Dec | 24 | Habakkuk’s Haboob and how to keep the evening wolves at bay

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Habakkuk’s Haboob and how to keep the evening wolves at bay

Habakkuk 1:8-10
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. "They all come for violence; Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand. They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. NKJV

Habakkuk hoped for sounds of revival across the tops of all his mulberry trees of hope, instead, all he hears is the unsheathing of sharp metal. Now, God gives Habakkuk not an unpacked explanation of His doings but a continued revelation of His sovereignty among the nations beginning with a sting paper cutting description of this scything sword of judgment: The Chaldeans, that coming soon, all consuming, totally infiltrating, devastating desert storm. It is as if God now raises a black Haboob in the mind of His prophet and within its falling wall of all enveloping sand, forms animalistic pictures of all consuming horror for him to take a most thorough note of.


The first of these is the Leopard, those Lion-Panthers, head heavy with comparatively massive skulls compared to their body size, those Pit bulls of the cat kingdom, those nocturnal stealth machines, which can crunch their way through any beast, eating anything and consuming everything they catch, and with a top speed of up to 57kmph, these light footed leopards, look as though they fly with open jaws upon their unsuspecting prey, suddenly appearing as if out of nowhere. Be sure dear friends, that the devil can also appear in your day ‘as if out of nowhere’. Do not be surprised at his surprise appearing therefore, but rather, be ready!

The snorting transport of the Chaldeans are just as swift as these seeming dimension jumping killing machines, and so, being built for battle, these hungry hunter mounts, are now described as appearing even more ravenous and voracious, more angry and desperately daring, than those hungry evening wolves which are all infuriated by a day of passing hunger. Make no mistake about it, the evening wolves in their fantastic fury will so devour you, that in the morning, not even a bone shall be left.(Zephaniah 3:3) One of the reasons Night Whispers exists, is to warn you dear reader about the terror of these evening wolves. At evening, the devil is prepared more than ever to come and take you and rip you apart. Therefore allow me today to warn you of the same.

The coming of night for the fighting Christian is a time of comparative weakness. The spent day has consumed all our resistive resources. The devil has been defeated, victory has adorned our way, our shield has been held high, our sword has been quick to slay, but now the day departs and darkness draweth nigh, and it is time for the renewal of food and rest, yes, it is time to retreat to our own city, to the fold of the Great Shepherd and the sleep of the just. This way, this time, this quiet walk back the true home of our hearts, is punctuated by the howl of the evening wolves. Regret; Self deceiving; Self deserving; Self loathing;  Loneliness; Unwarranted dread; Worry; Care; Doubt; Disappointment; Betrayal; Anger; False teaching; Oppression; Possession, Legion and Lying words; are all just a few names of the salivating monsters howling among this large devil’s evening wolf pack, and be sure of this, that at the end of your victorious day, they are following you into the sheep fold, ever ready to consume you. Be prepared to protect yourself.

In the evening, we still protect oursleves, by letting the memory of the sacrifice of Christ be upon us in the evening hours. So then, let His bread be in our mouth and His sweet wine upon our lips. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and let the song of His praise be on our lips, the cup of thankfulness in our left hand and the sword of the Spirit in our right. God is good. Let us declare it: “God is good!” And during our sleeping hours He is awake and works on our behalf to bring  goodness to our feet in the dawn of the morning. So shall we, despite the outer howling, lay ourselves down to peace sleep and dwell in His most particular safety.

When the night time Haboob covers the good works of our day, let us watch out for the evening wolves that inhabit the way to our nightly rest. For you Christian, there is no greater time of danger than the evening of the well fought day. Let this Psalm of David be on your lips tonight:

Listen:- O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. NKJV

Pray: -  Oh my God, hear me when I whisper to you this evening. O God of my righteousness: you have made space for me today when I have been in distress. In defeat you have been gracious and in victory I have praised you. Now, as the evening shadows lengthen, have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. LORD you have set apart the godly for yourself and so You will hear when I call to You. I am still standing in awe. I am wholly in You, indeed, I am holy in You. My heart is still and I testify to myself and to heaven, that I trust in You. Be good to me this evening then, and in the darkness, let the night-light of Your gracious countenance be around me heart and mind. According to You will, the morning comes for me great God, and with it, the strengthening of Your breath, all clothed in Your goodness. So, tonight I shall rest as Your tomorrow shall be prepared for me, yet another victorious day to know You. Amen and let it be so.

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Nov | 28 | 'Twean The Pillars of Protection

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Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. NKJV.

‘Twean The Pillars of Protection

Babies! They’re quite remarkable aren’t they? I watched a new father the other day, pick up his young son from the floor. The baby boy had just managed to begin to sit up by himself and also use his hands for grabbing stuff. Everything he got hold of was of course, brought to the primary source of his investigation in this world: his mouth! The household hound was intrigued by the little pink screamer and took delight in circling him, sticking its snout right up the youngsters own snotty little nose and taking a lick of the cookie crumbs around the wee boy's mouth. The baby thought this was just wonderful and on a couple of occasions, grabbed the little dog by its own big ears and would not let it go. Once the father had observed what was going, he picked his boy up from the centre of the floor and then sat down again, placing his beloved on the floor right in front of him, between his open legs. The small child sat there completely protected by the mighty shins of his loving father who looked down at the little bundle sat between the two giant redwoods.

