery surrounding this psalm.
Rev 10:3-4
"Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down." (NIV)
Now we are not about to go into the meaning of the seven thunders as if any man yet
knows the true answer, but we are going to look at the many characteristics and sides of
God and how in many ways we cannot even begin to explain him but through " relationship "
The terrifying awesome God of the ages and the Father of Lights is an awesome and
powerful God indeed,
From His throne room thunder, lightning and sounds never heard on earth reach out and
light brighter than ever seen by human eye or understood by the minds of mortal man
reaches into the universe and beyond and His brilliance is hidden lest those who cannot
bear the light of God be exposed.
His voice at creation spoke out seven times to create and by the breathe of His mouth He
breathed life into man and by the breathe of His mouth He continues to breathe life
into humankind
His seven fold spirit reaches
and moves in ways we cannot explain and no one knows where the Holy Spirit of God will
go.
He gives wisdom to the needy and His Spirit rests on those He chooses
Isaiah 11:2 and the Sevenfold Spirit:
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD."
To the one who seeks Christ He gives the mind of Christ and gives the Spirit of the Lord,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and of counsel,
The Spirit of might, knowledge and counsel...
To the seven churches He speaks and the seven fold Spirit before His throne echoes
out the praises of the God most high
.
He is to be feared by those gods who plunder and steal,He is an angry God and His wrath
shall be known and seen
Zephaniah 2:11
The LORD will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth;
and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own
place.
God is awesome indeed and majestic, He is able to do anything anytime anywhere.
He can blow the minds of unbelievers and scoffers, He can bring revelation to to unseeing
( spiritually ) and help the lame ( those who do not walk with Him ) to walk.
He can make a donkey speak, when in the eyes of the evolutionist ..that would be
ridiculous.
He can make the seas part when in the eyes of the scientist ..that would be against
the laws of nature.
He can flood the earth ...when in the eyes of the humanist that would be silly.
He can create all the stars in the heavens ...when in the eyes of the minimalist
that would be a waste.
He can cause the blind to see..(spiritually) when in the eyes of the seeing that would
be unfair.
He can cause the ears of the deaf to hear (spiritually) ...when in the eyes of the
unbeliever that would be unheard of.
He can cause the lame to walk (spiritually)..when in human terms that would be a step
too far.
He can cause the heavens and the earth to come to an end in the twinkling of an eye.
..when in the eyes of people ..anyone else would be sued.
He can cause the living to rise again and in fact millions do or will...when in the
eyes of the already dead ...that would be injustice.
He can judge all peoples ...when in the eyes of unbelievers ..he is judged.
He creates life....when in the eyes of the unbeliever He takes it.
He can do anything ..anywhere ..anytime...when in the eyes of the athiest ..that
would be untrue.
He can form a baby in the mothers womb...when in the eyes of the unsaved....they do
it all by themselves without Gods help.
He gives life and He takes life.....and judges the thoughts ..actions and motives of
the heart and mind......when His children do the same not realising .
He creates and he destroys that which we claim as ours.
He gives us rights...which we claim as ours.
He is a God of the impossible and even the impossible He makes possible.
He is a mighty and awesome God and He lives in me.
Yes He lives in me and you all those who know and walk with Jesus the Son of God.
He lives in us...He lives in us....say after me..
.
He lives in me !!
He is a God who has no where to lay His head.... no man can build Him a home, no mortal
can build Him a dwelling place, He does not live in temporary dwellings as man or woman,
but He lives in eternity because He is eternity.
How can such a big and awesome God live in us ? how can the God who fills the whole
universe live in us !!
He lives in us by His Holy Spirit and He indwells us, He tabernacles in us and with us,
He habitates by His Holy Spirit.
We are like temporary dwelling places ( tents )
He lives in us and moves in us and works through us and although He is such a big and
mighty God He says " I love you "
We call Him God ....the " I AM " and yet there is no name that we know of to describe Him,
no single name can describe the character and attributes of God, for He is bigger than
any name.
He is the all sufficient one el shaddai , He is the Master and Lord..the great Adonai,
Jehovah Jireh the great provider who provides all our needs,He is the Jehovah Rophe by
whom we receive healing and by His stripes we are healed.
He is the God of battle Jehovak Nissi,who sanctifies us and sets us apart as a Holy People,
the one who divides Jehovah-M'Kaddesh,He is the grwat unchanging Lord God Shalom who
gives peace to those who seek Him.
He is a righteous judge and makes us righteous ...for He is our righteouness,and through
Jesus we are made right with Him the great and majestic Jehovah God Tsidkenu who gives
justice and declares us innocent because the price has been paid in full.
A God , Father and Lord and King who has many faces and He lives in me and you
"by His Spirit "
The Shepherd that guides and gently nurtures,
The friend that sticks closer than a brother,
The good samaritan who picks you up from the wayside,
The Companion that carries you when you are weary,
The teacher who instructs you and guides you,
The King who leans down and listens to you,
The gardener who sows the seed and waters,
The Prince of peace who gives peace.
The hiding place from the storm and the refuge in times of trouble.
The high tower and fortress who strengthens you.
The shelter of protection ,
The shield and mighty warrior.
The water of life that fills you with joy,
The well of salvation,
The stream that overflows,
The Spring of everlasting life.
The morning Star that brings light to my life,
The light and fire that burns in you.
The beacon on the hill
The one who lives in unapproachable light, who masks His light,
The Father and the Mother
The brother and the friend
The encourager and the helper
The carer to the end.
The one who protects you under wings of love
The one who teaches you how to fly
The eagle that flies and soars above
The one that see's your needs and supplies
Thats you God and King, My Jesus
Your hiding place and mine.
Although God is so big and so mighty and so majestic He can reside in us and tabernacle
with us.
I once had a vision looking down accross an expanse of desert and seeing tent upon tent
strewn accross a wasteland, it was hot and dry and arrid and silent.
But as I looked I noticed the wind stirring up and the material of the large tents
began to rustle in the wind and God was saying that He was blowing new life into this
empty wasteland and the tents would be filled with His prescence..His Shekinah Glory.
Paul the tent maker speaks of our temporary bodies...
2 Corinthians 5
1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building
from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2Meanwhile we groan,
longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we
will not be found naked.
4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened,
because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5Now it is God who has made us for
this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to
come.
Quote Guardian
These things are not built by human "[b]hands[/b]" but by God the great architect and
designer and builder
And so we have looked at how big God is but how He can also reside and indwell in and
with and work through us.
Now we look at His prescence....His visible prescence....His Shekinah Glory.
Shekinah is a hebrew word that means basically "dwelling place " it is the visible
manifestation of God and here we see that God can in fact and does "dwell in us " by
His Spirit.
We are or can be the temporary residence of His prescence, we are the dwelling place
for His Holy Spirit if we are Christians " Christ In "
Many times in scripture we see this "visible" manifestation of God and we read about
"the cloud " we read about a "pillar" of cloud, a covering of cloud,
clouds that appear
as smoke or rain clouds, this is the only way that people can explain with the mortal eyes
and minds and the only way it can be comprehended...as basically " A Cloud "
Why does Gods prescence appear as in a cloud ? because basically the appearing of His
Prescence would be too much for us to look upon, when we consider that no man " in flesh "
can look upon God and live and when we consider that even in Spirit we would be terrified
at His awesome sight, the only way we can come to Him is through love, through His Son.
Exodus 33:18-23
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And the LORD said, "I will cause all my
goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your
presence.
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see
me and live." Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a
rock. When my glory passes by,
I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with
my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back;
but my face must not be seen."
And so He protects by enveloping Himself in cloud or dark cloud or smoke.
To demonstrate Gods prescence and His Shekinah Glory aming mortal man we shall go to
scripture and see how Gods prescence ( note....Gods prescence ) appears to men.
2 Samuel 22:8-14
"The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled
because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were
under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his canopy around him-- the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the
brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. The LORD thundered from
heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
Exodus 40:34-35
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the
tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon
it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Isaiah 6:1-4
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted,
and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six
wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and
with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is
the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices
the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
When we look to Mount Sinia we remember smoke and the mountian covered in dark cloud as
Moses spoke to the " I AM " and we remember that Moses had to veil His face after
speaking with God becasue of the brightness and glare that ommitted.
Now we with unveiled faces !!
I Kings 8:10-14
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
Notice in Acts 1:7-11
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from
their sight
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
We have seen how God can manifest His prescence and we can see the Shekinah Glory,
we have seen the awesomeness and greatness and majesty of A Holy
God and the way His prescence manifests
And now we move to lil old you and me.
