Dec | 31 | The Drinking Songs of The Spirit

Dream Word – LISTEN

Psalms 90:12
So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. NKJV

The Drinking Songs of The Spirit

Dylan Thomas, the Welsh Bard who killed himself with booze at just 39 years of age, wrote for me, one of the most influential pieces of prose ever to touch my ears and my heart. ‘Under Milk Wood, A play written for voices,’ is a most remarkable verbal wonder and the beauty of the opening words always, I mean always, moves me to tears. It took Thomas some ten years to write it and indeed, it was the last thing he ever wrote, his Magnum Opus if you will. Tonight, on this last night of the year, I refer to this play by Thomas and quote you an opening paragraph.

Listen. It is night moving in the streets, the processional salt slow musical wind in Coronation Street and Cockle Row, it is the grass growing on Llareggub Hill, dew fall, star fall, the sleep of birds in Milk Wood. Listen. It is night in the chill, squat chapel, hymning, in bonnet and brooch and bombazine black, butterfly choker and bootlace bow, coughing like nannygoats, sucking mintoes, fortywinking hallelujah; night in the four-ale, quiet as a domino; in Ocky Milkman's loft like a mouse with gloves; in Dai Bread's bakery flying like black flour. It is tonight in Donkey Street, trotting silent, with seaweed on its hooves, along the cockled cobbles, past curtained fernpot, text and trinket, harmonium, holy dresser, watercolours done by hand, china dog and rosy tin teacaddy. It is night neddying among the snuggeries of babies. Look. It is night, dumbly, royally winding through the Coronation cherry trees; going through the graveyard of Bethesda with winds gloved and folded, and dew doffed; tumbling by the Sailors Arms. Time passes. Listen. Time passes.

At the end of this year, on this night of endings and New beginnings, I call you to listen! Time passes. Listen! Time passes. Now let me ask you, “What have you done with your time this year, these last years of your life?”

Do you believe the Gospel? Is Christ your lover? Do you take His passionate and sacrificial claims seriously? Or have you been just messing with God? Have you been conning others and just kidding yourself and your Christianity? Have you been half dead rather than fully alive to God, for God? Listen! Time passes. Listen! Time passes! Enough of this plastic pudding! Enough of this sham and shameful shallowness of a life. You had better get real this year else you shall end up with nothing, yes with aboslutly nothing!

Dylan Thomas, created ‘Under Milk Wood’ and all its exciting cast of characters around a fictitious Welsh town called Llarregub. The town didn’t exist, it doesn’t exist and it never shall exist. It is pure fiction! I need to ask some of you tonight, I must ask some of you tonight, “Is ‘Pure Fiction’ the description of you Christianity?”

The fictional town of ‘Llarregub’ is of course ‘Bugger All’ spelt backwards, and I tell you at the end of this year, that is exactly what any fake Christianity will get you when you come to stand before the Judgement seat of Christ!

Forgive me for being a little rough with you tonight, but the day is far spent and I greatly fear that in the furious wind to come, many who profess life will not stand and many will end up with Llarregub. So, it’s time to get real with yourself friend for your sake and for God’s sake, for time passes. Listen. Time passes. Tell me then tonight, have you got life? Are you living life? Are you truly alive? Or are in fact, you tucked up in your coffin tonight?

Listen: - Wake up from your sleep, climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants. Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ. ( Ephesians 5:14-20 from THE MESSAGE)

Pray:- O Lord, from the loneliness of Llarregub may all the “dickybird watching pictures of the dead” come visit me in my dreams tonight and talk to me of the redemption of my time. Time given, time spent, time often wasted. May their desperate words come upon me like wild waves that my ship would so tilt and ride, that it might split the hawsers tying me steadfast to my sorry, safe but fictional little harbour. Tomorrow O Lord, suck me out to sea and show to me the big seas of Your dreams, that I might see the Wonders of the Lord and so fill my empty hands with treasure from on high that I might at last begin to live! In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dec | 30 | Jewels In The Crown

Dream Word – RECOMMITT

Malachi 3:17
“They shall be Mine," says the Lord of hosts, "On the day that I make them My jewels....” NKJV

Jewels in The Crown

Any kind of repentance leads to jewels and crowns and a whole lot more!

In our text for tonight the nation of Israel had been lamenting the poor results they had been experiencing in following the Lord. “It’s been a waste of time,” they said, “Because the proud are still blessed, still wallowing in health and wealth and the wicked are still in power!” God replied to their complaint telling them that they had judged Him too harshly here and frankly, He wasn’t well pleased. God’s hurt indignation to His children’s charge was both heard and felt by those who loved Him and they consequently got together and encouraged one another in His faithfulness and goodness and then, imagine this, they then encouraged God in His faithfulness and goodness by meditating on His name and writing their names in a book of remembrance before Him! God response o this act of repentant love was one of righteous covetousness! God of the angels armies says, “They are mine, all mine! Jewels in my Crown! The glory of my head, the colours of my rule! They are my kids and I will have compassion on them, I will prefer them above all others!” God was well pleased with their encouragement of Him.

Now the eschatological application of this verse is at the end of days. However, the implication of these verses are both profound and near. I would suggest that anyone who WOWS the Lord with repentance, and then WOOS Him with dedication, will be regarded as precious, granted the gift of discernment, the power of His protection and the covering of His provision.

Now, if that’s not encouragement enough to repentance and recommittement at this time of year, then friends, I don’t know what is. Do you want to be a jewel in His crown? Well this coming year, get wooing and get wowing!

Listen: - "On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him." Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.And the day which is coming shall burn them up,"Says the Lord of hosts,"That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,"Says the Lord of hosts. "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." Malachi 3:17-4:6 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, at the end of this year, I choose to rest in Your goodness. Yes Lord, despite all indications to the contrary, I acknowledge Your majesty, I bow down to Your omnipotence, I tremble at Your justice and rejoice in Your mercy. In Jesus name I praise You, amen!

Dec | 29 | He’s Good! He’s ‘Ebeneezer’ good!

Dream Word – PREPARE

1 Samuel 7:3-5
Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you." NKJV

He’s Good! He’s ‘Ebeneezer’ good!

Standing some 600 feet above the plane of Gebeon, Mizpah, ‘The Watchtower,’ at the time of the prophet Samuel, had become the religious and political centre in times of national emergencies. Here Samuel called the whole nation together for a time of repentance and revival, in that he was calling them back to their vows and thus back to their first love! At this time of year I can think of no better call to send out through WhisperingWord, no better call to be sent out from God the Holy Spirit within you, no better call than this deepest of all of God’s calls, which is “Come back to your first love and come back now, in all your faithful fullness!”

You might be saying, “I can’t Robert. You don’t know how much I have lost this year of my love, of myself, of my devotion, of my passion. I can’t Robert, because you don’t know what precious things once given to me by the Lord of love, are now out of my hands and in the possession of my enemies. I can’t come back.”