Our text for tonight depicts our heavenly Father like this earthly dad; watchful, careful and protective. The church of God sits childlike between His protective shins and I tell you this, if that devil of a dog comes sniffing around, ready to lick the cookie crumbs from around your gentle chops, well, he’s going to get his snout slapped.

Finally of course, the tribe of Judah was enabled by God to be the tree trunk legs of protection for that growing promise of 'Shiloh', the promised Messiah. Until of course He came! Until that time, they had the right to remove all people they thought were murderers and deceivers. Now, at the time of Christ however, the ruling council of the Sanhedrin had already had any authority to pass the death sentence upon any man, removed from them by the Romans! They were in effect powerless in terms of protection. Judah’s tribal staff, this ‘jus gladii,’ this right of the sword, this right to impose the death sentence, had been taken from them! Yes, they had ceased to possess the ultimate final ability to give and apply law. In Judah, all regal and legal powers had finally been totally removed. Augustin Lemann, in his book ‘Jesue before the Sanhedrin,’, reports a statement by ‘Rabbi Rachmon’ from the Talmud saying that: "When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them: they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: 'Woe unto us for the sceptre has departed from Judah and the Messiah has not come'"


Meanwhile, in small town Galilee, ‘Shiloh’ was shovelling up the shavings from the floor of his father’s carpenters shop. Shiloh, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, had come and would one day stand before them on His own two lovely legs.

Remember tonight then, that God always protects His promises and God always brings His Word to pass.

Listen: - Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel — he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph's — the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. (1 Chronicles 5:1-3 NKJV)

Pray:- Father, place me between You mighty feet, set me between the safety of those most marvellous of pillars, Boaz and Jachin. Bring all Your good words over me to pass. Be peace to my soul as I wait and my protection on all my sides. In Jesus name I pray, amen!

Nov | 27 | Are There Fairies At The Bottom of Your Garden?

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2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you are disqualified. NKJV.

Are There Fairies At The Bottom Of Your Garden?


I often drive through Crowborough and pass the small bronze statue of old A.C.D., who spent the latter part of his previously productive life in fruitless exploits, fallacies and falsehoods. It’s such a shame really, that for the sake of simply ‘wanting to believe’, he gave credence to the infamous hoax of the Cottingley Fairies, where two young teenage girls supposedly took photographs of the creatures at the bottom of their garden. Just how could the author of the inscrutable Sherlock Holmes be taken in by such a hoax?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an intellectual and brilliant man, like so many people at the end of WWI, had lost such a large number of his friends and relatives, that he fell into a deep depression and eventually took solace in the possibilities of connection and the continuing of relationship through Spiritism, even though the founders of which, were themselves self-confessed hucksters and hoaxers. You see, the need to desperately want something can often lead to the necessity of a belief with built in blind spots.

There are three things to say here tonight.

Firstly, please note that unscrupulous people for personal gain in terms of power, prestige, pound notes and dollar bills, will without conscience, manipulate and make use of many depressed and desperate people.

Secondly, that the devil and his hoards are also hucksters and will themselves join in the game for their own purposes of pleasure, muddying the waters of human hucksterism with some metaphysical manipulation of their own.

Thirdly, that Christianity has no blinkers. Christianity questions. Christianity queries. Christianity makes room for people who demand a couple of nail holes to stick their fingers into.

So, if you are seeking answers to sincere questions tonight, then go straight to the top and ask them! For it is my experience and indeed, it is most clearly written, that those who seek, shall most surely find. That those who ask shall really receive and that those who knock righteously in naked openness, shall have the door of their knocking laid opened wide to them.

Examine yourself. Examine your faith. Examine the Bible. Let's make sure there are no faeries at the bottom of our garden.

Listen: - But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. Galatians 6:4-5 NKJV.

Pray:- Father, lead me to the truth, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Sep | 25 | Of Warrior Houses and Big Girl's Blouses

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2 Samuel 2:18  Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. NKJV

Of Big Girl’s Blouses and Warrior Houses

Joab and Abishai and Asahel were of course the three sons of Zeruiah, one of the two half sister’s of David and thus his three half nephews. Heroes of David they were! Close of kin and so close companions of King David they were as well and quite frankly, they were also a right pain in the rear to boot!

Zeruiah was of course the older half sister of David, his mother most probably having been married before and on becoming a widow, then marrying David’s father Jesse. You see, composite families are not new!

What is evident from the Biblical record is that Zeruiah’s natural father, Nahash, is mentioned but once and that is in relation to him being the father of her sister Abigail. Zeruiah’s husband’s name is actually never mentioned in the Scriptures at all! And her three remarkable sons are always referred to as the son’s of Zeruiah. I think it a right conjecture then, to surmise that Zeruiah was a strong, capable, tenacious, heroic and pushy individual! She had to be really, and oh may I remind you that she was also David’s big sister and may I tell you, she was no ‘big girl's blouse!’