And we look to the "touch" of God..
We have seen or heard of when God has come down in power upon people and how His
" Prescence " has been observed through physical signs and wonders.
We may know of people who have fallen down under His prescence or have known of physical
signs and wonders that have resulted in Gods prescence coming down.
We see the visible prescence of God through the visible manifestations and
physical signs accompanying His prescence and we wonder as Gods Holy Spirit heals and
delivers and we marvel at the living God who demonstrates His power in and through our
every day lifes.
And so we come to Psalms and to David and to Psalm 17 and 18
And we read in Psalm 17
Psalm 17:8 (New International Version)
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
This shadow is Gods protection, for although we are in Him and He is in us we also hide
in Him and we can be hidden in God so that the enemy cannot find us, He can protect us
under the "shadow of His wing " like a mother caring for her young.
But now we move to Psalm 18 which is the focus of this study and I will not paste
the entire Psalm here as it is fifty verses but if you can look at this psalm yourself
you will notice it begins with David singing of God His strength...
His Rock, Fortress, Savior, protection, shield and place of safety...
This is the wing of protection that David is hiding in at this time, David having been
delivered from saul and from his enemies who pursued him, praises God for His deliverance
.
Now from psalm 18 we glide back to 2 Samuel 22 and you will find that 2 Samuel 22 is
almost a duplicate of Psalm 18, here we have one of the duplications in Gods word and
again we read the same Psalm of David.
Now we can read on from either 2 Samuel 22 or Psalm 18 and now we start to observe something
we looked into earlier in this study and I shall put some of the scripture onto this page.
Psalm 18
7Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were
shaken, because he was wroth.
8There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals
were kindled by it.
9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and
thick clouds of the skies.
12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals
of fire.
13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones
and coals of fire.
14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and
discomfited them.
15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were
discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were
too strong for me.
18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in
me.
Here we see many aspects of God...we see the terrifying all powerful God, the God of
Justice, righteouness,we see the God of Love who delievers David from his enemies.
This is like a vision and prophetic utterance from David as He describes our awesome God.
And again we see the clouds and smoke, verse 11
11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and
thick clouds of the skies.
The sides of God we can never comprehend, where we see such a God of wrath and power and
anger (Read Deuteronomy 29:27, 28 ) and yet a God who comes in such power who rescues
David from Hs enemies in love.
Isaiah 11:2 and the Sevenfold Spirit:
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD."
1. The Spirit of the Lord.
2. The spirit of wisdom.
3. The spirit of understanding.
4. The spirit of counsel.
5. The spirit of might.
6. The spirit of knowledge.
7. The spirit of awe, or the spirit of reverence or the spirit of worship.
Note Solomon is next in line to the throne and known and renowned for these things.
Here we see the many sides of God and of Gods character in this Psalm, and David ends
again praisng His God...His Rock, His shelter, His provider , His maker and He is known
to have sung a Psalm ...."restore unto me the joy of my salvation and renew a right Spirit
within me, cast me not away from your prescence O Lord "
The Lord is Here , let the weak say " I am strong "
God is here in the midst
This morning for sunday school the lesson was about Jacob and the dream of the ladder and
once again this reminds me of Gods prescence and God appearing.
Zechariah 2
10"Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I
will dwell in your midst," declares the LORD.
Pray with me if you can
Lets pray
Lord I draw near to you and you draw near to me, though you are in me and I in you,
I ask that you fill me to overflowing with your Holy Spirit, though your Holy Spirit
is in me.
I ask that you fill my heart with joy , though I have your joy of salvation within.
I ask that you provide , though you have already provided.
I ask that you show me more of your prescence. though you are always here
Great Rock of the ages, let my feet stay firmly on you and let not my feet slip but
let my feet be like hinds feet and let me leap for joy as you leap for joy.
We ask you to hear our prayer, when you have already answered.
You are here Lord. let the weak say I am strong in the strength of my God as I hide in you
In Jesus name amen
Sunday, April 5, 2009
INHERITANCE
Inheritance
O what a great thing to turn and to seek the God of the ages, the Father of lights, the
unchanging immutable God, the unimaginable unchanging unfaultering undescribable God.
What an inheritance and grand thing to turn to Him who is a refuge and Rock and shelter
and strength and strong tower, and sanctuary and haven...for all who need His shadow of
security.
What a great thing to be able to go to the Lord in times of distress and trouble,
Our Father God who will never change ...who never alters..for there is no shadow
of turning with Him ....in other words our heavenly Father who is the Father of Lights
James 1:17 ..does,nt change like the shifting shadows of the sun and moon.
King James Bible..........James 1
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4
8 Wherefore he saith, When he aascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.
EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive;
There is no shadow of turning with Him, He does not say one thing and do another.
He does not promise something and then not fulfil His promise, He does not let us down.
Unlike an earthly mother or father who try as they may cannot always keep their promises,
unlike an earthly mother or father who say one thing and may do another, unlike our very
selfs who say one thing and yet our actions do not match our words.
Father God is perfect in every way and yet He is not separate from us ...as if He would
be better than us and think Himself too good for us....He is in us and He knows us better
than we know ourselves.
His nature and very being is love, for God so loved the world that He gave His only
beloved Son that if ___________ may not perish but have ever lasting life.
In Him we live and move and have our being, and in us He lives.....
He is the unchanging God who does not falter or sway or change His promises to us.
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
Hebrews 6:18
Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he
should repent."
Ezekiel 24:14 "I the Lord have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I
will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent."
Exodus 32:14 "And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people."
Jonah 3:10 ". . . and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto
them; and he did it not."
Jer. 18:7-10 --
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and
destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not
inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a
nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and
does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
Aha what is this ? lets discuss this now...does God relent and change His mind ??
We have seen that God does not falter, He does not turn ...He does not lie, He does not
change !!
Do the peoples bring evil on themselves by their actions or does God allow disaster to
fall ..?
It says " inflict on it the disaster I had planned " ?
And yet we seem to see that God in His love calls out to nations and to individuals to
turn to Him and seek His refuge and in His love He does not want them to perish.
He wnats them to come to a saving knowledge of His grace and love and yet we see in
scripture time and time again where God calls out to nations to turn and peoples to turn
and individuals to turn and it seems as though God has changed His mind !!
Nineveh was going to be destroyed by God and God sent a servant to declare to the nation
to repent...that is to turn from their ways and follow Gods will for their lifes ...
We know that Nineveh did turn away from its self and to God and that the nation was saved
at that time from its destruction and so it seems that God changed His mind and did not
destroy Niniveh and its people.
And yet God knew that the poeple of Niniveh would change their ways and turn to God and
seek refuge in the shadow of His wing ( in other words to seek refuge and comfort in Him )
God did not actually change His mind ....the people changed their minds !!
Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord; I change not."
You see we are not to be like the shifting shadows and lean with every wind of doctrine,
because God never changes ,He is the imutable God who does not shift nor change nor lie.
His promises to us remain the same ,,, however we may change He does not and yet this
is relationship and God knows what we are like and although it may seem as if God has
changed in fact it is us who have changed.
God has foreknowledge and see's far beyond our own insight and understanding.
And so we turn to Psalm 16 and we read.............
Psalm 16 (New International Version)
1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
11 You have made [e] known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Lord God in Jesus name you are our Rock and refuge a very pleasant help in times
of trouble, a sanctuary, a haven , a refuge,a shelter, a shadow of comfort and security.
We can rest in safety and know Your inheritance and security, for in you we inherit not
just in the future but we inherit now and our cup of blessing overflows, although we may
not always recognise what happens as blessing...we thankyou Lord that all things are in
your control as we rest in you because the work is finished as it was at the beginning
of time and as it was on the Cross.
It is finished and you are ongoing in your endless work to mould us and shape us and
complete and fulfil all your purposes and plans.
We inherit all that is in you now and all that will be as we the Bride of Christ prepare
for your coming.
We run to you as the prodigal Son and we share not just in the inheritance now but in the
future inheritance In Jesus name amen.
Now you may not agree with me or you may agree with me during the messages we have here,
but the simple fact is that I am learning the same as anyone else and I simply bring a
message, that message I believe is a message given and passed on.
These messages as I like to call them or " bible studies " are sometimes thought provoking
and sometimes meant to " make people think " to " stir up" and hopefully let us....that is
me and anyone who listens and takes in the message look deeper into scripture and find the
true meanings and delve deeper into Gods word.
