Saturday, January 3, 2015

Jan | 03 | The prophet’s penthouse

KEYWORD

The prophet’s penthouse

Habakkuk 2:1
I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. NKJV

The seer of the Lord with expectant faithfulness positions himself in the place of receiving an answer. He will ‘set himself on the rampart’ that is, just like Miriam watched from the shore of the Nile to see what would happen to the baby Moses, so Habakkuk would watch to see the redemption of the remnant from the river of judgment. Yes, like the grown man Moses would later stand before Pharaoh and deliver bondage breaking command of the Lord, so Habakkuk would stand before the King of Kings, even the Royal court of the prayers of his supplication and wait for an answer.

Habakkuk then, in his heart, set himself in a particular position to receive from the Lord. He was on the shores of deliverance; He was in the Royal courts of the great King. Watchman of God! How about you then? Have you set your faithful and expectant feet in the same ground as Habakkuk? Have you withdrawn from all distraction to turn your eyes inward to the high temple place of the Spirit of the Lord within you? Have you ascended the inner heights? Have you risen above anxiety? Have you left the yapping dogs of temporal demands and the daily distractions beneath you? Are you above the general disdain for all things unseen? Have you come apart, come alone, come expectant to serve and wait on God? Are you yet above the clamor? Are you yet above the crowd? Are you yet above the hand clapping and the back patting yet? Are you above the mere men below and now alone and exposed only to God on high?

Whether rampart, wall or tower, Habakkuk was alone, watching and waiting on the Lord, looking for a runner to appear on all the high inner hills of his looking, waiting for that messenger from heaven to appear on the horizon of his watching soul, and when seen, mark well now, when seen, to quickly welcome his arrival and receive the heavy breathed out message so heaving and heart pumpingly powerfully delivered into his being. For when the runner from heaven is seen, the message shall be delivered quickly, imminently, instantly, immediately. Yes, when a message is once seen in the distance, it is often then delivered speedily and with heaving force upon the face of the watching heart. It is seen and heard, but mostly it is felt, yes, it is received in your bosom like a hit from a charging linebacker.

Habakkuk had made his complaint and laid out his questions before the Lord. He cared not whether he would be rebuked. He minded not if he might be chastened. These were not the issues. He was in the loving hands of his heavenly Father and whether God’s answer was soft or sharp, it was God’s answer he was most earnestly looking for.

The prophet waits with faithful expectancy, willing to receive whatever God may say. Man of God. I say, man of God! Are you doing the same tonight?

Listen:- Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He has mercy on us. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud. Psalms 123 NKJV

Pray: -  I am faithful to my calling O God. I do not waiver, neither do I doubt. I have ascended my high hill O Lord. I am watching, I am waiting, I am ready. Speak Lord in the stillness, while I wait on thee, hushed my heart to listen, in expectancy. Amen.

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Friday, January 2, 2015

Jan | 02 | The prophet’s position

MASTERY

The prophet’s position

Habakkuk 2:1
I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. NKJV

A long time ago, on the planes of Mamre, Abraham was quite literally shooting the breeze in the heat of the day. Whilst sat at his open tent flap door, three beings disguised as men were seen passing by. Abraham persuaded all three to engage in his hospitality and in the so doing, he entertained angels unawares. Now one of these beings was the pre-incarnate Lord Himself, and the other two, a pair of SAS angels on a snatch and destroy mission to Sodom. It is often said in the media today that Jesus said nothing about homosexuality. Well, i
n Genesis 18, He is on His way to destroy a couple of cities because of it and its seemingly perpetual smoking of the aftermath, would be seen for centuries to come in the dead sea area of the Jordan rift valley. Now then, Abraham rushed to refresh the hearts of these three strangers and once he had hastily prepared their meal, he stood by them, like some silver-service waiter, ready to attend to their every need.

“So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.” Genesis 18:8 Now I mention this verse in Genesis today for two reasons. First regarding Abraham’s acts of hospitality and service. Abraham had his suspicion who these beings were and where they were from. So, he was expectant in his waiting; indeed, Abraham clearly expected a reward for his hospitality and service. Even an angels reward, even a prophet’s reward, even a reward from the hand of the Lord! For this reward, whatever God deemed it to be, he ‘stood’ by them for it and waited. In Abraham’s case of course, that reward was the affirmation of God’s promise of a son, the strengthening of Sarai to believe for it and in the end, the arrival of baby Isaac himself!

The second reason I mention this incident is the word used for ‘stood’ or ‘standing’ by them, in Genesis 18:8 it is the same word used here in Habakkuk. The prophet Habakkuk therefore ‘stood’ with great expectation before the Lord. His question had been asked, his praise and complaint had been given (so like us) and now he stood with great expectation.

http://www.66pictures.comAs an old sailor in the Royal Navy, I am used to four-hour watches with a two-hour dogwatch covering varying cycles. Whatever the watch system utilized at sea, however, the purpose is the same: To keep the boat functioning and fully operational twenty-four hour per day. So, when Abraham’s son Isaac, later experienced a great famine in the land of his living, he was tempted to go back to Egypt. God came to Isaac and said “No! You shall not go. Stay where you are and I will protect and provide for you, bless you and make your descendents be multiplied and give you the land I promised to your father Abraham” and in the so saying, God also explained that He would do this “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” Genesis 26:5. That is, Abraham, kept my ‘watch’ or ‘charge’ (same word).

So for tonight then friend be sure of these two great truths: You have your ‘watch,’ you have your set period of time to be alert and to be attentive, to be useful and to be faithful.

