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.

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?

“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!

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Jan | 15 | The use of holy cutlery

BELIEVE

The use of holy cutlery

John 1:16
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. NKJV

The Gospel writer John, turn’s us now to Christ’s fullness, that is, to Christ’s copious cornucopia; His abundant horn of plenty; His full to the brim and ever dribbling over wine skin of finer double vintage; His mountainously full, rolling over the edge basket of ever-morning fresh breads. The earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof, and Christ is fat with that same full goodness of God and full way above and beyond whatever we can imagine besides, but in particular, His is the fullness of grace and truth which we have received as it says in the text here, blessing upon blessing.

This fullness has been legally given to us. It is as though Christ has willingly gone to court to get God the Father, the great judge of all men, to legally make over to us all that piled high undeserving abundance upon unmerited abundance. Grace upon grace if you will, and this ever piling grace and truth, drawn from the full coffers of the Christ, has been repeatedly thrust, even poured upon us. It is as if God the Holy Spirit has taken a wheelbarrow of the fullness of Christ’s golden grace and truth and dumped it at our door, only to then go back for another full wheelbarrow of the same, and then again and again and again pile up this same bever ending fullness of His, even at our very feet.

We have through the atonement received grace; total grace; all covering grace; enabling grace; preserving grace; heaven entering grace; and reward granting grace. We the church, have through the ministry of the Holy Spirit moving in anointed and upon appointed men, received even the very word of God, the truth, the Bible and in having this thrust upon us, we ourselves in turn have become the pillar and foundation of the truth of God on earth.

If then dear friend, God has piled layer upon deliciously overlapping layer of grace and truth from His ever fat and never emptying fullness, why then are we so often paupers of ignorance, burdened down with the duties of religion? Has Christ truly set us free and if so, are we truly free indeed?

It seems to me that grace needs to be sucked on and the truth we have in our 66 books needs to be eaten. After all, any man can starve by just looking at a horn of plenty. It’s only the man with a dessert spoon that shall live with smiling delight. Have you got your dessert spoon? Are you using it?


Listen:- ut God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7NKJV

Pray: -  Lord Jesus, help us to experientially eat up your imparted goodness toward us. Amen and let it be so.

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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.







  

Dec | 29 | Believing, Way Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title: Believing, Way Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt

Luke 1:20 
“But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

Dear Archangel Gabriel,

I do hope this little letter finds you well and happy. Standing always in the presence of God must be an unbelievable experience! Sorry, I shouldn’t have used that word, you know, “unbelievable,” as I know how much it seems to annoy you. However, it’s a good introduction Gabriel because that is what I want to really speak to you about, you know, belief!

You see, it seems to me that you angels and dare I say, you in particular Gabriel, are pretty unbending when is comes to believing words from God. Now don’t get me wrong here, I know that’s the right thing to do, however Gabriel, you’re a bit brash with us humans aren’t you, a bit unmerciful, a bit robot like, a bit inhuman really in applying that principal of total belief and consequent judgment for any hint of unbelief! That’s pretty frightening for us sir, ‘cos I am assuming that you are indeed a person of great authority and power, with the ability to smite at will. (Poor Will, he’s always getting in the neck! Just a little joke there Gabriel : -))

Look Gabriel, Zacharias is my case in point. As a young and righteous newly wed, he was exceptionally disappointed (cultural understatement!) when his wife Elisabeth could not and would not fall pregnant. How many long years followed then Gabriel, when their daily prayers for an opening up of her womb came up to the throne of God? How many Gabriel? Come on, you know, you stand in the presence of God after all. It was a lot wasn’t it? No doubt you are also aware that as the flower of Elizabeth’s womanhood shrivelled and fell to the ground and old age crept upon them like a mangy dog with fleas, their prayers, virtually whimpered out as they resigned themselves, with lots of regret, to the good will of their good God. You know all this though? Then, as Zacharias gets the job of burning incense in the temple of the Lord, you turn up in all your magnificence and scare the poor old guy almost out of his holy little socks. Man! You put him on the spot didn’t you? An old geezer like that, he could have had a heart attack! Then out of nowhere when his little heart is still all a racing you smilingly announce (I am assuming you were happy for him) that he is going to have a child, a son, already named John who is going to be magnificent in the Kingdom. Marvellous news I agree, but a little overwhelming don’t you think?! All those years of praying with no answer and then when it’s way, I mean way past midnight, you turn up in all your glory, scare him almost to death and then answer all his deepest desires. Seems like Christmas already eh! Especially for old Zachy baby.

Now then honoured Gabriel, listen in, for here is where I take umbrage with you. I do not and say again, I do not think it unreasonable for an old man, well frightened and well advanced in years, to have just a little bit of doubt slip out of his mouth. Saying “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years,” is not unreasonable is it Gabriel? Of course not! However, I beg to suggest, that your response of striking him dumb just because he didn’t believe your words was not only unreasonable but down right insensitive, embarrassing and frankly, on your part, very, very rude. Hence the reason for my letter. Mr Gabriel. This is just not on.