That is the reason and that is the purpose behind these studies ....that the Holy Spirit
will bring to memory those things when we need them and will stir us up to action.
And putting aside our slight differences in theology we seek to draw nearer to God and
to hear Him speak...
And so we look to this message .
David went to the Lord for refuge, he says " you are my Master " and Godly people in the
land are his true heroes...
Not superman or that famous person on tv or that man who owns a hundred homes, but David
goes to the Lord for refuge and seeks God ... His shadow of security...his hiding place,
He seeks God above all else ..the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills...
He looks to true Godly men as his heroes...David rests in safety, he rests in His rest.
Lets look to the prodigal Son ....yes I typed the " prodigal Son " ( capital S )
The prodigal Son could be seen as Jesus and also the prodigal son could be seen as any
one of us...
Seen as Jesus ? what ?
Jesus never wanted His inheritance now ? He never went to live a life for himself or feed
with the swine ?
Well no He did'nt but He left his place in glory which was a big sacrifice !!
He came to earth to dwell with man and woman and He mixed with the jew and the gentile..
He ate with sinners and with gluttons and with tax collectors and jew and gentile alike.
Then when the right time came He went back to His Father and His inheritance !!
I wonder what Jesus inherited ?
And the firstborn of a multitude ..
Or did Jesus already have His inheritance ?
On one level we can say the prodigal son is all mankind. As Paul says, "All men have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
This story of the prodigal son can also be seen as all of us and me included .
But we can also look deeper and go deeper into this story and see it as Jesus Himself
"For our sakes God made him who did not know sin to be sin, so that in him we might
become the very holiness of God."
You see Jesus walks with us on our Journey beside us !!
I wonder if the elder brother of the prodigal was a pharisee ?
Luke 15:32
Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should
make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was
lost, and is found.
Lets look at the story of the prodigal son or Son..
Luke 15:11-32 (New International Version)
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his
father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between
them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant
country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything,
there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15So he
went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields
to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating,
but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to
spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and
say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and
went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with
compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no
longer worthy to be called your son.[a]'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him.
Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill
it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard
music and dancing.
26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and
pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been
slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young
goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
30But when this son of yours who has
squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is
alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Mt 13:45-46
Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he
had and bought it.
Never cast your pearls before swine.........
MAT 7:6
Jesus came to serve and not to be served although He was the King...
He came as a servant...and He came not as a judge but as a servant and a messenger of the
good news to proclaim liberty and freedon for those captive, He will come back to Judge.
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw pearls before swine, lest they
trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." (Matthew 7:6).
Interesting is'nt it that the place where the demon possesed man was delivered was near
a gentile village ? and the gentiles of that area asked Him to leave ?
Interesting is'nt it that the pigs were cast into the sea ?>
Interesting is'nt it when we look at this scripture.....
Acts 10-11:18
And we see Peters vision and we see salvation for jew and gentile alike
Matthew 15:24-28
Clean and Unclean
24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their
masters' table."
28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her
daughter was healed from that very hour.
Interesting is'nt it that this morning while in fellowship at Church...the person leading
the communion service took some bread and tossed it under the table as a symbolic act ?
No one had ever done that before in a communion service that I had ever been too anyway
and yet after typing this message last night ...this morning the person leading put
bread under the table...
Interesting is'nt it that Jesus feeds the five thousand first on the western side of the
river Jordan, in an area that was mainly Jewish..in Matthew 14:13 ..after this Jesus
speaks to the woman in Matthew 15:24-28 and says 27"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the
dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Now we go onto the feeding of the four
thousand which takes place on the Eastern side of the Jordan which was a gentile area,
Here in the story of the prodigal Son we can see the story of many a person who has
gone their own way and then returned to God, Jew or Gentile,slave or free, woman or man,
Here in the story of the prodigal Son we can also see that Jesus is beside us all the
way and indeed at times He carries us...
You mean Jesus was with me even when I was leading a life of rebellion ? worse than the
sin of witchcarft ? He was right beside me even when I did'nt know Him ?
Well tell me this !! did you only become a child of God after salvation or were you
always a child of God ?
The story of the prodigal Son can also be seen as the story of the shepherd going to find
the lost sheep or of the man looking for the pearl of great price...?
Ooo what ? Jesus is the pearl surely ? or is'nt the pearl the Kingdom of God ?
mm well how much do you think you are worth to Jesus ? maybe you could turn that parable
around and se yourself as the lost coin ? and see Jesus as the person who picks up the
person at the wayside !! or should I say " The Church "
You see these parables can be turned around ....!! this is about relationship....
Do you think Jesus would try to find you if you were lost ?
Do you think you would try to find a pearl or a talent in the ground ?
Are you still with me ?
Do you think when you leave home and go on the rebellion journey of self and worshipping
others who are following " other gods " and not the " true Godly people " that David
speaks of in Psalms 16,, that you see the journey like .............this........
You leave home and walk away from God and God becomes distant in the background until He
goes out of sight and then ............... nope
Thats the way our minds think......now look at it this way..........
You go out the door and walk away from God and He is still with you and .............
Psalm 139 (New International Version)
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Jesus the one and only Son of the Father goes out to seek and save the lost and lives
and moves and dwells and talks and walks with sinners ( not pharisees who follow Him )
He see's into mens and womens hearts ( the women at the well ) and He speaks into
peoples lifes... He dines with them and washes their feet, those hands that flung stars
into space that bore our sin washed the disciples feet !! that they might go out with
shod feet to go and tell the good news of the Kingdom...
And Jesus mixes with people and then when the time comes He returns to His Father and the
sacrifice is made and the banquet is layed ready .
What an inheritance !!! we can rest assured that His promises are true.
Galatians 4:7
Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son: and if a son, then
[it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ
Galatians 4:1
Now what I mean is that as long as the inheritor (heir) is a child and under age,
he does not differ from a slave, although he is master of all the estate.
John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God...
18 - By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and
understand the hope to which He has called you and how rich is His glorious inheritance
in the saints (His set-apart ones)
(Romans 8:17).
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together"
By faith we have become Abraham's seed and therefore heirs of God. "And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"
(Galatians 3:29).
"Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if
a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:7).
David sinned many times during his lifes, David made many mistakes, David failed, David
went the way of the prodigal son and worshipped false gods, David walked the wrong way at
times, and the Shepherd of the sheep went after Him, as if He had ever left David ?
David was a man after Gods own heart and he knew where the pearl was, He knew where His
treasure was... and when he lay by the wayside....Jesus picked him up.
David repented...in other words David turned around and went back on the right path, and
David sought a clean heart, a right Spirit, he wanted and needed Gods prescence and the
security and shelter of Gods wing...His shadow...
David sought sanctuary and refuge in God many times and returned to His Fathers Kingdom.
Lets pray
Lord God thankyou for the shadow of your wing and that there is no shadow of turning with
you, you never turn away from us, because you turned away from Jesus on the Cross...
He bore our sin that you might look upon us as right before you, once we have turned to
you and sought your refuge and the pearl of great price you welcome us home into your
heart and you lavishly pour upon us your salvation grace.
Lord Jesus the blood shed was the final sacrifice once and for all and there is power
wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb, you wash us clean and make us
right again that we might walk into your Fathers House where there are many rooms and
you wg=ho never leave us nor forsake us were there all the time waiting and watching
for our return//
You were their Lord God all the time speaking to your Son as He walked in flesh with mere
mortal man and woman ...you Lord God the immutable one are capable of breaking down every
barrier that separates and bring about a paradigm of change in the hearts of people
Lord bring your shekinah glory to fall upon those who rest in you and let the shadow of
your wing hide us from the evil one In Jesus name amen
You see it seemed as if God at this moment had changed His mind ...Matthew 15:24-28
24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." ?
But the day Jesus fed the four thousand Gentile population seemed to be after meeting the women and granting her request to heal her daughter ..it seemed He had changed His mind ?
But that day was written in Gods book long before it ever happened
Monday, March 30, 2009
THE SOWER AND THE SEED
To begin lets go to scripture and into Genesis..
A seed that would "bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" Genesis 3:15
Here in the Garden God speaks of satan that ancient serpent from the dawning of time
and speaks into time .
The seed that was in God was planted in a mans heart and a promise was made..a covenant
promise as unto this man a multitude would be born already seen in the eyes of the
eternal God as His children.
Galatians 3:26-29, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor
Greek , there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are
all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise."
We as children now come to God heirs of His wonderful grace and mercy and in the heart
of God there is a seed that He bestows and gives to mans heart, He gives the seed to
you and to me to be partakers of the promise and from the heart given by God and made
new we grew in God to be established in Him .