May I tell you tonight, that in this very area of ‘The Watch Tower’ just some twenty years previous, the Israelites suffered two catastrophic defeats at the hands of the Philistines and in the last battle with them, the Israelites had lost the very Ark of God to their enemies. The support of the mercy seat was gone! The very place where the manifest presence of God once touched down and illuminated a gathered nation, was gone! In comparison to this, what have you lost? Maybe indeed something as precious. Yes, maybe indeed. Never the less, Samuel calls Israel to repentance and re-commitment and tonight dear friends, I do the same and in so doing would like to point out just three things to you.

First, that when Samuel called the people together for national repentance their enemies heard of it, the same enemies that had routed them some twenty years before and had robbed them of their preciousness, heard of it and in the hearing, came up to the Watchtower to trounce them once again! Be prepared for a fight then, for any re-commitment will be resisted and that by the mightiest of evil manifestations.

Secondly that the Israelites were not a little perplexed when this happened and cried out to God for help, indeed they had Samuel cry out to God on their behalf. So pray dear friends and then get people who have power with God to also pray for you! Pray for help!

Thirdly and finally tonight, that when on the back of a blooded sacrificial lamb they prayed for help and deliverance, God thundered against their enemies and Israel rode on this shock wave of the Most High and thoroughly routed their enemies, even the enemy that had slaughtered them not once, but twice some twenty years before and had robbed them of all their preciousness. He shall do the same for you.

In these dog days of the year’s end, go to Watch Tower of your heart and repent and recommit yourself to your first love and have the honour of restored victory made your portion once more. When you have done this, set up your own stone of help, so as you consider and look down the past years of your life, you shall be able to say, “Despite it all, up to now, the good Lord has helped me. He’s very good. He’s Ebeneezer good!”

Listen: - And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 1 Samuel 7:9-13 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, tonight I gather myself at the Watchtower of my heart and survey all my battlefields of defeat and places of victory. Father, I recommit myself to You. Jesus, I turn my heart in love to You and tell You that I shall love You more and with that shall also love you more with greater passion. Thunder O God against my foes, put a sword in my hand and an unrelenting swing in my arms until I have pursued them and lain them dead and bloodied at my victorious feet. Help me to gather up the stones at the end of this old year and write in blood upon the rocks that ‘up to now, the Lord Himself has been my helper.’ In Jesus name I ask it, amen!

Dec | 28 | ‘Die Hard 42’ - Applying Newness

Dream Word – CLEAN

Luke 11:24-26
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." NKJV

‘Die Hard 42’ - Applying Newness

Will you allow me tonight to take a practical principle from the spiritual reality that our text places before us tonight for in England, these are the dog days of the Holiday season, those quite few hours, the darkest and quietest of all maybe, between the passing of the night and the coming of the dawn. Christmas is over and everyone is waiting expectantly for the celebration of the coming New Year. Plans and preparations are afoot!

I love New Beginnings! Every Lord's day for me is the beginning of a brand new week! So you can imagine how excited I get about the coming of a brand New Year and all the New Year’s Resolutions, New Year plans, and New Year actions I have lined up. However, I am sure you will agree with me when I say that often, it is only a very few days into the New Year, when the old habits so completely take over your life once more, that disappointment, disillusion and settled acceptance and sameness, take up their residence in the house they were so determinedly thrown out of just a few days previously. Why does this happen?

Well it is a true saying that “Old habits die hard!” In other words, habits are so linked to ways of thinking, so rooted to heart attitudes, so entrenched in the groove of our life, that resolution alone will not break them! No it takes nothing short of mental, emotional and physical annihilation to get rid of them! If your going to be a pussy cat about your New Year’s resolutions then in a few days, they will have vanished like the morning mist. Some things in you have to die this New Year and friend, it is you that is going to have to kill them!

So tonight, here a just four short thoughts for you to consider, to ruminate on and to hopefully, put into action.

1. Identify those things which have to go

2. Identify those things which are perpetuating the existence of those things you wish to eliminate. Consider:-
a. What location do they thrive in –CHANGE them
b. What thought processes feeds them –MODIFY them
c. What heart desires attract them – KILL them

3. CHANGE MODIFY & KILL are however not enough. At best they will leave a yawning vacuum which will be filled and usually by things nastier than you tried to get rid of. No honest, this is a terrible spiritual principle, ‘A vacuum of vacant badness, will attract more of the same!’ So, it is absolutely necessary and life giving to yourself, that once you’ve created a space, you must fill it with good things!

a. Change – Get some different friends, catch a different train, get up at a different time, read some different books, watch some different movies, etc etc. CHANGE=DIFFERENT

b. Modify your thought patterns. Open the Scriptures. Memorize a verse per day, a promise to be yours. Read it out loud. Read it loud some seven times per day!

c. Kill your sinful, unhealthy, death laden desires. Show no mercy to them, do not heed their pleading screams. Kill them! Then go and court some more, no really, stir up the good desires in whatever righteous way you can. Think about how to do that! What GIVES YOU LIFE?

4. Yes, old habits die hard so the last thing I want to say to you tonight is get ready for the long, long haul. For you must consistently apply the newness. Indeed, I would say to you tonight that the main key to opening the newness of the coming year is CONSISTANCY.

This year, if you follow my advice, you shall see the Lord Jesus like never before and others still mourning will not believe your fresh new vision and the change wrought in you!

Listen: - Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. Mark 16:9-11NKJV

Pray:- Lord, help me to prepare to throw these scabby things out of my life! Lord, heal me, help me and fill me with a passionate and merciless consistency that this coming year, I might see You as I have never seen You before. Amen Lord, amen!

Dec | 27 | Proclamation, Provision, Peace & Power

Dream Word – CONTENTEMENT

Esther 6:6-9
So Haman came in, and the king asked him, "What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought in his heart, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" And Haman answered the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!'" NKJV

Proclamation, Provision, Peace & Power

I was awoken in the night with these words in my ears and I believe it is because they mean something to me, indeed, they are special to many and to most.

Our text for tonight is taken from the story of the wicked Haman! He hates the Jews but is about to have is hatred and jealousy found out and gruesomely rewarded. The evil which he intended for others and their families is about to be visited upon him and his family! It’s historical fact and yet it still makes a great operatic score and oratorio and dare I say, that it would also make a fantastic pantomime! Maybe I go too far!