The problem with you angels, if I might say so without being disrespectful, is you're so inhuman and that being the case, are so, well so, non-linear. Time has passed you know? Duh. Didn’t you see that Zacharias and Elizabeth were both past it? He knows it, she knows it, but it seems you don’t care about it. Oh no! Time in your gross non-linear thinking is completely irrelevant to you. What does it matter to you if all your equipment is shrivelled up, unattractive and not in best working order, so what! “God’s said it, you’d better believe it!” That’s your very inhuman approach isn’t it? I mean, what does it matter if the answer to their prayers at their age is now so very inappropriate? Old people with rheumatism, smelling of “Ben Gay” and “Vicks Vapo-rub” taking care of a small child, come on! Social services would never allow a kid to be adopted by people this old. Zachy knew this. Completely inappropriate timing Gabriel, completely inappropriate! Didn’t you see that? Oh no, obviously not, it was wham bam thank you maam, smack him in the gob and so, “because you didn’t believe,” nine months of being dumb and stupid looking! Ha! What an unmerciful, unthinking, and completely inappropriate response on your part mate. Completely inappropriate. I’m sorry, but I’m annoyed and these things just had to be said.

Well Gabriel, I shall close now, hoping that when we meet you will have learnt to be a little bit more linear in your understanding and a bit more merciful when it comes to just a little reasonable doubt. More human maybe. Please don’t get annoyed when we simpletons don’t believe beyond this reasonable doubt. I think it is because unlike you, we live such linear lives.

It’s hard for us to believe beyond reasonable doubt, even though you Gabriel seem to find it oh so very easy. I suppose standing in the presence of God so often and for so long seems to help you with this? We know all things are possible with God. We know that, honest we do. It’s just that unlike you, we don’t really know that it means that ‘He will take care of every little speck of a thing related to and regarding His spoken word that requires us to believe beyond any reasonable doubt.’ Do you see what I mean? I think maybe you do. Anyway, I hope this clears matters up a little and assists you in all your future dealings with the elderly. Don’t bother replying, I know you are busy, but remember when you are dealing with us, “think linear!”

My kind regards, yours disappointed of Tunbridge Wells, etc… etc…

Listen: “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:36

Pray: My Lord Jesus, thank you for your servants, all the angels of the Most High God. In the coming year please make us as unswerving in believing as those angels of Your light, in Jesus name we ask it, amen.

Dec | 18 | Clouds of Glory

Dream Word – BELIEVE

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 three-fold 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 fulfillment 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.

Nov | 03 | Midnight Brides

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Midnight Brides

Isaiah 34:16 “Search from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these shall fail; Not one shall lack her mate....."
 
I have spoken with a number of single women over the years, many of whom have been friends, who have longed to be married. They have faithfully sought God in prayer that He would provide a partner for their journey. They are not called to celibacy but are ready for love, in all its forms and demands. Over the years they have been saving themselves for that beloved spouse who they dream, one day, will sweep into their lives and rescue them from their loneliness and their frustration. In every thought prayer and fantasy, in times of happy hope, as well as in times of tearful despair, Disney’s “Some Day My Prince Will Come” has played repeatedly in their minds and danced upon their hearts.”

Months of waiting turn into years and for many, years have turned into decades. Then one day when getting out of her lilac perfumed bath, the hopeful princess, who has lived her life in perpetual preparation, will stare into the mirror and this time hear the whistle of times passing train. Conducted by gravity, her gifts have begun to slowly chug South on the old sag railroad, whilst the crows of age have stepped astride her once bright eyes and pecked her furrowed forehead and dragged down her cheerful cheeks. The thought of her prince arriving right now is still a nice thought, kind of, but mixed with a little anger, a lot of regret, and a bit more fear. Frankly the timing of the prince, stinks! Whilst the thoughts of his sending father, who has been so daily implored. seems increasingly inscrutable? What is He thinking? Why hasn’t He sent the prince?

I saw her in Disney World, Florida. The white and sparkling Mickey Mouse ears, with matching bridal veil, did not become her. She was carrying a few spare tires, and her arms were bigger than Joe Bugner’s biceps. For me though, it was the shorts straining against the dammed up belly and the furry flip flops smacking loudly against the old calloused heals, that dissipated the magic of the shimmering veil into damp and soured silliness. We all know that the paraphernalia of the cartooned Princess was made for the little girl in the long dress a long way a way, dancing in the mirror with matching sparkly shoes and handfuls of smiling flowers singing “Some Day My Prince Will Come” in knowing expectancy. Friends, touched up Technicolor and cheery songs of hope may fill the life of a little girl with happy hope but it’s no good for a real woman, no good for a seemingly forgotten bride, whose flip flops seem to be a flappin. Is there an answer for all those faithful brides a waiting?

The only answer I have found for waiting brides in the midnight of their lives is to seek the far horizons beyond the eastern hills. Such far and faithful gazing will I assure you, make the now, touch and taste the fair winds of God’s fragrant future, fixed in heaven for you. Believe me when I tell you, that such far horizon gazing will bring your dreams to your side and your hopes to your breaking heart. In your frustrations with the much implored and pleaded with Father and much heart remonstrated regret, don’t dismiss these dreams of mating and hopes of marriage as mocking and idle fancies, oh no, whatever you do, don’t clear your table of these comforting delights. “What comforting delights?” I hear some of you say, “ what comforting delights is there when my time here is almost done, my beauty almost faded.” Good question.