To be strong and secure withstanding the strongest of opposition because our faith is
built on the Rock of ages ..who is Jesus..
The seed grows in us and our faith multiplies within as we act on Gods word to us
|________________________________________________________________________________
Matthew 13:31-32
He put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a
grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the
smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden
plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests
in its branches
Wow Faith that becomes sooo large that birds come and nest in its branches, the
Kingdom of Heaven where God is King !! in our lifes and hearts !!where He has Kingship !!
Where His will is done !! putting aside our own wants and needs and in all things
seeking first the Kingdom of God !! and then all these things are added to us ....
The Kingdom of God in US !! where the birds nest and sing from its branches !!
wooo the mysteries of God are such that mortal man cannot comprehend the immortality
of the eternal God and all the riches that are in His Kingship and Kingdom ...
Where the branches provide shade for the wanderer and where the towering strength
of the invisible unseen God can be displayed for all to see..
Who knows where the seed will fall and upon which heart a root shall form !!
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SPREAD THE SEED
So lets continue to look at snapshots that the bible gives into His working
in peoples lifes, although
these are of the past they are also an ongoing working of the Holy Spirit...the SAME
Spirit that worked in these lifes here in the bible is now working in us.
The SAME Spirit that worked in these lifes here in the bible is now working in us..
The same Holy Spirit that spoke to these disciples ( followers ) is now at work in
us and speaking to us...right here and now.
Lord God in Jesus name speak into our lifes and let us grab hold of that seed and
not just see it grow but to use that seed, so in turn others may see growth. Let us
see that growth around us as we walk on with you Lord in faith...
Let us be vessels to scatter that seed and to see you water and nurture and to see
people not just come
to a SAVING faith and knowledge of you but to go on and grow so that they in turn
would spread the word, In Jesus name amen
We continue with Marks Gospel chapter 1: 1 -16.
John the baptist/preparation
Preparation...where does preparation begin ? John the baptist spent many years
waiting and listening in the wilderness, learning and watching.
His birth was no coincidence, the timing of his birth was no mistake. Neither was
the timing of the birth of Jesus.
This was the exact time , this was the perfect time, this was the God planned time.
When you were born , you were born in the exact place at the exact time you were
meant to be.
You are NO MISTAKE. This is not coincidence.
Say to yourself ..." I am precious in Gods eyes "
You were born into the exact family , at the exact time, at the exact place.
Everything that happens to you has already been written in His book. He knew and
knows each day before it even came to be.
Every day is written in His book.
Say to yourself out loud, " God cares for me "
When you were born again, this was Jesus being born in your heart.
The birth of Jesus in your heart only came after preparation. God was speaking
into your life long before you became a Christian
when you became a Christian this was no mistake.
In the same way as your birth was not a mistake....neither is your rebirth.
For everything there is a reason and a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.
Say to yourself ,....." there is a reason...there is a purpose.... there is a meaning
for my life " declare it
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I share a story of how God spoke to me once.
I was in a chatroom ( of course ) and my attention was drawn to a certain person
in another room of this chatroom, now I never spoke to this person....I never knew
this person....I had never seen this person before.
But God spoke and it seems this young lady was feeling like , " she was nothing " she
felt she was not important, she was empty and alone and it did'nt really matter what
happened to her because nobody cared.
Now don't ask me how I knew, but God told me this and it was one of those times
I was not needed . God did not want me to speak to this lady, He did not want me to
share or to pray with her.
God was simply telling me about her.
And it seems that this lady was in fact very important and that she played a very
important role in something that would happen in the future.
If it were not for this lady then certain things would not happen in the future ...
someone or something would happen because of this lady.
It was something to do with a child or family member and this child or family member
would play a significant role in the future.
It was to do with business or society and this lady was a very important link in a chain.
And here she was feeling like nothing and God was saying, " You are my child and you
are important "
I was not to say anything, but merely to listen at this time.
And after a while this person left the chatroom and did not come back.
You see ? this lady was important ..even though in her eyes she was not.
She was not only loved by God but she was a very important link to future events.
Say to your " i am special "
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Gods Spirit was sowing the seed into your life before you were a Christian. You
were being prepared.
Those seeds in your life and in your heart were waiting.
And even as Christians seeds can lay dormant, we have things in us that are never seen,
until one day God shows us.
I wonder how many have mustard seeds of faith in their hearts ?
I wonder if before we are saved we have a mustard seed ?
I wonder if we take that mustard seed of faith that is God given and use it to build
our house...our building ..our lifes...our dreams...and then we see it tumble down..
Unless the Lord builds the House they labour in vain that build it !!
You see we all have been given a measure of faith..I had a measure of faith given to
me before I was saved..before I became a Christian !!
I had a God hole in my life, an emptiness that could only be filled by God.
I had faith but I built my life on anything but Christ the rock and my house came
tumbling down. Then and only then did I begin to build my house on the Rock of Christ.
He worked through me and rebuilt my life...my house...becasue He is my strong tower.
We all have mustard seeds, spiritual mustard seeds...some have plants that have grown
and grown over time...and when the storms come we find how deep those mustard plants
have rooted.
It is only when the storms come into our lifes that these seeds begin to bud
At these times we find things in ourselves that we never realised were there.
At these times those seeds that have laid dormant can spring into life.
Seeds were being sown into our lifes before salvation and those same seeds are now
transforming us.
We are being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Have you changed in the last few years ?
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I will share a picture with you now to convey as simple message.
A farmer drove to and fro accross his field each day in his tractor , every day he
would drive up and down this muddy track and as time went by these tractor tyres sunk
deeper and deeper into the soil.
As the years went by he seemed to be getting nowhere and the crops where failing.
But one day he decided to go about his work via a different track, this new country
path was narrow and harder but he continued up and down this track.
Soon after time the old deep tyre tracks disappeared in the field where he had once
driven, slowly and surely these old tracks were filled in and vanished.
Now he drove up a new pathway and from that time onwards his crops seemed to flourish,
no longer loosing valuable water through the deep trenches made by the old pathway.
This is a basic picture of renewal, as we take in Gods word, ( the seed ) so our old
thought life changes, we begin to see things and look at things in a different way, the
old thought patterns that we had for so many years slowly disappear and we begin to go
up a different pathway, a pathway that leads to life.
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I want you now to find an imaginery bucket and that bucket is full of seed
( lets pretend ) take one seed out of the bucket and place it in your hand, now
imagine this single seed in your hand now.
Now lets look at Matthew 17:20
Bible in Basic English
And he says to them, Because of your little faith: for truly I say to you, If you have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Be moved from this
place to that; and it will be moved; and nothing will be impossible to you.
now you will need a piece of paper and a pen .....and that seed,
Now we are going to use our seed ( don't drop your seed ) Jesus was using this as a
picture to convey a message and the message is, that you can use that seed , that
little seed and with that seed in your hand you can move mountains in Jesus name.
Now take a worry or a problem or a trouble....and write it down.....take a mountain in
your life and write it down.....something that you want to move....Have you got a seed ?
now give that problem or trouble to God....screw up the piece of paper and throw it away
..
Its no good having a seed , you must use it.......Use it !! that seed can move a
mountain....in Jesus name .
Use the seed, put Gods word into action, be doers of the word, exercise your faith.
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Seeds in the desert can lay dormant for many years or as long as is needed.
The desert can look barren and empty.......Then one day ......sometimes after many years
...the clouds come.
And when it rains it rains, as people often say, " When it pours it pours ".
And suddenly out of nowhere the seeds that have laid dormant for so many years, burst
into life.
The dry desert, the barren desert, the wasteland of our life springs forth into buds of
spendour.
The desert wasteland can spring forth, as if from nowhere and you wonder where all this has come from.
You see ? the seeds were there....underneath...hidden...waiting.
After the rains and storms of life the dry heart can spring forth in buds of splendour.
It can almost be like a new day, and suddenly things are no longer the same.
This barren wasteland is now a sight to behold. For everything there is a season.
Lets discuss what you can do with your bucket of seed ?
what are you going to do with your seed ?
can you give an example of when you last shared the gospel with someone ?
Mark 4:1 - 8
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds
gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood
on the shore.
3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it
up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.
It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants
were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed
fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was
sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
( Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts )
If you had prepared good soil and you had paid a big price....... would you then get your
seed and scatter it everywhere ?
Would you waste your seed as a farmer on scattering it over the rocky ground ? or the
shallow soil ? or the part of the field with weeds ?