Interestingly I think, Zeruiah’s name means 'wounded', or ‘squeezed of the Lord,’ and is related to being cracked under pressure. Not a cracking that produces madness mind you, but rather a distilled squeezed out balsamed preciousness. A sweet-smelling savour if you will. Now, we do not know just what this squeezing pressure might have been, a physical deformity maybe, a prophetic name indicative of various life crisis' maybe? But what we do know is that she was a very strong and influential woman, especially as she raised three very competitive, hard, dedicated, and somewhat over-zealous warrior generals! Yes indeed, neither Zeruaih nor her sons could be classed as just 'big girl's blouses'. Oh and did I mention that she was David’s big sister?

There are two things I would like to say to you warrior women tonight:

Firstly, that it is possible to take your cracked and broken lives to God and have Him squeeze out a very special inheritance for you, your family and your nation. Yes, it is possible for you to raise up Generals!

Secondly, that you big sisters can have a great influence over your younger brothers, for I wonder if this particular big sister not only set a brave example for David the shepherd boy but on occasion, gave him a good old thump on his arm whilst telling him to ‘stop whining and man up?’ I wonder? For I tell you, this Zeruiah was no 'big girl's blouse' and neither were her sons.

How about you sister? Are you manning up? How about your sons momma? Are they winners or whiners ? Wise up girls! You have more influence over young boys than you can ever imagine. So, oh my goodness you mothers and big sisters all, in all your prayings, actions and leadings, do make sure that you are producing Kings and Generals and not pansies and drivelling dressmakers.

Listen: - Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; 1 Chronicles 18:15 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, rightly shape our mothers, that they may rightly shape their children and grant us shaping sisters to boot, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

Sep | 14 | Of Fathers, Failings & Formulas

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Title:- Of Fathers, Failings & Formulas

Isaiah 1:2,3 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”

 
“Every ant knows the formula of its ant-hill, every bee knows the formula of its beehive. They know it in their own being, not in our way. Only humankind does not know its formula.”  Fydor Dostoyevsky

Our verse for today brings God into a seemingly bad light. May I speak here as a mere mortal man and observe that it seems despite His hopes and His dreams, His attendant care and life-giving words, God still has rebellion on His hands. Let’s face it friends, in our text for today God has seemingly failed as a Father! However, we understand this seeming failure, for the tone and desperation of the latter half of today’s verse is echoed in millions of Christian parents with wayward children. Yes, many of us recognise the despair in God’s cry here.

Maybe some of you this morning, looking at the present chapters of the life story of your children, have taken the red inked stamp of ‘FAILED’ and slammed it all over your children and especially over your parenthood. It would appear that in the rising generations especially, weeping is common amongst parents. I speak as a man, I speak as a mere mortal, but this verse today, reveals to me that you are not alone. This verse shows the bewilderment and hurt, even in the broken fatherhood of God. Yes, it would appear that God has failed in His faithful and perfect parenthood. Or has He?

We view this verse from our own failings and so from a position of condemnation of both self and others. Of course, as sinners bringing sinners into the world and then trying to bring sinners up in a sinful world, we all fail at some point. We have to. There is no perfect parent. All of us need to repent of our many parental sins birthed in both the shades of zeal and in neglect. Well might we immediately pray “ Unfailing Father God, forgive us our many, many failings.” However God is perfect! He has no excuse for failing! Let me bring my criteria to You O great King and apply it! These verses talks of failed children and if that’s the case O Lord, then You, the Father of all perfection, failed at parenting. O Father God, yes if your children rebelled against you, then surely You failed as a father!

It’s ridiculous of course to suggest God’s failings here and so it should be, for God does not fail as a Father! How could He? No, the despair of this verse is over the “forgotten formula” of His children. In this verse, all anthropomorphic in its communication, God wants us to know that He knows the despair of praying parents. He knows the bewilderment that rebellion brings. Friends, God the father knows your despair for your wayward children who in a multitude of bad and selfish choices, have forgotten the formula you laid up in them over the years!

Those of you whose loved ones have for today forgotten the father’s formula, need to take comfort from these verses. I counsel you to confess your failings, utterly reject condemnation of any kind, especially from the quiet looks of those seemingly successful parents around you and ask the Father to make His formula begin to bubble in the rebellious hearts of your wayward children. What I mean is, ask the Father to make the light to shine brighter in their darkness. Ask for His voice to echo deeper in their cavern. Ask for eternity to claim a larger expanse in a once open heart’s now crowded house. Ask for conviction to cling and for conversation, consideration and conversion to come. Ask for the Creator's formula to fill the sinner with the forgotten knowledge of a Father’s love. “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” Yes, God knows how you feel today.

Listen:- “But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” Luke 15:17-19

Pray:- Lord. We look at our own stories. How even now we are ignorant of things we should know. How even now, we fall far short of the men and women we should be. From the acknowledgement of our own personal failings then and into your abundant goodness, most merciful Father we gladly bring to You our own deaf donkeys and our own obstinate oxen. Have mercy on them Father. Have mercy on them we pray, in Jesus name, amen.

 

Aug | 16 | The Reconciliation of ‘Christina The Astonishing’

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1 Corinthians 6:19,20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. NKJV

The Reconciliation of ‘Christina The Astonishing’

I would not count it as a ‘feather in my cap’ to be regarded as the patron saint of the insane, I would certainly not be pleased to have this accolade on my eternal Curriculum Vitae! This peculiar honour however, falls to a 12th century Belgium woman who has become known as ‘Christina the Astonishing.’ No doubt like most medieval saintly tales, there has been, shall we say, some imaginative liberty, some maybe not so elegant elaboration placed upon the accounts of her life and of her wild, wild exploits.