Surely, this truth stands forever that “it is not good for man to be alone”. My mere conjecture (for Scripture is silent on this) and my firm belief, is that in the coming Kingdom, though there may not be marrying and giving in marriage, there may in fact be something better and something far more wonderful, than we ever imagined. Waiting bride, it is Jesus that has filled you with this hope of a soul mate and a stunning prince to come, Jesus has given you this desire, even this great need and it is not to mock you, nor to hurt you, but in the end to bless you! He is your all in all, for sure, no doubt about it, and amen and amen, and so I wonder, in being just that for you, if He has in turn provided for you, some Prince of God, who you will only embrace in His Glorious and coming Kingdom? I wonder. I think so. Why not?

If your lost hope has led you to desperate acts, leaving you either sad or sullied, sleepy or cynical; then may I encourage you, to look once again to His throne of grace and the eastern hills of all His promises, where you will find from Him, an even better song to sing than 'Someday my prince will come.,

Church of Christ, desperate for His appearing, look you again to the far horizon, for you are not forgotten either and the best is yet to come; is even coming very soon and hey, His reward is with Him!

Listen:- “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

Pray:- Faithful God, fulfiller of all my dreams; bring Your far horizons close to my heart once more, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Addendum:: In 2012 as the Church in England dies and as statistics forecast zero, nada, none, NO men in the church in the next 18 years, this will be an increasing pastoral issue. In truth, it will be one of the major issues in the church.

 

Sep | 27 | Resurrection Hopes

Dream Word – BELIEVE


Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. NKJV

RESURRECTION HOPES

God is good, but God is tough.

“Lord, don’t mention me to the enemy. Lord do not say to him ‘Hey, have you seen my servant Robert?’ No Lord, please keep my name out of any conversation with him, lest I be tested like Job of old. As for Abraham, Lord just what were You thinking? Asking a man to kill his own son? Putting him through what can only be described as torture and for days and for what? Just so You could experientially know of his trust in You? I tell you Lord, if the social services ever get their hands on You, You're done! They shall lock You up and throw away the key, for abuse, yes, for abuse! There has to be a better way Lord of You conducting Your business, there has to be better way of You knowing and us, growing? Surely?"

Abraham had to endure days of terrible torment, days of torment of heart and of mind. Jacob his grandson however, would undergo years of torment, thinking his Joseph was murdered, blaming himself every day for sending his lovely son on that last mission to Dothan. Joseph did no better, who whilst being sick with unfulfilled promises, spent years in prison for a crime he did not commit. I could go on and indeed, I will do so now and even with you, yes, even with some of you reading this tonight.

For whatever reason, be it drugs, be it sexual sin, be it sickness of mind, be it raging anger, be it self-sealed pride, be it misunderstanding, be it distance, be it whatever! Many of you this very night wish you could exchange your circumstance for the comparatively simple test which Abraham had to pass through! “Good grief,” you say, “Abraham had that torture laid on his soul for days, but mine, mine, I have had it laid upon my heart for weeks, for months, for years even and I don’t know, I just do not know, how I can ever face the coming days, for each morning and each night, I lay my lost child, lost to drugs, lost to madness, lost to lifestyle, lost to self hurt, lost to dishonour, lost to anger, lost to God, LOST TO ME! Oh God, every morning and every night I lay my lost child by faith upon on Your altar, hoping, pleading, praying, looking, longing, waiting, for a resurrection and I am still waiting Lord! I am still waiting!”

To all the Abrahams of this night, both male and female, I bless your broken hearts and pray with all my might, that your hopes would be resurrected upon this very earth you place knees upon. May God grant you strength and continued belief for this oh most pressing miracle. If however, hope is dead, died even long ago, for maybe even your altar-child died, when the circumstantial knife was not halted by an angel and when the sharp self-hating scythe, cut the limbs off life, then I am so sorry; I am so very sorry. Please yet believe, even let me believe for you, in a better resurrection yet to come, for who knows if all your prayers were not answered and answered in FULL, answered even in the last moment of their time here on earth, answered in an elongated second, where all eternal business was transacted in it’s fullness and into which, all the abundant grace and goodness and the rescuing power of God, was poured forth in abundance. Who knows? Believe yet.

I hope my friend, that your daily and your nightly, altar-laid child, will rise to walk through your open door on this very morrow. But if not, even if that can never be, then I hope my friend, that your child awaits you, smiling, looking this time for you, to walk through that final door of your own eternal destination.

Tonight, millions of Abrahams lay their child on God’s altar, believing in a resurrection by the good and able God. Join them in their prayers, join them in their weeping, join them in their hoping, join them in their believing, join them in their faith! For you are not alone and you are not forgotten.

Listen: - "Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and those who laid you waste Shall go away from you. Lift up your eyes, look around and see; All these gather together and come to you. As I live," says the Lord, "You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, And bind them on you as a bride does. "For your waste and desolate places, And the land of your destruction, Will even now be too small for the inhabitants; And those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children you will have, After you have lost the others, Will say again in your ears, 'The place is too small for me; Give me a place where I may dwell.' Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has begotten these for me, Since I have lost my children and am desolate, A captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; But these, where were they?'" Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me." Isaiah 49:15-23 NKJV

Pray: Lord, lift up my head and my feeble, hanging hands, that I might hope in You once more. Amen.

Aug | 24 | Stop Bloomin Blasfeemein!

Key Word:- BELIEVE


Title:- Stop Bloomin Blasfeemein!