Or would you scatter your valuable seed onto the good soil that you had lovingly prepared
? You see ?
This is Gods heart, He is extravagent, He is generous, He wants to give in abundance, He
wants EVERYONE to get a chance, He wants EVERYONE to hear, He wants EVERYONE to be saved,
Father God wants EVERYONE to come to Him.
He knows that when He throws that seed on the rocky soil that it will not take root, He
knows that when He scatters the seed onto that shallow ground that it will be taken.
He knows that when He scatters abundantly on the where the weeds are that those seeds
will wither and get choked by the cares and troubles of the world and that those hearts
will turn away from Him.
But he wants to give everyone a chance
This is the heart of God Amen
Lord God in Jesus name the seed was sown and you have made that seed grow and you have
made it into a beautiful thing in your eyes and you continue to scatter that seed and you
want us to go and tell the good news and to scatter that seed,
that it would produce
seven fold, abundantly, O that we would go and spread the word and that the workers
of the Kingdom would see the miraculous in Jesus name amen
Go into all the world and scatter that seed
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Ten Standards - Psalm 15
The Ten Standards - Psalm 15 -
Psalm 15 (Amplified Bible)
1LORD, WHO shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently]
on Your holy hill?
Psalm 15 (New International Version)
A psalm of David.
1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
2 He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
3 and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
4 who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the LORD,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,
5 who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
Lord let this word saturate our lifes in Jesus name,
let us be out of our depth and consumed by your fire that we may be a sacrifice
layed on the altar before those who mock and scorn and try to copy that which is
Holy acceptable.
Let those who try to come in by another doorway find that their offering is not
burnt up and let us be the Elija's of our time immersed in your love and fire.
Consumed by you and an offering that is acceptable in your sight.
Let the water that surrounds us be consumed by that fire that we might know your
cleansing and purifying as we lay ourselves on that altar and give you our very
lifes and hearts.
In Jesus name amen
------------------------------------------------
We come to Psalm 15 and we see in psalm 15 that there are Ten Standards.
We have looked at Psalm 15 before ( in fact 3 times ) in the past.
But on this occassion we are drawing out something different, this is what the
Holy Spirit does, He draws out something different each time from the same word.
He draws out something different every time from the same verse or passage...each time
He can be saying something quite different.
The Holy Spirit can speak to 3 people and show them the same word and yet to each person
He speaks and draws out something different.
The same as the 3 eye witnesses who wrote the gospels each had a different eye witness
account and gave testimonies of what they saw being inspired by the Holy Spirit to write
down what they had seen with their own eyes, so each gospel is different.
In the same way as when an accident occurs and police ask for witnesses ....no two
accounts are the same.
But with the Holy Spirit and Gods word ...the Holy Spirit always draws out those things
He knows will be edifying and glorifying to God.
He draws out of us those things He knows will be edifying to God and we become a "Temple"
of praise, a Sanctuary, a refuge, a haven.
In the same way the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the ancient scrolls to write
down what they had seen and done, so too the Holy Spirit or "fire and water" inspires
us now to draw out from Gods living word and He speaks to us from the " Living " word
now and into our very hearts and lifes.
And it flows into our being and overflows out to others.
And in turn others are drawn to Him
And as we draw near to Him so too He draws near to us.
Moses was drawn out !! In fact His name means " to draw out " and Moses was used by
God to " draw the people out of Egypt " as too Moses was drawn out of the water
Exodus 2:1-10
“take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile,"During this time a man
from the tribe of Levi married a woman of his own tribe, and she bore him a son.
When she saw what a fine baby he was,
she hid him for three months. But when she
could hide him no longer, she took a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar
to make it watertight. She put the baby in it, in the tall grass at the edge of
the river.
-----------------------------------------
Moses lay their as a babe in the Nile, with nowhere to lay His head, no home, as a babe.
Rejected,despised, alone, forgotten...
Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And
like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
An innocent babe, thrown away, floating in water....in amongst the reeds...
He was completely dependent upon God at this time, completely and utterly dependent.
His whole life and future and purpose was in Gods hands...
No one knew about Him or who He might be or what God had planned...no one except
God who saw Him and knew of Him and had already planned His destiny.
Have you ever had a time when you as a Christian have been utterly and completely
dependent on God ?
Have there been times when things have been completely out of your control ?
Have you had times in your life when you have been like this baby vunerable and alone
and completely dependent on God ?
But from nothing God can take control and multiply those things that seem as nothing,
He can rebuild and reshape a life and mould a life into something new and He can put a
new song in our hearts, In Our Church, in our Temple....
Isaiah 61:3
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil
of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be
glorified.
---------------------------------------
When we get to the end of our lifes ..we may get to the start of Christ's life in us
We take from the Tree of Life instead of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil
We come to a crossroads in our lifes where we end and God begins...
Here is Moses crossing over the waters from death to life so to speak
You could say He was going through his baptism, He at this point was the sacrifice
on the Altar before Elijah
1 Kings 18:38 King James Bible
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the
stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
-----------------------------------
From the mouths of babes and infants He has ordained praise....!!
So innocent a babe in a reed basket !! I wonder what the reed basket would have been
used for ?
I wonder if baskets were used to feed the five and four thousand in the gospels ?
I wonder if these baskets made of reed were used for food ?
I wonder if God was going to use someone who was left rejected and despised !!
I wonder if God was going to take someone who seemed " nothing " in the worlds eyes and
use them as in the feeding of the five thousand to produce a multitude !!
Moses was drawn out from that water in a reed basket as a "to be" sacrifice to God
I wonder if from the " new born " we could see the " first born " Colossians 1:15-21
“And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him
all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created
by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
He is also head of the body,
the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from
the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was
the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to
reconcile all things to Himself,
having made peace through the blood of His cross;
through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
--------------------------------
No I'm not saying Moses was Jesus, what I am saying is that Moses was a representative
if you like..."a type of"
In the same way as we "represent" Jesus, In the same way as Jesus is born in us and we
give birth to children ourselves..." spiritual children "
The same as " Moses gave birth to " spiritual children "
The same way as Jesus was the first born of a multitude...
We are in a way "found" in a basket and rescued from death and the "basket" can be seen
as " the ark " we are rescued out of the waters and we are "saved " from death and given
a new life
In the same way as the "feeding trough" which was the "manger" where Jesus lay was used
to feed from ....( yes salvation to the gentiles )
Yes there is Salvation to jew and to gentile and anyone can be taken from life to death.
Anyone can be saved from the waters and made clean by the blood of the Lamb...and have
that purifying fire cleanse and burn up the sacrifice of a life layed down on the Altar..
We go from the Ark and we multiply...God multiplies from that which seems nothing
..." we have "spiritual children "
We go from the " Basket" and we are trained up and have " Spiritual Children "
We come to the " manger " to feed on the bread of life and we have " spiritual children "
We have " Jesus " growing inside of us right now !!
And from this child shall come a multitude as numerous as the sands on the shore
this multitude does not have to be " people " as in people saved
God can multiply anything, as indeed He multiplied the bread and the fish from the baskets
and indeed He multiplied the catch of fish in the fishermens nets
He can multiply blessings, He can multiply giftings, He can multiply money, !!
He can multiply His anointing, He can multiply His abundance, He can multiply anything
in your life to gloriy Him " note " Glorify Him...He can multiply our praise.
He can multiply His word to us,...what else might He multiply in our lifes and hearts ?
but back to Moses ...or should I say back to OUR life journey
No one but His Father knew about Moses, and we see that Moses was adopted and grew up
in " The world "
And for 40 years approximately...Moses had started His training and then came the time for
Moses to run and run fast and to find His place as a Shepherd ?
oooooo what ? He waited 40 years to be a Shepherd ?
Then after another 40 years approximatley....the time had come.....
Moses could have gone straight out into the wilderness and skipped the training, but
God wanted him to be prepared, so he went through his approximate 80 years of training.
? oops
Was it that God was not ready maybe ? was it that God needed time to get everything
in order first ? was it that God needed to kind of pack His bags and prepare all the
events to happen and coincide at the same time ?
Or maybe it was that God was more than able and ready , but Moses was not...neither the
all the other people God was going to use on the journey from " Egypt to the promised
Land"
Sometimes we might think God is slow...when in fact we are slow to learn and are still
feeding in milk and not solid food
Sometimes its a good thing that God waits for us and prepares us becuaue if He did'nt...
we would be in mighty trouble...