Haman, just a chapter previously has been boasting about being blessed by the king, most evidently seen in his riches, his children, his status and so forth. These things most certainly meant something to Haman that’s for sure. Now for tonight, let’s lay aside Haman’s megalomaniacal tendencies and obvious demonization and look at his desires. Speaking as a man, I find that frighteningly, his desires and satisfactions are in fact the same strong driving forces which I find in me and I tell you, their fulfilment are also seen as marks of blessing even in the church, for who does not want to be seen to be blessed by the King, seen to be honoured by the King, seen to be provided for abundantly by the King, seen to be granted peace and seen to be given power to reign by the King? Yes, in our society, possessions are power but in the church, possessions are not only power but they are affirmed to be outward proclamations of providential blessings and divine honour from the King and Oh what peace such possessions bring us and Oh what accompanying power they can bring to us within the church. Maybe I go too far.

There is everything that is Biblical about laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven. There is everything Biblical about longing to hear in heaven those most marvellous of words ever spoken to any individual, “Well done you good and faithful servant!” Yes, there is everything Biblical about seeking crowns and commendations in heaven. In heaven, in heaven, in heaven! The New Testament is a heavenly book and for Christians all of this heavenly seeking, makes us other world people, makes us strangers and pilgrims, makes us true disciples of Christ.

It seems to me that we have, for convenience sake, maybe even for covetousness sake, taken the Old Testament material and the earthly promises and blessing made to Israel and made them New Testament signs of accomplishment, badges of honour if you will, marks of a man of God in this world and I tell you that the desire in me to posses these things, is a great one and it is fanned into roaring flames by the church of today.

Tell me, just what is your rod of measuring success, both for yourself and for other men? Might the following of this lie also get you hung on a gallows? Maybe I go too far. What do you think?

Listen: - These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there's an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck. A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough. But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after. (1 Timothy 6:2-10 from THE MESSAGE)

Pray:- Lord come temper all my desires with the honesty of heaven, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dec | 26 | Blinded By The Light

Dream Word - STRAIGHT

Isaiah 42:16a-d
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. NKJV

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

In the United Kingdom and commonwealth, for centuries this day after Christmas has been called ‘Boxing Day.’ The etymology of this term is mostly concerned with employees of various sorts, receiving what can only be termed as a ‘Christmas Bonus’ which was given in compensation for their work during the last year or, their work of just yesterday. In any event, these goods, be they brand new or sumptuous left-overs, were given in a box to the less fortunate, hence the name, Boxing Day! I do hope you get a bonus gift this boxing day.

Boxing day in my time and culture is almost just as important as Christmas day, in that it is a continuing of family get-togethers and yes indeed, another meal as big and if not bigger than Christmas day has been served, incorporating most fully the tastier left-over’s of Christmas Lunch! For the Chefs of houses, the constant cookers at Christmas time, having the means to produce new dishes and reheat those of yesterday is very important then, so you will understand my disappointment of today, when late last night, I had to turn off the AGA because for some unknown reason, it was popping and overheating. I did of course turn it on again today, however because of its design, the AGA took some 8-10 hours to get up to usable heating speed.

The ‘AGA’ is more of a living creature, or more of a way of living and is a Swedish ‘stored-heat stove and cooker’ invented by Nobel Prize for Physics winner, Industrialist, Dr. Gustaf Dalen. Now, although Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by Edmund Davy and was rediscovered in 1860 by French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, who in fact coined the name ‘acetylene,’ it was in fact Dr. Dalén, who whilst working with this most explosive of gases, invented ‘Agamassan (Aga),’ a substrate of Acetylene, to absorb the gas itself and thereby allow safe storage and hence commercial exploitation. So, in 1906, the good Doctor became Chief Engineer at his Gas Accumulator Company (manufacturer and distributor of acetylene) which industrialised the gas and commercialised its use! Not only was acetylene used in small old fashioned motor vehicle carbide lamps, but also in the vast setting of lighthouses! Indeed, many ‘Dalén lamp’ lighthouses are still in operation today. It was his invention of the ‘solar flow control valve’ that allowed the acetylene lamps used in sea buoys and un-manned lighthouse to automatically turn themselves off when it was daylight. This invention not only saved 80% of fuel but also got Dalén his Nobel Prize for Physics. It was his brother, a most famous ophthalmologist, who collected Dalén’s prize that year, because Dalén himself, had been injured and permanently blinded in an acetylene explosion earlier in the year. So, the man that discovered the brightest of lights in his time, was in-fact made blind by it!

Whilst Dr. Dalén was recovering at home, he was exposed to the vast amount of work his wife did in trying to prepare and cook for the family. From this now well informed and well cared for position, whilst blind remember, he invented the AGA cooker! Gustaf Dalen, a remarkable philanthropist sharing his Nobel Prize money with his staff! A great optimist and humanitarian, he left inventions in the world which are still being used in both large scale commercial arenas and in the home even today. What he discovered and utilised both hurt him and blinded him but it did not stop him being a blessing to his family and to others both in his own time and there on after. Admittedly he had help from his family and friends but Dalén did not allow his handicap to destroy him.

Many of us are going into a New Year handicapped in some way. Maybe the handicap is all the more bitter because it was gained whilst trying to do good, whilst trying to pursue and utilise the light? As far as I can ascertain, Dalén was not a Christian but you are! The Father said to Israel, the apple of His eye, that He will bring them by a way and lead them in paths not previously known and in doing so He will make the crooked places straight. This is a great promise for the New Year. Take it, it’s a bonus gift for you this Boxing Day.

Listen: - These things I will do for them, and not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16d NKJV

Pray:- Lord, please be my Keeper, be my leader, be my light this coming year, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

Dec | 25 | Re-Gifting

Dream Word – RE-GIFT

2 Samuel 24:24a
Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” NKJV

Re-Gifting


Now that all the business of the day is over and you have had the discipline to take the time to come aside a while and reflect upon Jesus and His Word, may I say to you that I hope your day has been both enjoyable and profitable. Of course, I do hope you got some gifts as well and that some of you even got some gifts that are going to be useful to you in the coming days! Oh and by the way, may I ask you what gift you gave to Jesus today? It’s an interesting question isn’t it? I mean, just what do you give to the God who has everything?

Unfortunately, God does not possess everything. For example, He may well be waiting for the fulfilment of some of those vows you made to Him in the oh so, long ago. Or, He may not have the attention which He requires from you. Maybe, He may not have the obedience which He would like to see from You. He may not see the fruit He expected in You. He may not see your wallet as open as much as he would like to. He may not have your ears and as yet, good grief Charlie Brown, He may not even have your heart.


Now, though some of these things I mention which God does not yet possess are frankly more our filial duty than gifts, more a farmers expectation, more a Masters demand if you will, or a friends desire, rather than a gift to be given to Him at Christmas time, never the less, may I ask you to consider your own hearts response to a gift you may have received yourself, which has been well thought out, tailored to your dreams, and costly to the giver. Surely such a gift would always warm and bless your heart. I wonder tonight then the manner in which we give even that which is rightfully owed, will never the less be received as a gift and that with great joy by the receiver?