Titus 3:1,2 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

In our text for today, ‘To speak evil of’ is a translation of the Greek word: 'Blasfeemein'. That's right, blaspheming! It is possible to curse, swear, and use foul and odorous language against other people. It is possible then to blaspheme other people, especially if they are politicians! I think that this is the context of the admonition related to this kind of 'speaking evil against'. The text for today appears to be saying: “Obey your rulers and authorities, your politicians and don't blaspheme them.” Now there's a challenge! No really, it is a challenge! Especially within free and democratic societies. Especially when they've all been 'on the fiddle'! Well, nearly all.

In my home country of England, our form, over the years of political debate has always been adversarial. In England, the floor of the House of Commons has two drawn swords facing one another. The government and the opposition in their opposing benches often going beyond probing and testing, to verbal prodding and tearing, ripping and ridiculing the other member to shreds, always in the most polite and ‘Speaker’ guided way of course. Indeed, prefix any statement with “The right honourable member” and you can carry on to kindly 'gut' anyone you do not agree with. This kind of a verbally vicious environment is the stuff of present day politics, ask any 'shock jock.'

In addition to this, some Presidents and Prime Ministers have ensured by their double dealing, dirty living and foul and odorous actions, to bring curses upon themselves and the countries they represent. It's hard not to speak evil of such people isn't it? But let's ramp it up a little further. How about not speaking evil of such leaders as Hitler, Nicolae Ceausescu, Stalin, Idi Amin, Pohl Pot, Saddam Hussein.....and the list goes on. Let me ask you, "Was it OK to speak evil of them? "

The church and its members are to be the bulwarks of any community, acknowledging the sovereignty of God and His administration of protecting the good and punishing the evil. However, we are called to discern when Governments protect evil and punish good. When this happens, that is when evil is rewarded and good is punished, our response to such calamity as individuals, communities and nations will be difficult, disconcerting and somewhat divisive, especially within our own communities of faith. History has at least taught us this! Never the less, in the face of such a sickness in social order, if we as Christians go on to merely adopt an attitude of ‘head in the sand spiritual other worldliness,’ we shall appear to be so disinterested that we will certainly be ridden over by the opponents of truth and good! We shall also be seen to be totally disengaged from the real world and therefore amongst our neighbours, we shall be powerless, disenfranchised and therefore ineffective for any good work whatsoever.

Every committee, community board, political party and neighbourhood scheme of every kind needs to have powerfully gentle, honourable and humble, truth talking, good working Christians involved in them, for we can be sure of this, if we don't: “Evil shall triumph when good men do nothing” With truth, goodness and honour, let us then fully engage the political world at community, local and naitonal level.

Listen:- …of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command; 1 Chronicles 12:32-33

Pray: - Lord in all areas of our life, from local communities to national and international politics we cry out for the raising up and revelation of the men of Issachar; anointed ones who understand the many types of hurricanes and tornadoes, that the end of days shall bring upon us. Lord help us to engage in prophetic power. Amen!

Aug | 02 | The Realtor & The Real Estate

Key Word:-BELIEVE

Title:- The Realtor & The Real Estate  

Genesis 13:17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
 
So I said to him “I’m looking for a new house.” He smiles shakes my hand sits me down and begins ‘the financial probing.’ This guy has been around a bit. I can tell this by measuring the time it takes to get from the handshake, to the seamless discovery of what I can afford to spend. He doesn’t want to offend me but ‘time is money’ for him and he doesn’t want to waste his time showing me a property I cannot afford. “Ah ,I’ve got just the home for you” he says with an ‘I can’t believe the coincidence of this ’ look on his face. He continues, “And you won't believe it” (he’s right, I won't.) “It only recently came on the market. I tell you if no one snaps this up soon I’m going to buy it for my daughter. Tell you what, take the keys, it’s not far from here and take your time. Walk through the house, take it all in and make sure the wife is with you, she will just love it. Then, when you see why this house is so perfect for you, bring back the keys and let’s talk.” Getting real excited now he exclaims, “Man! I just want you to see this place before we go any further. It’s gonna blow you away!”

God is no sleek realtor, no professional estate agent, yet it seems to me in our text for today that He does say to Abraham, “You gotta see this place Abe baby, you’re gonna love it!” Abraham had to take time to take in the magnitude of the promise. The stars in the sky, the sand on the ground, the length and breadth of the land. He had to look and he had to see and believe and then bring back the keys to the Lord God Almighty. “I tell you” says God “It’s enormous, it’s magnificent, it’s beautiful for situation, it’s ample room for you, the kids, the grand kids, the whole massive family, man it’s yours and you know what? I am giving it to you baby. It’s not gonna cost you a cent, no sir, it’s yours, it's a free gift from me, a promise and I tell you what Abraham, take the keys, go and see, walk up and down, in and out, cross the rivers, climb the mountains, feel the grass, smell the roses, cause it’s all yours. What do I want?" The Lord says incredulously, “What do I want? I want some anticipation Abe baby, I want some expectancy, I want some joy before the promise, I want to see you happy, I want to see you drooling, I want you hungry in belief, I want to see some deep inward longing, wanting, believing. Then, when you see why this house is perfect for you, bring back the keys and let’s talk. Man! I just want you to see this place before we go any further. It’s gonna blow you away.”