Sometimes its good that God does not answer a prayer when we say " Lord I want to be
an Evangelist" or " Lord use me in healing " do we realise what we pray sometimes ?
God may well take a person straight away and say " YES " but often times He hears the
heart and we can look back years later and realise and say " thank goodness God heard
my heart and not the prayer "
You see in talking - praying to God sometimes we can actually take on the role of God !!!!
We can be saying " I WANT " instead of " YOUR WILL "
This is where we need to be in tune with Gods heart and know His will ..we need to dig
deep into his word which is His heart..to find His heart for us and our lifes
Don't get me wrong.....God can do anything...God can give you the desires of your heart,
and wants too lavish His love on you and I....but as children we must be "brought up"
in Him and learn His ways sometimes before we can go out into the " big wide world "
and be "IN HIM" ..... " in dependent"
God is a God of the miraculous and we need to open our minds and hearts to this fact,
God is a God of the IMPOSSIBLE...BELIEVE IT.. and I say this to myself as much as to
anyone else....let God change the " mindset" let God break through that wall of unbelief.
Let God break through that wall of doubt and fear and BELIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE.
"OOOOOOOOOOO but you are not meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....groannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn"
No I am NOT YOU..........BUT GOD ISSSSSSSSSSSS...HE IS IN YOU ( if you are a Christian
- Christ In )
Preparation is very very important !! In this modern age people seem to think like the world
and the world views seem to permeate into our way of thinking, we even go as far as to think
we can sell Christian things like the world does.
We are representatives of Christ !!! " As you have seen me ...you have seen the Father "
We have a child in us right now growing in our hearts and lifes,
We have a bride being prepared for her King....do you think the bridegroom will come
back if the bride is not ready ? do you think that when He comes by night in procession
by torch light like a thief to take His bride back to His Fathers house that the Father
has spent sooo long preparinggggggggg ....and when He shouts with a LOUD SHOUT...
The bride will gather her maids and ooooo some of the bridesmaids are'nt ready ?
Only God knows the hours and the day of His coming, BUT when He comes He will come like a
thief in the night to steal away His beloved to His Fathers house.....
God knows when we are ready and when the right time is He will draw us out like He drew
out Moses.
In this instant age we tend to draw out from the ideas of the world and we take of that
yeast and it permeates the whole dough and we seem to begin to think like the world.
If something does'nt happen straight away then it CAN'T BE OF GOD CAN IT ?
If my relation is'nt working ( in my eyes ) it can't be of God can it ?
If God does'nt listen to me or do what I want straight away ....it can't be right can it ?
If I'm searching for a job and the right job does'nt fall in my lap straight away.....
IT CAN'T BE OF GOD CAN IT ?
this is exactly how the world and the media carry onnnn...if a tv programme doesn't hit
the top rankings straight away and make mega dollars its taken off air.
If a business hits hard times " Ooooo trash it "
Papers sell from bad news, tv programmes give out what they think the public wants to hear,
rather than what the public wants to hear...
..sometimes those things that are good for us are not always the things we might enjoy..
.some of the hardest and best lessons in life
are learnt during the hard times....the worst times....the times of pruning....the times
when we simply fall down and give up and say " HELLLPPP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE "...like a baby
in a basket...helpless and alone
NO IT IS IN GODS TIME AND IN GODS WAY...you have handed your life over to God ?
And so we see Moses being prepared and we can be the Moses of this generation being
prepared to draw out with us many souls to bring them and nurture them and prepare
them in turn for the "Promised Land "
If you look through the journey in the wilderness and you read about the Walls of Jericho
you will see that God muted the mouths of the people...they were NOT permitted to speak.
Words have great power, if you think that we have Christ in us and Christ Jesus made all
things saying " let their be "
You know words are powerful and even more powerful when we put music to them because when
we put music to words we add emotion and feeling, why do you think satan has such infuence
in the world ? being the once musical director of heavens orchestra might be a hint !!
We can associate the past with music "!! can't we ? how do you think satan might remind
us of the past ?
WHEN SATAN REMINDS YOU OF THE PAST ...REMIND HIM OF HIS FUTURE...
So that gives an insight into one way in which satan can attack through not just words
which are powerful but by adding music even more so.
But there is one who has put a new song in our hearts...why do you think He has put "
a NEW song in our hearts ? " what was the old song ?
but lets continue with this message
Moses went to a "Haven" OR "Sanctuary" to find refuge after running from the Egyptian
task masters, he went to stay with His Father inlaw Jethro and there he learnt the wisdom
of Jethro and went through His ongoing training to shepherd and to feed.
Moses went to His hiding place, his refuge, His sanctuary...
“You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you
apart from the nations to be My own” (Leviticus 20:26).
The Psalmist asks in 15:1, “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?” He answers in
verse 2 and following: “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous.”
In other words, He who is holy, as Adonai [the Lord] is holy.
-----------------------------------
How are we made Holy ? who cleanses us with fire ? who brings down that purifying fire
to burn up the offering ? does the offering cleanse itself and make itself Holy ?
Can the meat on the Altar cleanse itself ? can the offering of a life layed down purify
itself ?
But when the Holy Spirit of fire comes down He will cleanse and make Holy....yes
WE are the Living Temple, a sacred sanctuary for His holy Presence. dependent on Him
alone...we do not " go to Church " WE ARE THE CHURCH..
.WE DO NOT GO TO THE TEMPLE ANY
LONGER.....WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD...WE DO NOT GO SOMEWHERE TO WORSHIP GOD
(as if we are seeking external entertainment..like going to the pictures to judge a film )
WE ARE " THE WORSHIPPING TEMPLE"
We do not judge a persons Character who is in Christ do weeeeeeeeee...nooooooooo of
we don't ...DO WE ? for when we judge a persons character and say " He is a thief..he owes
money...he is a liar...he is dishonest...he is this ..he is that...he is proudddd"
What are we doing here then ? are we not judging a persons charater who is in Christ ?
Should we judge a persons character who is in Christ ? for who are we judging ? when the
people spoke against Moses who were they judging ?
We can discern yes, we can speak and decide within closed doors before God yes, we can
rebuke yes, we can avoid and learn from past miskates.. yes, but to openly speak against a person
we do not even know that well...." NO"
For when we speak against another brother or sister in Christ " In Public " not even
having sometimes all the facts ? what is this but mere gossip !! we do not just pull down
ouselves but we pull down the " body of Christ "
I am becoming more and more convinced as time goes on that we " cannot " blaspheme in
this life !! why do I say that ?
Because I believe blasphemy is when you put something that is of God or Jesus down to
the works of satan, when you say " He is'nt a Christian, he's just after money and he's
a false prohet " whatever might be said about a person ( in front of others )
is countermount to blasphemy, this is not far off from blasphemy..is it ...?
And that makes me think !! I wonder how many Christians have in fact blasphemed ?
That puts an awful lot of us in line ..does'nt it !!
I am more and more convinced that we are unable to blaspheme in this life and that this
only applies to " when Jesus was on earth in person "
We watch our speech because " words are powerful "
WE ARE LIVING TEMPLES , SANCTUARIES, our bodies are merely tents if you like, temporary
coverings, but Christ will clothe us with Immortality and these bodies we have now are
temporary, but that which dwells within is eternal and immortal.
I John 3:2
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we
know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Daniel 12:2-3
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine
like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like
the stars forever and ever.
I Corinthians 15
The first man Adam became a living being;
the last Adam became a life–giving spirit.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this
perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on
immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts
on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
----------------------------------
And then we put words to music and they become more powerful in our hearts !!!
So what is the message here ? the message is that we are all being prepared, we are all
as it where as Christians on that Altar, a sacrifice of a life layed down !! or are we?
What would happen if someone walked past your Chruch building on sunday or whatever day
of the week you may worship with others as a "body " of believers and they heard you
singing .....
" Iam defeateddddd...I am uselesssssss..I will nottt forgive that mann in the front rowww,
he is nott a Christiannnnnn..I am feeling sooo depressedddd, I forgot to turn the oven
onnnn lalallaaaaaaa....I will never be a good Christiann, I don't really want to beeee
hereeee " !!! ???
Now what do you think a person walking by your Church building would think if they heard
that song ?
You would not stand with fellow believers and sing that song in the Church Building
!! would you ?
But that is exactly the song we sometimes sing from our hearts...to God
Are we singing the old old song in our hearts ? the old song that goes all the way back
to Genesis and the tree ?
Or are we singing a new song ? a song of victory and of boldness and of the song of an
overcomer, the song of worship and praise and adoration from the heart ...