Christina was orphaned aged 15 years and proceeded to live the life of a contemplative shepherdess. There is no doubt that poverty as well as ascetic mysticism and the consequent mental and bodily ill health following this combination, led to her subsequent demise. It is after her death however, that the accounts of her life get just plain weird! Yes I said her life after her death, for apparently it was at her funeral, even during the saying of the Mass, that she flew up from her coffin like a bird and perched herself in the rafters. Mind you. if you were ever to wake up in a coffin during the saying of a Mass, I am sure me and you both, would do just the same! From this point on, the record of Christina’s life now takes on a very Roman Catholic flavour, in that having spent some time both in heaven and in hell and also in that most useful and invented of Roman places called Purgatory, ‘Christina the Astonishing’ then chooses not to remain with God, but rather to return to earth and publicly suffer the fires and pains of Purgatory before the astonished Medieval masses.

Cynthia Large records that Christina found the stench of human sin most repugnant, choosing to perch high in the tree-tops, on the smallest of branches and pray with the birds. Christina’s recorded escapades range from throwing herself under mill wheels, to rolling in open fires and sitting inside bakers ovens, either screaming in agony due to the pulverizing water, wood and heat, or tortured into terror by the scorching flames, then only to emerge completely and utterly unscathed! We won't even go near her miraculous and virginal breast tonight, simply suffice to say that like most Roman Catholic saints and earthly heroes, ‘Christina the Astonishing’ publicly suffered for the sins of others, thereby filling up the merits which were left lacking in the sacrifice of Christ. This terrifying titillation of the human conscience was later turned by an over indulgent Tetzel, into a magnificent medieval money maker for the Church of Rome which in turn grew eventually, into the blow which struck the wedge of ‘Sola Fide’ (by faith alone) into the very dry wood of the then visible church, splitting it, removing the living from the dead and thereby forming both one Roman Catholic and many Protestant denominations. In many respects, I believe the mad old mystic of ‘Christina The Astonishing,’ greatly contributed to this eventual Reformation of the church.

‘Christina the Astonishing.’ was either a mystic or a mad woman, or maybe even possibly both. A life so full of terrifying accounts of mental madness, meant both then and now that the jury is still out on whether she was demonically possessed or divinely inspired! However, there is one recorded and I think most astonishing incident, that is worthy of our consideration this night. Again Cynthia Large writes, ‘It seems that Christina's soul and body coexisted uneasily, as demonstrated in an account told by a priest who secretly trailed after her one day when she entered a church to pray. He concealed himself behind a pillar and observed her bitterly throw herself before the altar and cry out “O miserable and wretched body! How long will you torment me...Why do you delay me from seeing the face of Christ? When will you abandon me so that my soul can return freely to its Creator?” The answering accusation came from the same mouth, “O miserable soul! Why are you tormenting me in this way? What is keeping you in me and what is it that you love in me? Why do you not allow me to return to the earth from whence I was taken...?” Then, before his eyes, a loving reconciliation took place; she seized her feet in both hands and kissed their soles fervently, saying “O most beloved body! Why have I reviled you? O best and sweetest body, endure patiently...’Now I like that account very much and I do believe that in it, Miss ‘Christina the Astonishing’ says something to us all in these most peculiar of 21st Century days, for despite the massive cult of Western body worship, there still exists a most uneasy coexistence of both body and soul in most people. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that if we look and if we truly see, most tortured souls still in some way or another, also torture their own bodies. I lie in bed tonight, feeling the scar tissue of an old vasectomy, tracing my fingers over another hair-line scar of an umbilical hernia repair, whilst resting a once dislocated elbow on currently broken abdominal muscles which even now, yield themselves to another this time, massive ventral hernia repair, and a few other unmentionable surgical invasions, and thinking of the damage, my breathing becomes slightly laboured as air fights its way through nostrils twice repaired by rhino-plasty and past the 'dog's breakfast' removal of an ancient tonsilectomy. I could list a lot more evidence of bodily decay due to age and the ravages of sin, but most disturbingly of all, I could list evidence of definite and soulish, physical self abuse.

Obesities, addictions, and a multitude of other bodily self-hatreds with all their attendant maladies and manifestations are here to be seen all around us and especially in us. Over time, there has been for all of us I am sure, an uneasy co-existence between soul and body which for many of us, and especially you ladies, has grown into a repugnant, silent and stinky self-hatred of your own God-given body. To counteract the devastation of such a soulish self-hatred, I believe the action of body and soulish reconciliation as observed by the hiding priest, yes, that body and soul reconciliation which took place in ‘Christina the Astonishing’ in Christina the patron saint of the mad and the mentally ill, needs to be adopted and put into practice by very many of us as well!

I wonder that if we gave voice to our bodies tonight, that they would cry out to us in their need for more considerate care and kindly concern? That they would cry out to us for a mightier mastery and a more helpful honour? That they would cry out to us for a truer love, for a more real respect and for right and righteous attention? Methinks that some of you have some apologising to do to your bodies tonight. Some of you maybe have some cleaning to do in your physical house, some repairs and maybe even, much maintenance. I have no doubt that many of you have a great need of reconciliation within your most divided of houses. Yes, some of you need to weep over your own feet tonight, kiss them and embrace them to yourself. Yes, many of you have need of a righteous reconciliation with yourselves even this very night.