Friends we need to take time to walk through the land of our inheritance. We need to take time to meditate on the Scriptures, to think on Jesus and allow the dimension of our divine inheritance to make it’s eternal impression upon us. We need to walk through the land. I tell you, If your expectant belief and drooling hunger is not giving you heartburn this side of heaven in the long dark night of your soul, then you need to get out and start walking friends. Start walking and start looking, start drinking, start exploring and start talking about the real things, the unseen things, the eternal things. You’ve got the keys, so now for the first time in your life maybe, go take a good long look. Here is what Jesus says to you today: “Good grief friends! I just want you to see this place before we go any further. It’s gonna blow you away.”

Listen:- These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16

Pray:- Lord. I do declare that I am a stranger and a pilgrim in a foreign land. Please begin the guided tour today of all I possess in you Lord Jesus. Amen.

Jun | 12 | Frankly, She Was Wrong

Dream Word – BELIEVE

Romans 7:18-19 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. NKJV

Frankly, She Was Wrong.

In 1942, a young girl aged just thirteen years wrote expectantly in her new, red-checked diary, saying, “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” In Amsterdam, she would soon go into hiding, spending the next two years of her life recording her experiences, thoughts, ideas and dreams, before being caught by the Nazis and shipped to Bergen Belsen where she would later die of Tuberculosis, just one month before the end of World War II. Today is Anne Frank Day, a good day for the life of this remarkable and very young woman to be remembered.

On July 21st in 1944, despite Anne's continual confinement and fears, she writes in a most remarkable and hopeful way saying, “It’s difficult in times like these; ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Unfortunately, in her observation of humanity as a whole and of individuals within it, Anne was so very, very wrong.

One of the major differences between Christianity, secular humanism and many world religions, is its one damnable conclusion that the fountain of man, that the root of man, that his heart, is essentially not good, no, is un-good, bad, even evil. This Biblical truth runs contrary to every fibre within our being, that despite the volcanic evil which like refluxial acid burns its way like hot lava, trenching its way up our throat to more often than not, explode from our devouring mouths, never the less declares to us again and again, that age old lie, that in truth, we are really good, yes in truth, we are intrinsically loving and moral, we just need a chance to shine, we just need the opportunity to let the goodness of humanity, the goodness of ourselves, to freely flow out from us. This is a beautiful dream, but remains a timeless lie, despite it being pushed down our throat again and again by anything and everything that Gene Roddenberry ever touched or touched upon.

The purpose of such a Biblical and damnable observation of humanity, even of you, is to bring you on your knees to Jesus. The purpose of such a Biblical and damnable observation of humanity, of even you, is to make you Christ-centred instead of self-centred. So let me ask you, “what’s your fountain source been today? What’s been your centre? Sinful self, or abiding in Christ. Don’t be fooled, you are corrupt at your core...... Abide in Christ....Abide in Christ.....Abide in Christ.....

Listen: - The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,'God, I thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:11-14 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, this is a hard thing to believe. The older I live the more I see the truth of it in others, yet Lord, the less I am willing believe it fully about myself. What fierce and subtle perversion Lord, what deceitful and damnable heresy I seem to always believe about the intrinisc goodness in me. Jesus, be my centre, be my goodness, then this night and on the morrow and forever more I pray, help me to abide in You. Amen.
 
 

May | 17 | On Bringing Dreams Down To The Earth

Dream Word – BELIEVE

Proverbs 26:14 As a door turns on its hinges, So does the lazy man on his bed. NKJV

On Bringing Dreams Down To The Earth

I want you to imagine that you are gazing up into the twinkled, starred, deep-blue, soft-white, moon- hazed, night sky. It is cloudless and there, seemingly floating among the stars, slowly twirling helplessly, like an old abandoned star ship on the soft high seas of space, lies your dream. It’s beautiful. Sometimes, you take your friends outside and get them to look at it with you, as you point upwards and beyond saying, “There, do you see it? Ah one day, I would love to climb in the cockpit of that baby and bring that dream on home.” Then, as your neck hurts with the gazing and the vast distance between you and your dream never closes, you look down into your wine glass, held in your sluggish left hand and say, “Yeah, one day.” And your friend just smiles, because he knows, and so do you, that you will never fly that ship of dreams, and it will remain floating about in your mind’s eye, unmanned and directionless forever. Yes, it’s beautiful. Yes, it’s magnificent, but it’s just a dream amidst the midnight stars, for love of dreams alone is simply that. Love. Alone. You see, for dreams to land, they need working much more than they do talking.

The sunlight and the clouds and the demands of the day all have the tendency to diminish the dream, even erase it from our memories for a good deal of the time, but in some people, the very picture of that ship of dreams just will not go away and despite all the disdain of their ignoring it, the dream begins to become less of a retinal image and more the beginnings of a pain in the heart, for love ignored has now, you see, begun to grow some legs, and with the legs, following hard on after them, comes a growing and noisy deep desire, which, armed with the thought of consummation, yes, empowered with the single thought of making babies and giving birth to the dream, even this dream much seen and longed for, it comes with lusty embrace and the piercing pain of this desire, forces itself again and again, into the forefront of our minds at the most inopportune of moments.

Now, if so-called common sense and the counsel of others, doesn’t extinguish that now all pursuing pain and that right quickly, the impregnation of desire with action, will have the most unusual effect of growing first some long arms, indeed, so much so in fact, that it will have given you the ability to now reach out above the atmosphere and grab hold of that ship of dreams and do you know, yes, do you know, that in the laying hold of it, that spark of determination called 'strength', flinted with the stone of stubbornness, is now matched with fertilised desire and a fire begins, which again if not extinguished by bank managers and other bean counters and the like, will cause a magical transference from earth to the heavens, where all of a sudden, there you are, sat right in the cockpit of that ship of dreams and flying it back to earth! With your actions at the helm, you see, our dream is coming come down to earth. Now the trouble really begins.