A love song of worship and praise and a song that glorifies God...
You see we are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, we are the " Sanctuary " ...we are the Church,
we are the Cathedral, we are the living stones. we are the temporary residence that the
Holy Spirit resides in.
We are the life laid down on that Altar, a life of worship, ... are we singing the old
song ? the song of defeat and despair ? the song that says " he is not a Christian "
? the song that says " I judge " OR " I WANT "...the song that sings a song of misery..
"oooo nooooo its morning againnnn" " OOooo noo I have to go to that Church building
againnnnn "
You see if what we say about others can be seen as lies and deceit and pulling down the
body of Christ in public ....then how close is that to blasphemy ? how close are we in
our singing of the old song that we actually speak against Christ Himself ?
Do you think that voice that sings the old song might be the same voice that spoke in
The Garden of Eden ? what would that voice want too do ? would that song and voice want
to lead your life to desolation and shipwreck your faith ?
Is not Christ in us ? so why do we speak against ourselves sometimes ?
What song are we singing ? the old song ? as the prophets of baal dance around us ?
Is this an offering to God ?
Or do we sing the New song that Jesus has put in our hearts ?
What song is your Church singing ? what song is your Temple singing ? what song is your heart
singing right now ? is it a song of praise ?
As you lay on that Altar as a life laid down to God are you singing a song of praise
as the Holy Spirit water lay around you and overflows ? so that your life is an acceptable
offering to God ? Is my life an acceptable offering to God !!
Does the fire come down an consume the offering so that others marvel and see Gods work ?
On our journey of preparation in this temporary body of flesh ...what song have we in our
heart ? what song am I singing ? what song are you singing ?
Lets speak out to God now and let Him put that new song in our hearts , to renew a right
Spirit within us, to let the old song die and the new song praise God in our hearts.
You see the song is in you..it is a song of salvation from the old, but you can choose
which song to sing...!!
Pray with me as if you alone are speaking to God .
Lord God in Jesus name you put a new song in my heart, but the song that I sing from this
Temple of your Holy Spirit is not always a song of rejoysing and praise, it is not always
a song of deliverance and joy, it is not always a song of good things and resting in you.
Sometimes Lord the song that I sing on my journey with you is anything but a new song and
I turn to you and ask that you renew and restore me in my heart, that I would have my
first love back, that I would know the joy of my salvation restored back to me.
That I would know your Holy Spirit praise resounding from within , that I would praise
you through the storm and Lord that you would give me a heart of thanksgiving.
That I would share this heart with others and be a doorway to you Lord, that I would
be a representative of your mercy and goodness.
No more the old song but a new song from my temple in my sanctuary be In Jesus name amen
Sunday, February 1, 2009
"THROUGH GODS EYES "
Lord in Jesus precious name we give this time to you now and ask as we come to you
and open our hearts to you that you would speak to us through your Spirit In Jesus
name amen
When we look to David and the psalms we can sometimes think that it was okay for David
because he was a King and because he always seemed to have things go his way.
When in fact quite the opposite is true, and in the Psalms at that time Kings like David
could have anything they so desired, they ruled and reigned and they could have almost
anything in their kingdom, they could also have the women they desired, they could have
men killed at their command, they could have anyone who stood in their way destroyed.
But that was not quite the same story with David, here we see a man chosen by God,
anointed by God, hand picked by God.....wow....david is not only rich on earth with
earthly possessions , but rich also in heaven because he has God on his side. !!
BUT, we see time and time again because David was Gods chosen, David had to answer to God
!!!
David could not do as other Kings of that time did !!
David could not follow the ways of Kings and have anything he so desired !!
Why ? because Davids life was Gods!!
We see this when David had a man killed in order to have the mans wife !!
We see this when David cast his eyes on Bathsheba...
The penalty for this was the loss of their son.
In fact it is said that David and bathsheba had many sons , one of which was solomon, whom
the Lord named Jedidiah, which means loved by the Lord.
You see although God forgave David and restored to him a clean heart there was still a
consequence paid for Davids sin
So what is this ? here we see David being chased by his enemies !!
We see David being hunted down !! being disliked by many !!
He seems to not be able to do as other Kings do !! why not I wonder !!
When we cast our eyes to God and he shines on us and we give our lifes over to Him,
and He having called us first to Himself calls us His children wow...
BUT....THEN...as time goes on we see that we cannot do as some do ...we cannot do as
others do ... soemtimes it may even be that we cannot do as other Christians seem to do ?
Not only that but life does'nt seem to be much easier ? in fact sometimes life can seem
harder ? surely what is this all about ?
You see when we give our lifes over to God ....we give our lifes over to God !!
David was chosen by God and David was Gods child....which meant that David was following
God his Father, David was answerable to God and God was responsible for David.
Other Kings may have done as they wished, but David was Gods child..
ITS NOT FAIRRRRRR !!!HOW COME THEY CAN DO THOSE THINGS AND I CAN'T DAD ?
Here in Psalms we see a man after Gods own heart and although Davids life was not easy,
He continued to praise his maker.
Now psalms 9 and 10 were beleieved to
be written as a poem and were combined together as one but we read them in the psalms
as separate, Indeed we looked in the last study at Psalm 9 and we looked at this as a
separate psalm but in fact it combines with psalm 10.
Now we are going to look at psalms 10 to 13 and we see that psalm 10 begins with a
question !!
O Lord why do you stand so far away ? Why do you hide when I am in trouble ?
And lets go to Psalm 13.
Psalm 13 (New International Version)
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.
Now reading from Psalm 10 - 13 David asks many questions and in his heart he knows
that God has rescued him many times , many times David has been saved from his enemies.
Many times David has been saved from the sword and from peril and has carried on in
his walk with His God.
Many times when David was faced with death and despair God saved him from situation
after siituation and rescued David from that pit of despair and raised him up.
And David knew that God would get him through, but still he asks the question...when ?
How long Lord ? how long ?
We tend ourselves to look on days and time and we grow weary and burdoned and we
can get clogged down in troubles and situations and we can struggle and pray and cry
out to God and yet it seems sometimes as if God is far away.
Just when we seem to need God, just when we need Him the most it can seem as if God
is far away, but many times it can be that we have gone away from God and many times
we in fact have lost sight of Him.
We can start to focus on the problems and the problems become our god and we place
our problems center stage in our lifes and God can be pushed aside and then we cry
out to God and say " WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU "
In fact He never left us and He is far bigger . far greater, than any poroblem.
The Amplified translation says in verse 3 of psalm 13.
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
He alone can give light to our eyes and make us see again through the dark times.
Who were Davids enemies ? were the enemies flesh and blood ? were his enemies
men ?........ yes, but ........no
What force lay behind the men that chased and made Davids life like this ?
What enemy was David really fighting against ?
Was this really a battle won with sword and spear or was this a spiritual battle ?
Did David look for trouble ? did David search out these things ?
Did David ask to have Saul chasing him ? did David want absalom to rebel against him ?
These psalms were written at a time when David was being persued by enemies.
By Saul who was driven by jealousy and rage and merely saw David as a threat.
And by absalom who indeed was Davids own son, you see through these psalms that we
read we hear david cry out to God for justice because he is being persued and men seek
to take his life.
Here we have David not much to look at , not really a sight to behold, not looked upon
as being the man anyone would have chosen !! indeed he was the last person to come before
Samuel.
Now lets go back to 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Now Jesse had eight sons, but only seven came to the feast. The youngest was not yet
grown to manhood, and he kept his father's sheep in the fields outside the city.
When Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, came, Samuel thought, "Surely this must be the man
whom God has chosen." For Eliab was a tall, handsome young man, and Samuel was pleased
with his appearance. But God said, "This is not the man. You are judging by the
outward appearance; I am looking at the heart."
Jesse replied, "I have one more, but I did not bring him to the feast. David is my
youngest, and he is now in the field caring for my sheep."
You see God choose David and anointed him to be the future King.
God saw into David's heart and saw him as the future King , the anointed one. and
He choose David,
We too are chosen, we too are a royal priesthood , a holy nation , belonging to God.
Who are called out of darkness into His glorious light. ( HE gives light to ours eyes )
David was chosen by God and yet we see he is pursued by his enenmies.
Now at this time David was also pursued by absalom his own son
Absalom was said to be a good looking man,
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him."
2 SAMUEL 14:25
You see everyone wanted to be like absalom.....!!! you could say he was idolised....
You could say ..." he was an idol "
His appearance was great, everything he said seemed to be good, he seemed to have lots
of followers !!! indeed we see this in absaloms rebellion when he fought against his own
father and used his fathers own men to try to defeat him.