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

Listen:- Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, help me make my body a partner in Your service and not a beaten slave to mad desire. Lord, forgive me please the abuse of this Your temple and the disdain I have put upon myself and the disaster I may have brought myself to. Lord, I pray tonight for a healing reconciliation into wholeness, that my body soul and spirit may be one, even as You are with the Father and the blessed Holy Spirit, one in purpose, one in desire and one in direction. In Your great name I ask it, amen!

Aug | 14 | Built By God & Put Beside The Bulldog

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1 Chronicles 11:22-25 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian's hand there was a spear like a weaver's beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear. These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. Indeed he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard. NKJV.

Built By God & Put Beside The Bulldog

Happily married and healthy, he was in semi-retirement and running two small grocery shops, when the call came to meet Winnie at Croydon airport. For the next 18 years between 1921 and 1945, Detective Inspector Walter Henry Thompson (who died in 1978) was the bodyguard of Winston Churchill.

The stern, tight-lipped figure of Thompson, Winston’s shadow, can be seen lurking quietly in the background of most photographs featuring Churchill. During the course of his duties, Thompson lost his marriage in a divorce, his health in a nervous breakdown and nearly lost his life, times without number. All of this happened whilst protecting Winnie from some twenty assassination plots! Winston (Winnie) Churchill believed that over the course of his life, that he had been protected by a Supreme Being in order to deliver the world from the excesses of Hitler and the Nazis. I personally believe that to be the case, and being the case then, God also used Thompson as one of his mighty tools for preserving Churchill’s life. Thompson was built by God for such a time as that.

Benaiah means, ‘Built by God.’ This mighty man of strength and courage was made chief of King David’s bodyguard having proved himself after having, in particular, killed an Egyptian over seven feet tall, two fierce warriors, lion like men of Moab and a hungry lion weighing some 300-500 lbs, very angry and cornered in a pit, on a cold and slippy, wet and snowy day. This man’s courage was tried and tested in the facing of all kinds of lions. These deeds simply made known to other people, the kind of man he already was. Thus he was charged with the command of King David’s bodyguard.

Some of you have been built by God and charged with the protection of His leaders. Protect them. Give your life for them. Some of you leaders know that other people would willingly spend their lives for you. Don’t let your stupidity make that spending a cheap price. Some of you fail to face your lions, you run from them instead of running to them! Yes, Benaiah was a lion-chaser! As Mark Batterson says, “What if the life you really want, and the future God wants for you, is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure… your greatest fear? Go on,” says Batterson, “Chase that Lion, overcome adversity, unlearn those fears, embrace uncertainty, calculate the risks, seize the opportunity, defy the odds and don’t be afraid of looking foolish!”

A lion is a terribly dangerous thing! However, maybe, just maybe, you are even more dangerous than him. Go on, growl a little! Maybe then God might place even you beside a bulldog!

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 5:8-11NKJV )

Pray:- Yes Lord, make us into Lion-chasers and show us that the gates of hell, shall not prevail against us, in Jesus name I ask it, amen!

Jul | 29 | How Not To Become A Cold Turkey Christian

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2 Corinthians 12:1-8 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago — whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows — such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows — how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. NKJV

How Not To Become A Cold Turkey Christian

It was Dallard Willard I believe, who called the formation of Christ in His disciple as ‘The Daring Goal of The Christian Life.’ I believe that. For this side of heaven, the seemingly un-closable gap between our real and stated position with Jesus in the high and well sanctified, most holy and happy heavenlies, and our experience of that same position while we walk down here on earth, makes for a very tough journey and is the cause of so much mocking laughter both from within the church and without, especially in the cold light of pain, sin and loss. Yes, it is only the solid formation of Jesus in the centre of our selves, in the middle of the way of our earthly sojourn, which shall remove such laughing from the rear of our ears forever. Indeed, the formation of Christ in us is the only way to close the gap of our position in Christ with the facts of our experience here under this setting sun.

Formation and maturing takes time, that and a great deal of spiritual chiselling. The time and pain from moving from a seemingly observed apparition, to that of an experienced acquisition of ‘Christ in us the hope of glory’, is the journey we are on. Yes, like it or not, we are on a journey of both time and pain, in terms of our spiritual formation. All of us of course, especially in the dark and lonely valleys of such a spiritual journey, long for a short-cut, long for a fast track, a by-pass if you will, of such formational difficulty. Unfortunately, there is none. Let me say it again: “there is none”.

Whilst of course spiritual formation cannot take place this side of heaven without the combination of time and chiselling pain, that and a whole lot more besides I might add, there is however, a blessing which is so full of grace and preciousness, which is so dear to us, that when we get it, we often mistake it for the longed-for holy grail of ‘fast track’ spiritual formation! The blessing I refer to is of course, the special visitations of the ‘manifest presence’ of God. Yes, as the Holy spirit continues His unrelenting task of forming Christ in us for the glory of God the Father, we are sometimes privileged to have the special visitations of the felt and manifest presence of ‘Christ in us, the hope of glory.’ Some of the physical manifestations of that manifest presence in us, are often so powerful and so precious, that they become in our lives, landmarks of directional change, even forming the very feathers of flight for our pointed arrows of now purposeful direction. This is wonderful, this is a precious blessing, but I say again and my friends do not be misled here, it is not spiritual formation.