I think tonight is a good night to apologize to Jesus for our forgetfulness by maybe deciding to deliver to Him tomorrow, something that will bless His heart. Christmas is always a good time to re-gift ourselves to God. Don’t you think?

Listen: - My son, give me your heart, (Proverbs 23:26a NKJV)


Pray:-
When the music fades, all is stripped away and I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
I bring You more than a song for a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You. it's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus

King of endless worth no one could express
How much You deserve, though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours, every single breath!

Matt Redman

Dec | 24 | ‘Libera Me!’

Dream Word – SUNRISE

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. NKJV

‘Libera Me’

Last night I attended a typical Christmas Carol Service. The theme of the short message began with asking the question “What do Christmas Carols say to us?” I found this to be both an interesting general question and a most penetrating personal question.

As for me, I am mostly unmoved by Christmas Carols. I can muster up just enough gusto to sing but one Christmas Carol, and that maybe but once a year! After that, my yawning boredom closes both my heart and mouth and I long for deliverance. There is however one Christmas Carol that I would love to sing daily but am rarely able to do so.

The Carol I am referring to is most interesting because the tune is in fact taken from a Roman Catholic Requiem Mass. Yes, the tune is taken from a 15th Century French Franciscan Nun, funeral procession, which in Latin is called the ‘Libera Me’ or, ‘Deliver me.’ How appropriate for bored old me and how amusing, that thousands of Jolly Carollers are completely unaware that they are in fact singing a funeral dirge! Hilarious!

The word Antiphone is made from combining two Greek words, first ‘αντί’ meaning ‘opposite,’ and then ‘φωνη’ meaning voice. Antiphone refers to two choirs singing the same musical piece but in alternation. This style of singing is found in the early church, even in Israel of old and most definitely a copy of the heavenly form of angelic style of praise and worship. From the earliest centuries of the church these Antiphones have been sung on every Lord’s day evening and what are known as the ‘O Antiphones’ have always been sung just during the 7 or 8 days prior to Christmas.

Each of these ‘O Antiphones’ are titled by both one of the names of Jesus and one of His attributes :

December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
December 18: O Adonai (O Adonai)
December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
December 21: O Oriens (O Sunrise)
December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
December 23: O Emmanuel (O Emmanuel)

Now, when taken backwards, the first letters of these seven titles form a Latin acrostic of ‘Ero Cras’ which translates in English to ‘Tomorrow, I will come.’ In medieval times, an eighth Antiphone was added entitled ‘O Virgo Virginum’ or, ‘O Virgin of Virgins,’ with the acrostic now becoming ‘Vero Cras’ or “Truly, tomorrow I will come!” How awesomely wonderful is that!

I am telling you this tonight because the Christmas Carol which I would like to sing every day but cannot, is the translation of a 12th Century Christian Latin text, which is thought to be a metrical version of a collation of these self same Advent Antiphones. The opening words of each stanza of my favourite Carol was originally translated “Draw Near.” Today though we are more familiar with the translation which begins, “O Come.” I raely make it through to the end of this Carol, because my heart fails me by producing fountains of shuddering tears as my spirit weeps in the deep and desperate longing of the fulfilment of this most marvellous of Christmas Carols.

The response of my spirit that the Carol “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” produces within me a deep set comfort, it tells me that though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am in fact a child of this Great and coming King and that above all things, my deepest being longs for His sunrise to dawn upon my soul. Longs for it I tell you, until I am sick with longing. Let me ask you the same question asked of me last night then dear freind, “What do Christmas Carols say to you?”

Listen: -
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Pray:- Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, on that awful day when the heavens and earth shall be shaken and you shall come to judge the world by fire. I am seized with fear and trembling until the trial is at hand and the wrath to come: when the heavens and earth shall be shaken. (The English translation of the ‘Libera Me’)

Dec | 23 | Hook’s Pure Poison or Le Jardin D'Amour

Dream Word – FORGIVE

Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. NKJV

Hook’s Poison

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, Order of Merit, was the Scottish novelist best remembered for creating ‘Peter Pan!’ The ninth of ten children, J.M. Barrie was just 6 years of age when his mothers favourite son James, on the eve of his 14th birthday, died in a skating accident. His mother never got over this loss and spent the remaining 29 years of her life in deep depression, her only consolation being that her lost boy, would always remain a child. One time when the Novelist entered her room, and heard his mother say “Is that you?” he knew it was the dead boy she was hoping to see and so he replied in a very little, lonely, rejected and dejected voice, “No, it's no' him, it's just me.” All of this had such a profound impact on Barrie, that he himself never grew much beyond five foot! It would appear that J.M. Barrie was very familiar with malice, jealousy and disappointment. It resided in his stunted bones.

So, with that interesting and opening thought, let's get back to Christmas time and how to further avoid Satan’s Claws, that old devil pirate captain’s hook.

Remember last night, that I counselled you in over extending yourself in both expenditure and expectation. Now remember you must not do this, because as soon as you find that it is neither appreciated nor reciprocated and worst of all, does not have the desired effect, then a poison will build in the red corner of your eye!

Jason Isaacs plays the character of Captain Hook in the 2003 P.J. Hogan version of Peter Pan starring a very young Jeremy Sumpter. The screen play records that captain Hook tried to take Peter Pan’s life by poisoning his medicine, even by corrupting that which should have been good for him. Hook could do this for “Lest he should be taken alive, Hook always carried upon his person a dreadful poison distilled when he was weeping from the red of his eye. A mixture of malice, jealousy and disappointment, it was instantly fatal and without antidote.” Did you get that? This poisonous mixture is instantaneously fatal to any relationship and to your own heart in particular.

I tell you, if you want to increase in stature this Christmas, if you want to stop the stunting rot settling into your bones, especially around your loved ones, then you had better empty out that poison you have secretly carried hidden away in your pocket for all these many a year, and dab on your welcoming cheeks, some fragrance of free and tender forgiveness, some love from the Garden of God, that very best perfume of Christmas time. Tell me, which fragrance will you be wearing this coming Christmas Eve?

Listen: - Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:1-3 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, help me not to neither poison nor disembowel myself or others this Christmas time, in Jesus name I ask it, amen.

Dec | 22 | Satan's Claws Are Coming To Town

Dream Word – LOWER

James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. NKJV
Satan’s Claws

Satan’s Claws are Coming To Town

Two boys were walking home from Sunday school after hearing some strong preaching on the devil. One said to the other, “What do you think about all this Satan stuff then?” The other boy replies, “Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out don’t you? So, it's probably just your Dad!”

Well, I wish Satan was just your dad playing around and fooling with you but unfortunately he isn’t. He is that old serpent, that old dragon and I tell you tonight that he is well armed with hook like claws and his most favourite time to come visit, is Christmas time. Now let me tell you why.