If you are alive, then you are still on your ‘watch’, the length of which is still unknown to you, for the watch change ending of your expectant life is in the hands of the Master of the boat. Now then, I say 'expectant' because you must stand your watch, that is, you must be looking to the Lord of your watch with expectancy. What have you asked for? Look for it! What have you dreamed for? Hope for it! What have you desired from the Lord? Long for it with the expectancy of soon to be satisfied sailor.

The main mark of the man of God is essentially one of faithful expectancy. Are you standing your watch tonight?

Listen:- Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2NKJV

Pray: -  have kept Your word O Lord. I have served You with my whole heart. I have sacrificed my all to You my God and opened wide the door of my tent. I stand my watch O Lord. I wait for You to come. Speak Lord in the stillness, while I wait on thee, hushed my heart to listen, in expectancy. Amen

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Thursday, January 1, 2015

Jan | 01 | A gelatin capsule from God to help cure ‘The Doubts’

BELIEVE

A gelatin capsule from God to help cure ‘The Doubts’

Jeremiah 32:25
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me? KJV

In Jeremiah 32:17-25 Jeremiah prays a testimonial prayer to God. In other words, the prophet praises and to some extent ‘justifies’ God’s terrible but righteous actions against His covenant breaking people. However, in the face of seeing such utter devastation, despite his lofty praises of the magnificence of God, I wonder if Jeremiah had now gotten a case of ‘the doubts’ and in turn was now questioning the sanity of spending so much needed escape money on some real estate that would be occupied by his enemies? I wonder if he was asking; “Did God know what He was doing? Am I sane? Did I hear God right? Have I ‘lost the plot’ here?” Indeed, when the winds blow contrary to our set compass course; yes when the skies grow dark over our once clear horizons, all of us who go down to the deep sea in ships sometimes get a terrible case of the doubts. So will you.

http://www.66pictures.com
As for Jeremiah, well, he had obeyed the command of the Lord, but right now no doubt, he doubted the sanity of his obedience, I mean c’mon, if God continued His such destructive purposes against them, then who would ever be left to come back and frankly, who would want to come back to such a land of evilly occupied desolation? “Look! The siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it! And You have said to me, O Lord God, "Buy the field for money, and take witnesses"! — yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.'" Jeremiah 32:24-25

Now look, you sometimes fellow doubter, before God came to Jeremiah with that ultimate cure for a case of ‘the doubts’, which is that stupendous summary invitation of Jeremiah 33:3? “Call to me and I will answer you and show your great and mighty things which you do not know”, well before then, God had been treating Jeremiah’s doubts about following His command to buy that field for a future testimony of His covenant faithfulness, and in the so doing, God began His treatment with a statement and a rhetorical question all encased in a small gelatin capsule called “Behold!”. Examining the chemical bonding of the double medicine therein it would look like this:

                                I am the Lord,
                            the God of all flesh.
Behold, 
                      Is there anything too hard for Me?

http://www.66pictures.com“Behold!” Now then, God uses this gelatin delivery capsule over 1,000 times in the Bible, and here, ‘BehOOOOOOOld’. In other words, as the very word ‘Behold’ was breathed out of God’s mouth, it is as though God also raised His sweeping hand from the lower left side of His body to the upper right quadrant of His presence, and in the so doing, delivers the first part of this double medication, not only dramatically revealing the depth and the magnitude of His ever present prowess in His covenanted and continued control and rule over all creation, but also inviting Jeremiah to take some time to peer into very depths of every bit of God’s creation ,and to contemplate the wonder of His power and intimate control over all things! It is as though God says to Jeremiah and to us, and yes even to you tonight: “Look at the great catalogue of my creation! Look over the whole surface area of this planet. See the seas and the multitude of the ‘oh so different’ trees. Now, contemplate the Coney, consider the Ant, behold Behemoth! Yes, look up into outer space; observe now the twinkling constellations of the Bear, Orion, Pleiades and even the great and hidden Chambers of the south; and in all of this, ‘Behold’ Me Jeremiah! I am the supreme commander and creator of all living beings and the material realm in which I have placed them! (Now comes the second portion of medication) IS THERE ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR ME?”
it is the prolongated translation of that particular word:

In this great medicinal and rhetorical question laid up in the gelatin delivery mechanism of the word ‘Behold’, the action of this second ingredient is to agitate and provoke, to awaken and to revitalize our trust and peace in the greatness of God. Look dear friend, even in the shadow of God’s greatness, there is nothing so intertwined that cannot be unpicked and separated. There is no mountain range so big that it cannot be moved into the depth of the sea. There is no time that is too late. There is no bound up infirmity, which cannot be broken. There is no condition, age or disease that cannot be redeemed, that cannot be reversed, and that cannot be restored to usefulness and made to live again. There is no wondrous dream that cannot come to pass.

The continuance and majesty of creation is our contemplative medicine today and every day. Look at God’s wonders! I say to you tonight then, believe whatever God has said to you. Obey Him fully despite all contrary indications to what others with no sight might consider sane. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, for I tell you, nothing is too hard for Him and all things are possible for those who believe in Him. Believe!?

Listen:- The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God, Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens that cry. He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! Psalms 147:2-12 NKJV

Pray: -  Lord, when ‘the doubts’ arise within me; feed me the medicine of your sovereign greatness. Lord, the ‘the doubts’ defeat me, get me up, stand me up, build me up, look me up to You great king of the universe, for what You have spoken, will surely come to pass. This I believe right now. Amen and let it be so!

If this Everyday Bible Insight has helped you - then do please share it! 
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Did you know that we are preaching from each of the 66 Books of the Holy Bible in the 66 Most Influential Cities of the 250 Nations of the World? That's 16,500 cities which will hear a solid prophetic message from each book of the Bible over the next 25 years! Do you want to be part of this? Then please go to www.66Cities.TV to find out how.