If there ever was a downside to the special visitations of the manifest presence of Jesus in our lives, it is that for so many of us, we can become spiritual sugar junkies, hopelessly hooked on the energetic excitement caused by the release of spiritual charged endorphins that such visitations often bring with them. There is danger here of course, for there are multitude of spiritual drugs which can produce such a similar high. DO NOT mishear me now, but dare I suggest that the devil is often a dealer in such diverting drug use. I tell you, that if the highs of His presence, continues to be experienced without the depth of His continued and daring formation, then you have been deceived and my friend, you have become a junkie instead of a disciple and the cold turkey of your recovery, shall either make you or shall break you.

Often times, the rigours of our journey demand nothing short of the manifest presence of God in our lives, in all His various ministrations! However, these times are not the tools, neither are they the goal of our spiritual formation but rather, they are the sometimes booster rocket blessings of fresh inertia, appearing in our being and ultimately manifesting themselves in our changed and refocused direction.

Remember then tonight, that such precious and often times, vital visitations, may change our trajectory and may somewhat soothe our way, but they shall never, and I mean NEVER, ‘fast track’ our journey of spiritual formation. In light of this, don’t become a cold turkey kind of Christian forced to always be seeking spiritual highs! The devil’s a great drug dealer in this kind of rubbish. Press on daily in all the providences of God, knowing that it is Christ who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Have faith in this great fact.

Listen: - Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NKJV)

Pray:- On this our journey dear Jesus, feed us with sufficient grace! And now and then O Lord, take us to heaven that we might feast with You on words inexpressible. In Your great name we ask it, amen.

Jul | 13 | Paraskevidekatriaphobiai

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Isaiah 2:6 You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. NIV

Paraskevidekatriaphobiai

Apparently it was Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of phobias, who coined the term ‘Paraskevidekatriphobiai,’ to describe the morbid fear that some people have regarding Friday the 13th. Undoubtedly, some of you in the future are reading this, maybe late on a Friday night somewhere. What kind of a day have you had? After all, some people say that belief in the special existence of bad luck on Friday 13th is ‘the widest held superstition in the Western world.’

‘About.com’ commenting on what it calls this ‘urban legend’ of bad luck on Friday 13th says that it looked at a study published in the British Medical Journal in 1993 entitled ‘Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?’. 'About.com' goes on to say that “Its authors compared the ratio of traffic volume to the number of automobile accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years." Incredibly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was STILL significantly higher than on ‘normal’ Fridays. Their conclusion, says 'About.com', is that “Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended.” Ha!
Interestingly, Dr. Donald Dossey says that 8% of Americans are in the grip of this particular phobic condition and that friends, at the time of my writing in 2008, means some 21 million folk. Imagine that!

These 'Paraskevidekatriaphobics', and you may be one of them, are simply victims of superstition. Victims, picked on, victims pecked on by black crows, caw’ing fear in the ears of your soul and clawing out your former sensible eyes before black cats, spilt salt, cracked mirrors and other not so magnificent means of self-cursing.

Admittedly now, the roots of some superstitions, like walking under ladders for example, are rooted in common sense. After all, if you walk under a ladder something heavy might just fall on your head! Look for the sensible answer in some of your superstitions for it is amazing how the light of reason can dispel the most unwarranted, but deeply held superstition.


However, what about my friend’s father, I mean what on earth was that all about? For he was a strong man who never the less held a morbid fear of Friday the 13th, who in turn died of a heart attack on the Friday 13th, on the 13th hole of a golf course at 13:00 hrs? Well frankly, I have no answer, except that certainly there are some things on this earth that we do not understand, yes, most certainly. The one thing I do understand and that most thoroughly, is that focused fear can be a gateway for all kinds of crippling and debilitating diseases, disorders, disasters and even demons! Superstition can lead us to be so emotionally full of dread, so intellectually anticipating of disaster that it puts us on the wrong foot, it leaves us imbalanced and consequently, it leaves us open to a successful attack from the enemy. I am aware of this in my own life.

The Scripture clearly teaches us that when the blessing of God rests upon His people, He makes THEM a fear and a dread to their enemies, yes, He makes THEM a fear and a dread to both the seen and unseen beast stalking the land of their sojourn. You see, you do see don’t you? We have it the wrong way around! The presence and the blessing of God with us and upon us, should both trump and squash any cursing that might have been placed upon us! That magnificent blessing, seen especially in His abiding presence, releases us from fear, it releases us from dread and all the other seeming consequence of violated superstitions. You need to see that and therefore give no place whatsoever to the superstitious doctrine of demons.


Tonight my friend, my simple encouragement to you, is that you deny the dread and then go to bed! Yes, treat superstition with the disdain it deserves and in your dreams, bathe in the blessings of God the great and God the good, for He is in your neighbourhood tonight.