The jolly season has arrived, with all its vast expenditure and enormous expectation. The Kids are coming, and the brothers the sisters, the aunts and the uncles and apart from the presents, guess what else they are bringing? Yes, you’ve got it! All their baggage. Now here is the thing you need to know this Christmas time; once their baggage meets your vast expenditure and your enormous expectations the kindled friction fire that is started in each other’s hearts becomes redder than the eyes set in the long and scaley beast himself, waiting and warming himself by your own log fire.

So, how do resist the devil at Christmas time? How do you stop the fire from building and raging? Well stop building it in the first place and stop stoking it in the second.

Don’t over extend yourself or over expend yourself. Make sure your reserves are intact, yes, rest and retire as much as you can. Chill out! Getting rid of your probably totally unrealistic expectations will help this no end. Don’t have any expectations at all concerning other people. Let dogs be dogs and cats be cats and the rats, well you probably shouldn’t have invited them in the first place! You know what I mean.

If you do not take my advice this Christmas and lower your expenditure and expectations, then you’d better watch out and you’d better take care, ‘cause Satan’s Claws are coming to town!

Listen: - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:8-11

Pray:- Lord, help me to rest in You this Christmas time. Help me to give place and space to grace, both within me and through me, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

Dec | 21 | Two More Twin Towers

Dream Word – PREPARE

Amos 4:11
I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the Lord. NKJV

Two More Twin Towers

I am writing tonight’s Whisper from the village of Bolney in West Sussex. I just so happen to be a few miles from the village of Hassocks, where on the London to Brighton railroad line, the ‘Clayton Tunnel,’ digs itself 1.5 miles into the chalky hills of the Sussex Downland! Today, the tunnel’s North facing black and open mouth is still bedecked by ‘Castle like’ towers, where like some foul entrance to hell, it has for well over a century, vomited it’s cold and moaning commuters, all the way up to London’s Victoria Station. I have passed this tunnel entrance thousands of times in my life and have always been intrigued regarding the possibility of living in these twin towers, above this pretty and steaming, black and gleaming, gory gate of hell.

In 1873, on the death of missionary David Livingstone, a copy of one of C.H. Spurgeon's printed sermons “Accidents, Not Punishments” was found among his but few possessions. Grubby, much read and well worn, it bore a handwritten comment at the top of the first page which said, “Very good, D.L.” Livingstone had apparently carried this sermon with him throughout his travels in Africa and upon his death it was returned to Spurgeon and apparently was much treasured by him.

Spurgeon preached this message, “Accidents, Not Punishments” in response to two disasters in 1861. One was a terrible collision between two trains in this same Clayton Tunnel, between London and Brighton and another train wreck in Kentish Town Fields, North London. In both of these gruesome incidents, 38 people were killed and hundreds injured.

The crux of Spurgeon’s sermon was a call for Christians not to quickly attribute the judgement of God to terrible accidents. Wise advice! Indeed, in that same sermon Spurgeon makes reference to his first message preached at Surrey Gardens Music Hall in 1856 which was used for an event of his, and also was where seven people were killed in a human stampede and 28 more people were seriously injured. “I can say with a pure heart," says, Spurgoen, "we met for no object but to serve our God, and the minister had no aim in going to that place but that of gathering the many to hear who otherwise would not have listened to his voice and yet there were funerals as the result of a holy effort (for holy effort still we avow it to have been, and the after-smile of God hath proved it so). There were deaths, and deaths among God's people, I was about to say, I am glad it was with God's people rather than with others. A fearful fright took hold upon the congregation, and they fled, and do you not see that if accidents are to be viewed as judgments, then it is a fair inference that we were sinning in being there—an insinuation which our consciences repudiate with scorn?”

The fact is that we are all dying. The fact is that both the righteous and the unrighteous, whether in planned or unplanned ways, whether in gruesome or gallant circumstances, shall all meet death. Spurgeon was right, that the ways of death and the providences of God in it, are mostly inscrutable! Indeed, regarding 'accidents' I echo Spurgeon’s call in that, “God Forbid we should offer our own reason when God has not offered His.”

Death is coming. All you can do is be prepared to meet him. For all of us are already living in the twin towers above the Clayton Tunnel, above the black gates of death. Are you prepared tonight? For I tell you, that it is only if you have safely met with Jesus that you can safely meet with death.

Listen: - "Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" Amos 4:12 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, each day I praise You. Lord, each day I give myself away to You. Lord, thank You that You have dealt with the cold of the grave by the heat of Your resurrection, that You have dealt with the sting of death by the Shield of Your salvation and that even I, yes even I am safe in You. For You are the Lord Christ, my Jesus, my Saviour. Amen!

Dec | 20 | What's Needed To Sniff Out The Things of God

Dream Word – SMELL

Song of Solomon 7:6-9
How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights! This stature of yours is like a palm tree, And your breasts like its clusters. I said, "I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches." Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine, The fragrance of your breath like apples, And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. NKJV

What's Needed to Sniff Out The Things of God.

In the South of France, it is the city of Grasse that claims to be the perfume capital of the world. It is the industrial professionals of this ancient industry that at the time of my writing tonight, claim that although there may be 1,000 professional Perfumers in the world, there are only 50 Noses and each of them have originated or have been trained in the city of Grasse!

A ‘Nose’ is a unique technical artiste, an inventor of perfumes with the ability to recognise up to 3,000 different smells. Working for months at a time, their task and calling is the ability to mix such an harmony of fragrances that the tone of their invention will set all other noses to dancing!

Of course perfume has been used for thousands of years in commemoration, medication, sanitation, seduction and sacrifice. Useful stuff! Knowledge of perfumery came to Europe from the East early on the 14th Century, but it was Queen Elizabeth of Hungary who ordered the making of the modern perfume of today, made from scented oils blended in an alcohol solution. Indeed, this first European perfume became so popular that is was known throughout the Western World as ‘Hungarian Water.’

I would like to suggest tonight, that the church has much more than 50 Noses! Indeed, I wonder just how many folk have the capacity of leadership to orchestrate such a harmony of fragrances? Fragrances of commemoration, healing, health, spiritual seduction and sacrifice, that when steeped in the preservative and powerful alcohol of the Holy Spirit, they will set the church to dancing! I suspect there are many and should such a ballad of fragrant forcefulness be let loose in the church and subsequently upon the world, that the top note of ‘Wowness’ would turn their necks in wonder, the middle note of ‘Wooing’ would win their hearts to Christ and the base note of warmth and tenacity, would both bind them in the loving arms of the Father and keep them firmly and happily in His strong eternal grip.