Once you begin to drive that dream, down through the red hot atmosphere, down through the mountainous clouds, down through the thunder and the wing tipped lightening, down and way on down into the air of reality where you then begin to get a view of landfall, then my oh my, you’ll had wished you had never brought your dream into the dimension of the now. For the ship you are flying seems, as is the way with driven dreams, to be more of a nightmare than anything else. It is at this point, when fear, false readings, loneliness, tiredness and the smirks and shaking heads of others, have caused many a driven-dream rider, to press the big red eject button, where, after being blown from the crashing canopy, they can somewhat safely, but most unceremoniously, float down to earth again and watch from a semi-safe distance, their dreams crash and burn into the deepest of the “told you so” seas, never to be seen again. However, for those silly enough to continue, for those stupid enough to press on through all the discouragements, for those with the courage of their convictions, stability eventually sets in and with stability, the eventual sight of a safe landfall. And you know, when a driven, 'ship of dreams' sights landfall, well oh my Lord, now, you have a destiny.

The danger with a seen detiny, is at this point to ease back on the throttle, to take a look over there, or over here maybe, circle and see what’s going on elsewhere and with all this gadding about in the skies, the weather also now begins to descend and the solid destiny we once so clearly saw, sometimes never comes any closer, yes sometimes it even fades into a silhouette against the grey. Here, regaining the focus of faith is most important, for you must simply believe that once you have seen your destiny, if you keep focused on it, that you will find it to be a straight line to the landing zone and a step by step continuance along that focus line can do nothing else but bring you into the clearer skies of the growing clarity of hope, from where you shall begin to see your destination again grow ever bigger before your eyes. Don’t get distracted from pursuing your seen destiny. No! You must keep focused, you see. You must keep, keeping on.

One day soon, with all wheels safely down and wings steady on the rising horizon, you shall touch down at ‘You Did It!’ airport, where you shall take great delight in unloading the cargo of all the fulfilment of your dreams. For dreams to turn into desire, to turn into drives, and then into destinies and destinations, you must first mate your love with deep desire and then add to that birthed and long armed child of action: strength, courage, perseverance, faith and hope. Keep doing that and you shall arrive at “you did it” airport. I guarantee it!

Listen: - My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11 NKJV.

Pray:- Lord, thank You for dreams. Lord, grant to me the ability to turn these dreams, into destinies and destinations. May strength, courage, perseverance, faith, hope and Your good, great and abundant hand, be with me all my days, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

                                                                                                             

Apr | 30 | Lousy Anna or Louisianna?

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Lousy Anna or Louisianna?

Isaiah 55:1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price........."

When God made me, I was born with what my father often referred to as, ‘Duck's Disease’. In other words, my backside was very close to the ground or, to put it another way, I’m not very tall! Subsequently, over the years I have learnt when looking for clothes, that if they fit my distinct proportions of person and pocket, then it’s best to buy two of them right that very minute, as in the long run it will save both time and money.

There was once an indiscriminate woman of purchase, who always spent too much for things that were worth far less. Anna was her name and her infamous fiscal failings led to many items which she purchased to be found in the end, of no real value whatsoever. These purchases and one large one in particular, have lately been referred to as “The Lousy Anna Purchase”.

Today in 1803, U.S. envoys agreed to pay $11,250,000 together with assumed claims of its citizens against France in the amount of $3,750,000, to purchase what was then known as, ‘The Louisiana Territory.’ It appears Napoleon Bonaparte needed money for, shall we say, other endeavors more pressing at home. So, young America acquired 828,000 acres of Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre. In the end, thirteen States would be carved from this vast piece of land. Friends, it would appear that it’s good to know when to sell, but when it’s time to buy, then buy,buy, buy! What a fantastic Louisianna purchase that was!

What do you do though, when a bargain comes around and you don’t have the money to buy it?

Well, you either sell what you have to raise the necessary capital, or borrow the money from some kind of a lender. Either way, speedy purchases can be a bit of a gamble and often times, quick sales are like buying a ‘pig in a poke.’ Imagine then an offer to purchase and consequently an offer to own, something vast and immeasurably valuable that will in fact only cost you but one thing to buy. Yes, what if the cost of such a fantastic purchase was quite simply, just thirst!

Imagine as well that this treasure you purchase with your thirst, exceeds in beauty, magnitude, return, desirability, expanse, depth, colour, height, length, breadth, fragrance, climate, consideration, welcome and wonder! Indeed, it exceeds all that you can possibly imagine or think! That would be some kind of bargain wouldn’t it? Indeed, you would be a fool not to obtain such a satisfying commodity!

So then friends, tell me today, why are you so quickly spending your hard earned money on that which does not satisfy, on that which passes away? Get thirsty, then get GOD and all the promises that go with Him!

Listen: - listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Isaiah 55:2-3

Pray: - Lord, make me so thirsty that I will have enough to buy all I can from You. Lord give me Your eternal currency and then come satisfy my thirsty soul! Help me make some fantastic Louisiana purchase today, instead of my many 'lousy Anna' ones! Amen and amen!