Listen:- The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear , And let Him be your dread. Isa 8:13 NKJV

Pray:- Father God, I am sorry for my sins and the sins of my family, both those now present and those gone well before. Father God, I am sorry for the sins of my community and of my nation, both those now present and those gone well before. Father God, I am sorry for all curses and lies I have placed upon myself and placed upon my family, my community and on my nation. Lord Jesus Christ, according to the economy of Your Kingdom, as a royal priest before Your throne, I bless those who curse me, I bless my family, I bless my community, I bless my nation. I believe Your word O Lord and so I count myself also blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus both this night dear Lord and forever more. My mighty God, in Your great name I now slip the shackles of superstition and make You my fear and make You my dread, upon the alter of this my peaceful bed, amen!

                                                                                                         

Jul | 12 | Last Words Spoken

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Title:- Last Words Spoken

Genesis 49:32-50:1 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him, and kissed him.

The small hamlet of Bognor Rocks on the South Coast of England, in the twentieth century became the select seaside resort for the convalescence and recovery of the very ‘well to do.’ King George V, when in good health, liked the place so much that he granted the town the suffix of ‘Regis’. Bognor Regis had now come of age. You would have thought that this Kingly accolade would have made the place famous, but you would be wrong. What has marked the town forever, are the final words of the same King, who, when on his deathbed was asked if he would like to spend his final days in his favorite resort of Bognor Regis, retorted “Bugger Bognor!” and died at the mere thought of going there!

Another Englishman, born in Kent to wealthy parents, after serving out his time as an accountant in the City of London, was pensioned off to fulfil his desires of writing. ‘Goodbye’ is one of the poems of Walter De La Mare and today, ends our present theme of powerful words.

The last of last words spoken is Goodbye----
The last dismantled flower in the weed grown hedge,
The last feeble rumour of a bell far ringing,
The last blind rat to spurn the mildewed rye.

A hardening darkness glasses the haunting eye
Shines into nothing the watchers burned out candle
Wreathes into scentless nothing the wasting incense
Faints in the outer silence the hunting cry

Love of its muted music breathes no sigh,
Thought in her ivory tower gropes in her spinning
Toss on in vain the whispering trees of Eden
The last of all last words spoken is, Goodbye.

Words have power and our lives are full of them. Few of us shall have the rare opportunity, with great clarity of mind, to be able to speak with power our final words. A car accident, a debilitating disease, imprisonment, separation, and a multitude of other silences may rob us of the power of our final words. So think on friends, think on, for I have determined that ‘Goodbye’ shall not be my final words but “Au Revoir” and “We shall meet again in far better days than these,” for this certain hope of a promised tomorrow shall now dress my lips each day and clothe my pen at night with an invitation to always follow me, even as I will always follow Christ.

How about you? Will your life be the pen that always writes in power, your final words to those you love?

Listen:- This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

Pray:- Let Your honour and Your praise Oh God, wing my words each day and clothe them with inviting hope each night, amen.

 

Jun | 11 | Seabiscuit and The Shaping Of The Spirit

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Job 17:11-16 My life's about over. All my plans are smashed, all my hopes are snuffed out — My hope that night would turn into day, my hope that dawn was about to break. If all I have to look forward to is a home in the graveyard, if my only hope for comfort is a well-built coffin, If a family reunion means going six feet under, and the only family that shows up is worms, Do you call that hope? Who on earth could find any hope in that? No. If hope and I are to be buried together, I suppose you'll all come to the double funeral!" (from THE MESSAGE: by Eugene H. Peterson.)

Seabiscuit and The Shaping Of The Spirit

Based on a best-selling book by Laura Hillenbrand, which in turn is based on a true story, the 2003 film ‘Seabiscuit’ and its magnificent story line is essentially about the repair of broken spirits, the shaping of the soul and the healing of the body.

Johnny "Red" Pollard is a young man with a flare for riding horses. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Red’s poverty stricken parents leave him in the care and custody of a working stable owner. The revelation of the story line is that this desperate parental act, permanently damages his spirit. Eventually, Red crosses paths with a millionaire horse rancher named Charles Howard and a cowboy horse trainer called Tom Smith, who hook Red up with an undersize and seemingly useless horse by the name of Seabiscuit, which is equally damaged in spirit. Red and Seabiscuit’s story of brokenness and healing parallel each other, until they both triumph against the odds and become champions.

I found one piece of dialogue most illuminating in the movie, when in answer to a reporter’s question regarding the recovery and remarkable triumph of the horse, Red replies :- “Well, l just think this horse has a lot of heart. He may have been down, but he wasn't out. He may have lost a few, but he didn't let it get to him. We could all learn a lick or two from this little guy. Oh, and by the way, he doesn't know he's little. He thinks he's the biggest horse out there....See, sometimes when the little guy, he doesn't know he's a little guy, he can do great big things.-----See, this isn't the finish line. The future is the finish line, and the Biscuit is just the horse to get us there.”

I often see people looking wistfully at the shape and the proportion of other people’s bodies, wishing that they could look as good, be as big, be as strong, be as slim, be as shapely, be as perfectly proportioned as they were. My answer is that as hard as you might try, in the end, you cannot beat genetics (though this last statement of mine is increasingly untrue). In many respects our desire for external transfiguration is to make us feel better inside, to make us tall inside, to make us feel strong inside, to better shape our inner self. On the surface there is a certain amount of sensibility about this, in that who we are externally, does shape who we are internally. However, I think it better to say "Who we THINK we are externally, shapes who we are internally,” or better still, “How we think, shapes who we are.” With this last statement I also believe that this will actually and eventually shape ourselves externally as well but that’s a whole different story!