Absalom was admired and strong, he had the gift of the gab, he knew how to smooth
talk, he knew how to conjour up followers, he knew how to get opinion on his side.
He had wealth being the son of david, he had plenty of material possesions,
He seemed to have everything like the rich young ruler that he was ....
but as we read in the new testament " the rich young ruler lacked one thing "
So did the Church that said " I have all I need " in revelations.
You see, Absalom although seeming to have everything in the worlds eyes had nothing.
He was spiritaully poor and in Gods eyes he had nothing to offer.
And being the son of david made no difference to God, for God looks at the heart.
And Absalom loved himself.
And indeed absalom met his fate hanging from a tree.
" What do you have if you gain the whole world but loose your soul ? " Mark 8:36
And david lived on.
What do we build our foundations on ? what are our lifes built on ?
Have we riches in Gods eyes ? or are our riches on earthly things ?
What do we store up in our barns ?
Here we have a man called David,.... a man after Gods own heart a man who
Wrote Psalms 59 while being Pursued by saul.
Wrote Psalms 56 while imprisoned in gath
Wrote Psalms 3 while feeling from absalom
Wrote psalm 63 while hiding in thew wilderness of Judah
A man who spared sauls life when he could have killed him
A man who sought God in all things even though he could have walked away on many
occasions david continues to seek God and ask for help and continues to cry out to God.
Even after loosing his own son Absalom who had rebelled against him , even after
Absalom himself had killed another of davids own sons Amnon.
Here we have a man called david who sought after God and looked upon troubles as
he looked upon the philistine giant and destroyed him.
Because His God was bigger and greater than any giant.
Here we have a man who was sought after by Saul who wanted to take his life , a man
who played the harp for saul to soothe saul when he was tormented by evil spirits.
!!!!!
You see here we are not just looking at the men but the forces at work behind these men.
For we fight not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities of the
unseen world, we do not fight against flesh and blood, we do not fight against men or
indeed against woamen but we fight against the forces that govern these lifes.
For the goverment is upon Gods shoulders and the goverment of our lifes are upon His
shoulders and as we place this goverment upon Him so He rules and reigns in our lifes.
And as we fight we do not fight against these people but against the realms in the
spiritual places, and as we have looked and seen before in previous studies, there are
some things we have no authority and power to stand up against but there are many
things we do have authority to do and we can speak in Jesus name against those demons
that have power in others lifes.
We may not be able to speak against principalities and powers that commend nations and
goverments or bind satan himself BUT we can come against those lesser principalities and
powers that govern individual lifes and indeed that may even have certain poweers in our
lifes!!
These are the powers we can come up against because these lower ranking demoms have
no place or authority either in our lifes or in the lifes of those aorund that seek to
destroy us or indeed destroy the lifes of those around us.
These are they powers that would hide behind people and this is where we can see
deliverance and freedom from the enemy.
This is where we can receive healing and freedom form oppression, this is where we can
find deliverance from bondage and sickness. this is why even now in this day of unbelief
and hard heartedness we can see healing and deliverance and freedom and see the blind
spiritually receive their sight.
This is why now in this day we can indeed see people freed from bondage and receive
healing and let no one say " the gifts are not for today "
And if you do.... let God show you the error of your words.
You see here in these Psalms we see a man who is pursued by many and is looked upon as
what we would term in this day and age as " a looser "
A man defeated , a man who seemed at times to be nothing in the worlds eyes, simply a
a shepherd.
Simply a small boy with a sling.
Indeed it was only God that saw David as the man to be the future King.
Here in these psalms we see many men who looked " good " in the worlds eyes.
Many who seemed to have Gods favour ...why ? because they were wealthy ?
Because they had good health ? because they seemed to have everything ?
Because they seemed to be favoured ? because they seemed to have everything ?
Is'nt this a bit like the world we live in now ?
Do you really think things have changed since Davids time ?
People are still the same even now...nothing changes !! the heart of man will always
be the same whatever generation you look too.
Mans heart never changes, throughout all of history mens hearts have been the same.
Theres nothing new under the sun !! it may be presented in a different way and a
different style but it all comes from mans heart, theres noithing new, each generation
thinks it has found something new but its merely the same thing, over and over again.
We seem to look at people in our society who have wealth and fame and we like
to idolise these people and I have been guilty of that very thing in my younger days.
We have all travelled along that path in one way or another and we seem to think
that these who are idols have some thing special as if they are favoured by God.
We look to pop idols and the rich and famous or those who seem to have wealth or
great material Possessions, we look to those who seem to say the right things and have
a special gift or have material wealth and seem to have the right looks or seem to
have everything going for them and we look up to them as some kind of figurehead to be
an example to us
We idolise these people as if they are special and favoured of God ( of course they must
be...must'nt they ? ) as if God has blessed them and their lifes.
And then we look to those who are less fortunate and have nothing and we sometimes can
see this as some kind of judgement as if these people deserve what they have.
We see these people sometimes as being less favoured as if God see's them as less!!.
It can almost be like job and his comforters who looked upon job as if job had deserved
his fate, as if he had done something wrong to bring this thing upon himself.
As if God had punished someone for the wrongs they have done and that is why they are
in this situation.
We have countless shows on our tvs about the rich and famous, and those seking to be
the next star, those seeking to be the next famous person , those who may have the X
factor.
Those who seem as Absalom to be favoured and have that following and we can tend to
follow on like sheep.
And when these people succeed..we may say " well done "
BUT are we following Absalom ? or are we following David ?
Are we following the attitudes of the world or the beatitudes of God ?
Here in the psalms we have the same thing over and ove again , where we see those who are
rich and famous, those who seek material wealth and the treasures of this life.
And we see those who are thought of as less ... like david the shepherd brought in as the
last person to come before samuel, the least, the chosen one and we see
that God chose David.
For God does not look at the worldly possessions or the physical appearance or a persons
stature or standing , but God looks to the heart.
God turns worldly values upside down and those who are rich in God may be wealthy and
prosperous as well because they do not hold onto what God has given them but seek to use
what God has given them to help those less fortunate in the worlds eyes.
And so you can have a rich wealthy Christian who prospers by giving all back to God.
And you may have a poor Christian who is poor in material wealth but rich in Godly wealth.
And you may also have a poor rich person and a poor rich Church and a poor yet rich person.
Whatever circumstance or situation we may find ourselves in, whether in need or in plenty,
we have our Father who protects and guides us and He is responsible for us and we are
answerable to Him alone.
Someone I knew used to always say, " the devil looks after his own "
Why is it that some seem to prosper ? why is it that some seem to always get what they
want ?
Why is it that some always seem to be in the right place at the right time ?
Why is it that some seem to have everything they want while others go hungry ?
Why is it that some seem to walk into prosperity while others walk into poverty ?
Where is the justice ?
You see everyone is and will be answerable to God !!
Everyone will have to stand before the throne of God and give account.
I wonder what the rich and famous now who laugh and scorn at what they call "religion"
will say when their time is up ?
What did they do with their wealth and time ? what did they do in their flesh ?
It won't be " how many records did you sell " ?
Or "how many houses and cars did you accumulate in your lifetime"
Or " What percentage of your great wealth did you give to good causes to gain exemption
from tax "
Or " How many yachts did you entertain your guests on "
Those very people who laugh away now and seem to have everything and treat others as
nothing in their hearts like Absalom will be accountable .
Better to have a David heart now and eternal riches than a tormented saul heart or a
short lived success of Absalom.
Could it be that we are looking through the wrong eyes ?
Could those who are poor now find the Kingdom of heaven and indeed be rich ?
Could those who are rich now find it hard to get that camel loaded with wealth
through that needle ?
Could those who seek peace now be rewarded ?
Could the poor in spirit find the Kingdom and be rich in God eyes ?
Here in psalm 13 David cries out to God and says " how long Lord ? "
" HOW LONG LORD ?
How long before you act ?
Lets pray
Lord God in Jesus name we look to you and ask that ours eyes be opened and our
hearts be enlightened, that you would help us to see through your eyes Lord and
not through the eyes of the world.
That we would see through each trial and each tribulation that you are moulding
us and shaping us and equipping us and transforming us, that through each step of
life when that thing that we have feared has come upon us , we would look only to
you abd see through your eyes.
Each time Lord the storm comes and the enemy attacks that we would see a craftsman
at work in the structure of our journey and the pathway in which we walk.
Lord God let your will be done in our lifes in Jesus name amen
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