Apr | 15 | Harping On

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Harping On

Luke 12:42,43 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise..”

Reverend John Harper, a Scotsman, was travelling to the United States with his daughter Nina and a Miss Leitch. He had ministered in churches in England and Scotland and was the newly called Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago. Today in 1912, was his last day on earth. The ship on which he was sailing went down in history as it sunk in the icy waters of the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. As the order to abandon ship was given, he kissed his daughter goodbye and gave her and Miss Leitch into lifeboat No.11 shouting for the “Women children and unsaved to be allowed into the lifeboats first,” he was seen giving his own life-jacket away.

Four years after the Titanic went down; a young Scotsman rose in a meeting in Hamilton, Canada, and said, “I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful night, the tide brought Mr. Harper of Glasgow, also on a piece of wreck, near me. ‘Man,’ he said, ‘are you saved?’ ‘No,’ I said. ‘I am not.’ He replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.’ The waves bore him away; but strange to say brought him back a little later and he said, ‘Are you saved now?’, ‘No,’ I said, ‘I cannot honestly say that I am.’ He said again, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved,’ and shortly after he went down; and there, alone in the night and with two miles of water under me, I believed.
I am John Harper’s last convert.”

Listen: - for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:12-13

Pray: - Lord, with the icy waters of death biting at my heals, I cry out to You today, “Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner,” amen and amen.

 

Feb | 15 | Sparks From a Bad Fire

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Sparks From a Bad Fire

Joshua 5:12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

It had been a long journey for this motley crew from Egypt, following the pillar of burning fire! Forty years of wandering in the wilderness had finally ended, though a whole repentant and yet unbelieving generation had to die in the process before their children could enter the land of promise. Of the original tribal representatives sent to ‘spy out’ the Promised Land all those unbelieving years ago, only Caleb, a strong and courageous lion’s whelp from the tribe of Judah, would believe and survive. The writer of Hebrews commenting on the dead generation that did not enter the land at that first opportunity says this to us today “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;” (Hebrews 3:12)

You see, all of the twelve original scouts sent to investigate the Promised Land returned safely and successfully to give their report. All had seen the same gigantic men and cities, the fierce people and seeming impossible odds, but only Caleb had said, “let us go up for we are well able to overcome it.” The other eleven spies however, responded saying, “we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” The congregation as usual, believed the majority. No amount of clothes tearing, and earnest entreaty from Caleb or Joshua the assistant to Moses, could change their minds. From a spirit of fear, the multitude had received a spark of disbelief and had fanned it into such a flame that it consumed the nation in utter defeated and hopelessness.

Without the imploring of Moses, God would have wiped them out in an instant. He was shall we say, a little annoyed! Instead, God decided that none of that generation would be allowed to enter into the promise, none that was, except Caleb, who having seen the same as the other eleven spies, nonetheless saw it with a different spirit.

Friend, before Almighty God I ask you; what ails you, what fails you, in possessing your land today? What’s wrong for goodness sake with the eyes of your spirit? Get it changed McGoo! Else we might just have to McGo into the land without you!

Listen: -Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Pray: - Lord, I believe. You, yes I believe You! So please come and clear the fuzz of my unbelief, to clear eyes of seeing faith, in Jesus name I pray it, amen!

Feb | 06 | Of Pits, Pillars, Proclamations & Dripping Pomegranates

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Of Pits, Pillars, Proclamations & Dripping Pomegranates

Hebrews 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

 
It was a terrible day when someone suggested to me that I was ‘addicted to failure’. Needless to say, at the time, I was quite hurt and just a little confused. Today however, the comment has become one of those things that have become valuable to me in hard times. When the going gets tough, I have begun to simply refuse to let go, to roll over, to bow down and to give up.

Sometimes manifesting themselves as a pain in the neck to other people, the two twins of persistence and tenacity are still great virtues to cultivate and like Jachin and Boaz, they are still great pillars of strength, adorning the temples of God! However, though they are both great and strong, in the face of spiritual obstacles, persistence and tenacity are unfortunately grossly inadequate in and of themselves. For tenacity and persistence to remain, for the immovable and upright presence of these two powerful twin pillars to continue, understand that these two need to have their foundations firmly fixed on the almighty and unshakeable, steps of belief! These twins cannot stand without the firm foundation of belief.

Now let me switch and mix my metaphors in mid stream, for I tell you, foundational belief is also like a great magnifying glass, taking the smallest of words and making them into a book of promises, taking the little canoe of a promise and turning it into a great ship of hope, taking a ship of hope and turning it into an all- advancing ark of the covenant, taking the ark itself and then turning it into a citadel of protection, taking the citadel and turning it into Zion, the Holy Hill of God! For it is only there, in Zions foundational hill, that our pillars of perstistence and tenacity stand tall and exhibit all their glory!

Allow me to switch and mix my metaphors again will you! For we can truly say, that persistence and tenacity will always stand firm and tall on the bedrock of belief because this kind of belief, is not some unrooted fantasy! No! For belief to be totally and eternally profitable, it must have a root and a focus and that focus must not be on the fantastic, but on the realistic! The root of this reality then, is God and His grace, is God and His goodness and this root, will produce rich bright fruit atop the twin pillars of persistence and tenacity, in the form of bulging pomegranates, full of joyous juice, dripping down the capitals of these mighty strengths. Persistence and tenacity will always produce squeezed- out joy in its season. Do you see that?