I reckon we need to get to picking a few noses this Chrstmas time and then implorng them to make us some Hungry Water to be sprinkled on a tired old church and a stinky old world! The big question then is 'do we the church have any noses to left to pick, any noses left to do us such a fragrant service, to help us both smell the love, and smell the hidden danger and flee? In the olden days, we used to call them prophets and I tell you, it's been a long long time since we've seen any sitting on our grass.

Listen: - The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! Song of Solomon 2:13 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, lead us to the Noses and help us to honour them and release them, for Lord, how can Your church begin to smell without proper noses? So send us some today, in Jesus name we pray, amen.

Dec | 19 | Completing Circles

Dream Word – CIRCLES

Exodus 4:19-20
Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” NKJV

Completing Circles

Do you know how to draw a circle with a dot in the centre without removing your pencil from the paper itself? OK, let me tell you!

First, draw a dot in the middle of the paper. Now, fold over the edge of the paper so that it touches the pencil. No need to crease the paper or move the pencil off the paper. Now, draw a straight line up onto the fold and from there, draw a quarter circle, drawing right down off the edge of the fold back onto the original plane. Now, unfold the paper, and where you are right now, is exactly where you need to be. Now, simply draw a circle with the dot at the centre. Simple!

The thing I like most about this neat little exercise, this trick in mental agility, is that the task can only be achieved, can only be completed, by first of all moving in an arc from the facing plane of the paper to the rear and unseen plane of the paper, brought near by a fold. The fold must occur and the journey must be travelled before you can re-enter the plane of your destiny and complete the circle around the point!

Now whether you like it or not, life is really similar to this. Sometimes to complete the task, we have to the leave the plane of our travels before re-entering it a more appropriate point in maybe both space and time. Sometimes, before you can lead Israel to the promised land, you have to spend forty years in the back side of the desert, drawing an unseen arc across the wilderness before you are drawn back onto your original plane to complete the circle of your calling. Can you see that?

Listen: - But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God in me. Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. Galatians 1:15-2:2 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, I know the longer my arc, the bigger my circle. Let it be so O Lord, let it be so, in Jesus name, amen.

Dec | 18 | Clouds of Glory

Dream Word – WHY

Matthew 13:58
Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. NKJV

Clouds of Glory

A ‘Wireless Fidelity or Wi-Fi enabled device is something like a Personal Computer, game console, cell phone, MP3 player or Personal Data Assistant for example, that can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network which is itself, connected to the Internet. The area covered by one or more interconnected access points is called a hotspot. Hotspots can cover as little as a single room with wireless-opaque walls or as much as many square miles covered by overlapping access points. Such a mesh of overlapping access points is called a ‘WiFi Cloud’ and when you are in ‘The Cloud’ dear friends then you are in an area of seamless wireless access! Bear with me now folks, for there is some spiritual application here.

I always appreciate those brave people who pray for miracles of healing. I think it takes brave and believing people to publicly step out and in faith, both to ask for and believe for a miracle of any kind, especially the healing kind. The problem I have with this ‘Kind Courage’ is that it rarely, and in my experience virtually never, results in the miracle that was prayed for. Why?

I used to very comfortably base my life on only the precepts of the Holy Scriptures rather than that and the fullness of its New Covenant practices. I did this by conveniently confining all New Testament miraculous paraphernalia off any sort, to a doctrinal storage area of dispensational disposal! In other words, “All that miraculous stuff was for then, as for now, well we have the Word of God in its power and fullness and frankly we now neither need the privilege nor the access to the miraculous manifestations of the New Testament period.” Well, I wish we did indeed have the Word of God in its fullness and power among us (I shall leave that for another evening) but I know this, there was never a time in my personal history, indeed in our nation’s history, when we needed manifestation of the New Testament miraculous montage! Why don’t we see it then?

Some people would say it is because of the lack of individual faith? What a most hurtful statement that is to those whose faith has drawn them out of the pew and to the front of a church. Such faith often and inevitably lays its roots in the fields of desperation. No, I don’t think healing miracles do not happen because of lack of faith. So, if we have an apostolic and prophetic five-fold and not a threefold ministry and if we do not have a doctrinal dispensational disaster on our hands and the lack of an individual’s ability to most desperately 'faith it' is not a blocking issue, then why do we not see such Manifestations of the Miraculous as seen in the New Testament?

May I suggest, and it is only a suggestion, that we are in the wrong kind of cloud, for I do wonder if there are in fact two kinds of spiritual clouds.

One cloud is damp and grey. It is occupied by the demonic and home to various evangelical settlednesses. Settled hopelessness, settled smugness and especially settled for less-ness. When you are in this kind of unbelieving cloud, your head is always bowed against the wind and your shoulders shrugged downwards to the waiting earth and your hands, kept firmly in the warmth of your desperate pockets. In this cloud of unbelief, you will rarely, yes so very rarely find a hot spot of miraculous happening.

I wonder if there is another cloud. A cloud of bright belief, a gathering together of meshed and seamless hotspots where the ambience and atmosphere is one of hope, is one of expectancy, is one of raised and open handed certainty in the mighty name of Jesus, and is even one of bright and brightest glory! I wonder if camps of angels move in such a cloud and I wonder if it is such a cloud in which Abraham still walks and Moses and Elijah, indeed all the fulfilment of the law of the prophets still walks there, even in the form of one like a son of man! How would you like to be in that cloud tonight?

Let me tell you friends, if you are in the wrong cloud tonight, then maybe you need to find a New Service Provider?

Listen: - For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:16-19 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, there are too many Christian corpses left rotting in the wilderness. Bring us Your ‘HotSpot’ people of faith and power O Lord and mesh them together into a mighty cloud of glorious and seemless belief, in Jesus name we ask it, amen.

Dec | 17 | The Elixer of Life!

Dream Word – THANKFUL

Romans 1:21-22
....because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. NKJV

The Elixir of Life!

Well it is nearly Christmas, and that old ‘Scrooge’ like mentality is raising it’s ugly head within me again. Sometimes I think the Puritans had it right when they banned Christmas! That is until I get my presents on Christmas day. I am, it seems, forever fickle.

In me, the root of this Scrooge like attitude is a spirit that is unthankful. Yes, a spirit of unthankfulness is the root cause of so many ills. Bitterness, depression, refracted vision, hate, anger and all the associated physical manifestations of a multitude of spiritual ills can trace their root cause back to a lack of thankfulness.

The antidote of course is quite simple, which is to be thankful! However, once your in one of those Scrooge like funks, once you're angry at God, once you're bitter at your circumstance, once you're sick both spiritually and physically, then even beginning to be thankful is a bitter pill to swallow. Indeed, I would go so far as to say, that the elixir of life, the great and brimming, full and frothing cup of thankfulness, is far too robust a drink to be swallowed by any restricted throat of praise. Yet I tell you, unless this medicine of thankfulness is taken, in it’s fullness mind you, then bitter emaciation and black and twisted death shall surely fill it’s abandoned place in our lives. That’s a fact that you can have for free tonight.