So today friends, believe! You must believe! Focus on God and not on yourself. Everything may be crashing down around you, even the mountains may seem to lean over and at any second threaten to fall upon your little head and crush you! The seas, may right now be rocking and roaring you into a confused sickness so much so, that you fear that you might be sucked down to the cold dark depths of despondency and dismay, so much so, that even the pit of depression seems to rise around your shoulders like, as Winston Churchill called it, the old black dog, howling like a wolf outside the gates of your spirit, and all might seem lost and pointless……. “but God.” Friend, when these evil and unbelieving days come upon us, let us with tenacity and persistence, only focus fully on God!

Believe and focus also on the Grace of God. We rarely deserve to be helped, to be heard and to be healed. However, the gracious God will always turn His ears to the repentant; will always lay His mighty gaze on those who fear Him and will always extend His strong hands to those who reach out to Him. Friend, grace. Focus today on Grace!

Believe and focus also on the goodness of God. This is very important, for in the face of dreadful circumstance; betrayal, lack, loss, and even lunacy, believing on the goodness of God, is just the hardest thing to do! Let the fact of God’s goodness however, become the sharp edge of your sword of belief. When all is seemingly hopeless, irretrievable, and irreversible, take up your sword of belief and then with the sharpened edge of the goodness of God, slash through the bags of descending blackness until the dark clouds rain down grace and change condemning skies, to skies of utter cheerfulness, even of pomegranate dripping joy.

So, swing away friends, swing away and proclaim today your belief in God, and that His goodness and His grace in all its fullness, will, from the pomegranate pinnacle of your persistence and the terrific tops of all your tenacities, drip down joy upon you! You must start swinging the sword of belief with the sharpened edge of the goodness of God into the dark skies of your despondency today! Come on now! Never give in! 

Listen: - "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23

Pray: - “Lord, I believe; You need to help my unbelief!” Help me to swing away dear Lord and break grace from your fat clouds of descending goodness. In Jesus name I pray, amen. (from Mark 9:24)

Jan | 02 | Believing, Blasting, Bellowing & ‘But God’ ing!

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Believing, Blasting, Bellowing & ‘But God’ ing!

Joshua 24:2, 3 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.’…….”

Before The Voice came Abram was an idol worshipper. He did not know God! Abram was just a seemingly insignificant person, amongst thousands of other seemingly insignificant people. In most matters, probably, he was better than some. In many others no doubt, he was worse than many. You see, there appears to be no substantial reason why the VOICE came to Abram. No reason at all that is, ‘BUT GOD!’ and now at the beginning of this year let’s let these two life-changing words become ours to possess and to use, every single day hereafter. ‘BUT GOD!’

In the time to come this year, we need to dwell on this sovereign fact that “God’s voice will come to many that are not seeking Him and He will choose them, challenge them and change them and as many as are ordained to believe, will do so.” You see friends, salvation is God’s idea, it is at His instigation, it is His work, and it is for His glory. In this world, as darkness once again settles upon the face of the deep, and accross the fallen faces in the deep, let us make both peace and preparation with this wonderful truth. We can do nothing. ‘BUT GOD’ can do everything!

Yes we need to prepare to use these words for don't think that these two large words allow us to make a pact with spiritual pacifism. Theological Calvinism may allow many folk that lazy luxury, but Biblical Calvinism does not. No way! These two words are a powerful pair of six-guns slung around the Christian’s hips. So, whenever adversity or disaster, seeming defeat and terrible disappointment like some old evil cowboy casts it’s long shadow across your path and pulls up it’s poncho and prepares to shoot you down, ‘DRAW AND FIRE FIRST!’ “BUT GOD!” Blam Blam! Two bullets straight in their evil heart. These words are also a great left right combination to lay out the oncoming thug of disbelief. They are a little pack of C4 if you will, to blow up any road block of restriction. They are a couple of energy pills to pump you up and get you through the day. They are better than a mouthful of Mogadon swallowed at just the right time, yes sir, these two gigantic words will lift your spirits to faith’s so great a height, that your heart will be opened to fresh vision and you shall please the Father and damn the devil! “BUT GOD!” What an amazing duo of dynamite.

So, when that old serpent straddles your path this year with his hands on his slinky little hips saying “thus far and no further,” drop your knees and deliver a straight right to the body and a left hook to the chin; WHAM! BAM! “BUT GOD!” When the devil calls that mountainside to tumble across your divinely guided feet, just find the biggest boulder in the centre, place these two little charges on either side, and shout in faith. BOOM! BOOM! “BUT GOD!” When you’re ready to quit and can’t see a way ahead, when you’re sick and suicidal even, begin to mumble these two great words until they appear with determined anger upon your restricted lips of praise and then rightly armed to the teeth, shout down your doubts and fears by going and fixing your gaze on your festering failures, all of them, and shouting in proclamation “ENOUGH! ENOUGH!” Or better still, “BUT GOD!”

Go on, give it a try today and make use of these explosive little terms the rest of the coming year. In Jesus dear friends, let me agree with you that this year is the year of profound climate change for you!

Listen: - And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:1-10
 
Pray: - Give me this year O my Jesus, mustard seeds faith to match the largeness of my mountains, a believing heart, moving feet and a shouting mouth. Amen and amen.