Now allow me to speak to many a sick puppy that might be reading these pages right now, for you MUST get thankfulness inside you tonight and there is no better time to begin this new regime than Christmas time. “Well how?” you ask, and I am glad you did, because I’m going to tell you how to do it.

First, pick something you can be thankful for. Jonah was thankful for a worm and a gourd and cool east wind. There is always something you know. Begin with something little. “Thank You for this soft pillow upon which I am laying my most miserable of heads.” For the restricted soul, thankfulness is hard to swallow, but the trick is to begin with little things, sips of soft and pulpy goodness.Once you get a little thankfulness down your gullet on a regular basis it tends to open up the passageways, and larger amounts of thankfulness can then be taken in to you. Over a period of time, even a short period of time such thankful intake will bring health to the whole being.

Let me finish tonight by reiterating one most important thing. DO NOT think that thankfulness is something that you simply give out and get nothing in return! Oh no, if you think that then you will have missed the whole point of it. Thankfulness is an elixir for bitter souls, for the hardened heart, for the blind and the deaf for those who have lost their voice. Thankfulness is a medicine for the soul and an elixir par excellence that the great curer of souls Himself insists we lay upon our lips a thousand times a day. I can assure of one thing, there is life in this frothing cup of thankfulness and it always bubbles and over flows to others. So, let me ask you tonight, have you taken your medicine today?

Listen: - And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:15 NKJV

Pray:- I reluctantly squeak before You Lord saying that I wish to serve you with gladness, saying that I would like to come before You with winning singing instead of whining loss, because You are God and it is You who has made me, not myself, it is You who has called me a ‘sheep of Your pasture,’ ha! So then help me to enter Your gates with thanksgiving, and go into Your courts with praise so I might be most thankful to You my God and bless Your name instead of cursing it. I ask You this, because You the Lord are good and You say that Your mercy is everlasting and that Your truth endures to all generations. So if it’s true, then do this for me, in Jesus name I ask it, just to make doubly sure, amen.

Dec | 16 | Singing Sapphires

Dream Word – JEWELS

Jude 24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, NKJV

Singing Sapphires

“I don’t know what it is?” said the neurologist as he examined the M.R.I. of my brain. “It’s not a tumor, and it’s not M.S. but you do have increased white matter in the left hemisphere. Have you ever had a stroke?”

“Not that I remember?” says I! This neurologist didn’t fill me with confidence I can tell you! As a former fault finding technician, you just know when folks haven’t got a clue, yes, you know when folks are just ‘poking and hoping.’

“Well, come back in three months time and we shall take another look, meanwhile, let’s get some fluid from your spine and look for some more indicators.” I didn’t go back. No, it was another neurologist that without even looking at any M.R.I. results asked me,

“When you were boxing and when you’re coaching, were you ever hit so hard that you saw stars?”

“Many times!” says I

“Well that accounts for the white matter,” says he, “It’s just a bit of brain damage.”

‘Just a bit of brain damage!’ Good grief Charlie Brown! Now you can have ‘just a bit of a tummy ache,’ you can fall and scrape your knee and have ‘just a bit of a cut,’ but I’m sorry, how on top side of God’s good earth, can anyone say to you with a smile, “Oh don’t worry about that, it’s just ‘just a bit of brain damage!’”

The moral of this little episode is quite simple. Don’t get punched in the head! The memory of this little episode however, is something quite, quite different. You see, I’m getting older, life is getting busier, the ball juggling and plate spinning seems to be on the increase, and my memory is not what it should be, it certainly is not what it was. Maybe it’s ‘just a bit of brain damage’ that’s the problem?! Ha!

I am fascinated by the function of memory, both factual and emotional memory. One very small aspect of this most magnificent capacity to store and retrieve both factual and emotional information is the ability of comparison. “My” we say, “He’s put on a lot of weight since the last time I saw him!” You see, comparison! Indeed, almost every decision we make is based on memorial comparison. In this one little aspect then, memory is so very important to both who we are and the directions in which we shall go. I suppose then, that memory is eternally important!

The problem with memory is that it stores every bit of experiential information about ourselves and others, and in a fallen world, that means it stores all the facts and feelings of our sins, both those we have initiated, and those sins of others in which we have participated. Indeed, every sin of thought and action, every sin of commission and omission is stored in our memory. The coming of the light of God in the face of Christ Jesus has brought repentance, remorse, maybe even some acts of restitution and please God, some gracious relief to us but what about the memories of those often atrocious acts? Ah well, the memories are still there, lodged in us, lodging with us, like some scabby, unwelcome and unwanted guests. Maybe this side of heaven, God’s work in us will be deep enough to remove the power of these memories over us, if not their presence within us? I think so. I hope so. We all want it so, do we not?

Like it or not, our memorial experience shapes us, it helps make us. So our memories, both good and evil, are also part of our story, and I think maybe, part of our eternal story as well. Did you hear that? Part of our eternal story as well! Now if I am correct, shall we then carry these memories of both good and evil, forever with us and if that is the case, how in heaven, along with Jesus and all the rejoicing saints, shall the memories of past hurts, past failures, past sins, still find a lodging place in our being? Never the less, I think they must, for if they do not remain with us, surely we shall lose such a part of our shaping story, that we shall cease to be who we truly are, cease to be our authentic selves even and shall God let this happen? Shall God ever allow plastic of any kind in heaven!? I think not. I’ve read the book of Revelation friends and heaven is solid with God made materials. There is nothing plastic in heaven, absolutely nothing!

Spurgeon today, commenting on our text for tonight says, “We shall be unblameable and unreproveable even in His eyes. His law will not only have no charge against us, but it will be magnified in us. Moreover, the work of the Holy Spirit within us will be altogether complete. He will make us so perfectly holy, that we shall have no lingering tendency to sin. Judgment, memory, will—every power and passion shall be emancipated from the thraldom of evil.” How wonderful!

Our text for tonight is talking about positional and experiential faultlessness. I tell you the truth, if God does not deal with our memories, then I do not know how this faultlessness can ever exist! For surely, part of hellishness is an eternal and continual remembrance of all our sins and shortcomings and so, would it not be hell in heaven to have brain damage healed only to then remember even more of one’s desperate shortcomings and sins? Of course it would!

I do not know how our great God will do it. I really don’t, but never the less, somehow, I believe that God will, no He must, make diamonds from our dirty coal still carried with us, and singing sapphires from all our sinly scars.

Memories must remain for us to maintain our stories, for us to be all we truly are. Yet this dark and transforming mystery of heaven shall change them all into such a glittering of golden dust, that they shall be forever and for always, to the eternal praise of His glory. I agree with Spurgeon tonight that, “Memory shall be emancipated from the thraldom of evil!” They shall be then present but dealt with, present but forgiven, present but healed, present but released, transformed, powerful and glorious, like God made miniscule diamonds, glittering in the magnitude of the heavenly diadem.

Now I tell you friends, that’s a miracle worth the waiting for!

Listen: - To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. Jude 24 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, all my pains and scars, ny shame and hurts are in Your hands, less like scars and more like character. Amen Lord, amen!

Less like scars, By Sara Groves -

It's been a hard year
But I'm climbing out of the rubble
These lessons are hard
Healing changes are subtle
But every day it's

Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember

And I feel you here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But you are able
And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars and more like
Character

Less like a prison, more like my room
It's less like a casket, more like a womb
Less like dying, more like transcending
Less like fear, less like an ending

And I feel you here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad situation
But you are able
And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars

Just a little while ago
I couldn't feel the power or the hope
I couldn't cope, I couldn't feel a thing
Just a little while back
I was desperate, broken, laid out, hoping
You would come

And I need you
And I want you here
And I feel you

And I know you're here
And you're picking up the pieces
Forever faithful
It seemed out of my hands, a bad, bad situation
But you are able

And in your hands the pain and hurt
Look less like scars (x3)

And more like
Character

Dec | 15 | Avoiding Substance Abuse

Dream Word – EXAMINE

Luke 15:13
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. KJV.

Avoiding Substance Abuse

I like very much the expression of dissipation found in our text for tonight as referring to someone who ‘wastes his substance’. The idea around the Greek word translated as 'dissipation' is that of substance abuse in terms of an abandoned and unthinking recklessness which leads to personal destruction. Yup! Dissipation is a terminal disease.

Maybe it is because I am getting older, but frankly I no longer have the energy I used to have and so already I find myself gazing somewhat enviously on younger folk, who seem to have so much energy, that they just don’t know what to do with it! Unfortunately, the possessors of such a seeming abundance of time, energy and good looks, often unknowingly fritter their substance away. It might be frustrating to see the accidental dissipation of substance which is common to youth and growth but I tell you, it is absolutely heartbreaking to see a young person purposely throw away their substance, bulimicly vomiting up their life on the pavements of drugs and idleness. Be sure that I am not talking of wasting money here. No, money can be replaced. I am talking about wasting substance. Time, talents, gifting, and all the unpacked possibility of life. This kind of dissipation is a tragedy of untold proportion. This kind of substance abuse is not unredeemable but it is irreversible. Think about that.

There is another kind of dissipation though which the more seeming wise and respectable unfortunately get themselves hooked into. It is dissipation of a better kind but dissipation never the less. Whenever we spend ourselves on that which does not last, we dissipate our very substance. There are two questions we can ask ourselves concerning the spending of our substance, to better then discern either the true worth of its expenditure or its wasteful abuse.

1) What is there of any value that I shall leave behind me when all my substance is spent?

2) What things of value do I look forward to, have I invested in even, in my eternal life to come? In other words, does my invstement have an eternal desire and an eternal reward.

We are moving speedily towards the end of this year and I tell you, if you want to have done with substance abuse then these are two of the best substantial and ethical questions you could ever bring to your life. Try them for size if you dare. Have a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Listen: - With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,With her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, Till an arrow struck his liver.As a bird hastens to the snare,He did not know it would cost his life. Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth: Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,Do not stray into her paths; For she has cast down many wounded,And all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death. (Proverbs 7:21-27 NKJV.)

Pray:- Lord, do not let me dissipate my substance, even on a perfumed bed of myrrh and aloes, and sugar coated cinnamon. Deliver me from taking my fill of all false loves which bring with them nothing but the coming of that morning emptiness. Deliver me from substance abuse I pray, in Jesus name, amen!

Dec | 14 | Mizpah Monuments

Dream Word – SEPARATE

Genesis 31:48-50
And Laban said,"This heap is a witness between you and me this day." Therefore its name was called Galeed, also Mizpah, because he said, "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another.” NKJV

Mizpah Monuments

Mizpah is a most misunderstood word. Of course over the centuries it has become at times more of a money making word than a mystical one, as Jewellers and retailers, all have taken their share of sales from trinkets and lockets, coins and bracelets all bearing the out of context but cute little phrase of, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another....Mizpah.” It’s all very ‘lovey dovey,’ it’s all very nice, it’s very sweet and it’s all very romantic, but friends, it’s all very wrong!

The context of the covenant cairn of Mizpah was built on one of danger, threat and cursing. You will remember that after over twenty years of well reaped abuse, Jacob finally gets the green light from God to flee away. His old uncle Fagin Laban pursues after Jacob and his family with the total intent on doing him great harm and recovering everything Jacob had taken, which quite frankly, he regarded as his to take! Laban would have done this if it wasn’t for the dream intervention from God which in brief said “Laban, shut it! Laban, watch it.” It was after Jacob and Laban vented to one another their thoughts that an irreconcilable difference of opinion was finally vocalised. That being the case there was clear need for separation and a covenant promise not to return into the other person’s life with a desire for revenge and hurt. This was the true context on the cairn at Mizpah. It was in effect a line of demarcation drawn in the deep desert sand which underscored the past life which was now never to be revisited without a consequent curse of judgement and retribution from God on high.

There is a need today for many a Mizpah cairn to be erected upon the mystical mountains of our minds and our hearts. There are lifestyles which we have previously held openly, but now carry in secret habit, thoughts and pernicious practices into what should be the peaceful places of our lives. Yes, there are 'Teraphim’s' of many kinds, which we have carried from the past into our present promised lands that have been the cause of all kinds of pursuant guilt and condemnation, even threat of death. Despite the accompanying fear of both discovery and loss, sin still causes us to sit on our idols and protect them under the lying excuse of a monthly menstrual flow.
Not a few of you tonight, MUST set up some Mizaph cairns on the mystical mountains of your own hearts and minds. It’s time to leave the past, it’s time to draw under it a line of demarcation. Yes, under all thoughts and practices habits and lifestyle that continue to be destructive and binding to you in the here and now, you must finally draw a line. Build that cairn and then NEVER again return to do yourself harm! Build that cairn and then NEVER allow a visit from there to do you harm! Yes! Once and for all time, mark it with the word MIZPAH!

Listen: - Then Laban said to Jacob, "Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us." And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Genesis 31:51-54NKJV.

Pray:- Lord, I cast away my idols. Lord, I am sick of the dark pursuers, the intrusion of the black Nazgul’s of my sinful past. Help me set up this night, some Mizpah cairns over issues in my life, which I declare tonight, shall no longer bring me death, or be sought after by me for their oh so dark a sustenance. Find me some rocks O Lord, and then together, let us build me a Mizpah cairn. In Jesus name I pray, amen.