Tonight dear friend, I do not want you to believe a lie or connect with a deceiving fantasy, because I never the less, have to ask you to prayerfully consider again just who you are and more importantly, encourage you to find out just who Jesus has destined you to be. This is spiritual healing. This is the shaping of the spirit which will in turn, truly shape the body and not just for the now, but more especially for the time to come. Let your spirit become the tailor's manikin that the clothing of your body both now and in the resurrection will be tailored to fit. The future is the finish line, so just who do think you are right now, yes, despite all outward evidence to the contrary just who do you know yourself to be?


Listen: - But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV

Pray:- Merciful Father, caller into light, come lighten my darkness and show me my robe. Yes, come show me my ring and show me my crown of glory, in Jesus Christ my King. Call me by my prophetic name, address my true position and my destiny in You. Let this night come sweet and with it dreams of great instruction. Yes, clothe me in gentle quietness and then O my God, speak to me again. Amen.

Jun | 10 | The ‘Physog’s’ of Three Women At A Window

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2 Samuel 6:16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. NKJV

The ‘Physog’s’ of Three Women At A Window 

Zwinglian reformed minister, pastor and ‘first preacher’ of St Peter’s church in Zurich, was none other than Johann Kaspar Lavater, (1741-1801). Theologian, Swiss nationalist, writer, politician, preacher, poet and scientist, he is also credited with being the father of 19th Century Physiognomy, which in brief, is the discernment of inner qualities by the outward examination of set facial features.

Lavater’s works on Physiognomy were so successful that they continued to influence descriptive novelists way after his death, the facially descriptive works of Charles Dickens being a prominent example. Nowadays of course, the whole Greek rooted work is considered as pseudo-scientific nonsense. Never the less, we all know that the eyes are indeed the windows of the soul and more often than not, our unfeigned features, our steady state countenance almost always proves to be a true witness of our soulish state.

The Bible speaks of three women seen looking out of a window and surely, there is no better place for the fixed and stable features of a face to be truly observed. There are no mirrors, there are no onlookers, only the face at the window. Through the intimation of the Biblical text, I believe we can glance at the windows of the soul, through those same facial frames set in solid silver for all the world to see. Maybe Pastor Lavater was right?

The three women at the window in the Bible are respectively: The mother of Sisera, Michal the daughter of Saul and the wife of the wild dancing King David and finally, Jezebel. (see Judges 5:28-30, 2 Samuel 6:16 and 2 Kings 9:30-31). Together, these three friezes of fallen female Royalty, all combine to present a picture of dire disappointment, seduction and despising destruction. They carry in their faces nothing short of foetal fatality, for the child of their destruction is already birthed upon their cheeks, because they have forsaken the one true God, despised His purpose, seduced His people and killed His prophets.

There is no misogynism in my observations, no, they are indeed just that, observations. Tonight consider that maybe, I say maybe, some of our inner world can be captured in our outer shadow. Sometimes a good stare then at our steady state appearance can be a truer diagnostic to our real condition than any words offered by any earthly man. Maybe tonight, if you dare, it’s time to take a good look in the mirror and then with God’s help, take some corrective action, for often times, our ‘Physog’ tells us much, much more than we ever care to know.

Listen: - "The mother of Sisera looked through the window, And cried out through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarries the clatter of his chariots?' Her wisest ladies answered her, Yes, she answered herself, 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoil: To every man a girl or two; For Sisera, plunder of dyed garments, plunder of garments embroidered and dyed, two pieces of dyed embroidery for the neck of the looter?' Judges 5:28-30 NKJV.

Pray:- Lord, help me rightly examine myself, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

May | 18 | Of Strategies & The Avoidance of Tragedies

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Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. NKJV

Of Strategies & The Avoidance of Tragedies

A ‘Strategy’ is very simply a plan of action, with the intended result of achieving a goal. Indeed, when you are bringing your dreams down to the earth, well, there is no more useful tool in our tool box, no, it's even more than that, for you will never arrive at your destination without a strategy.

Library shelves are full of books on strategic planning and the implementation of strategic planning but please allow me to simplify all these books into one a small statement and decisive description. (I know, I’m brilliant!). ‘The focus of strategic planning is not the rigidity of the plan, but rather its dynamic adaptability. Within strategic planning, it is the directional dynamic of the plan, the specific direction of movement to achieve the goal which is important.’

You see, this directional and dynamic adaptability is important because the devil WILL put a spanner in your workings many, many times. He shall break up the road you are travelling upon and when this happens, it is then you need to be able to directionally adapt in going over, in going round and in going through, so that you may continue going on! I suppose a good picture of this is watching a soccer team on the attack, who, when meeting an impenetrable wall, will pass the ball back even as far as their own defence and even further to their goalkeeper, so that they can then attack the opposition by coming at the obstruction from a different angle. Believe it or not, the same strategy is used in boxing, which in the end, is all about the angle of attack.

For the called and commanded Christian, developing strategy is not hard, indeed, the development of a strategy has but one major, wide component and then simply one major earthly one. Allow me to explain.


The heavenly component is first of all, the general/specific call or command of God. Now frankly, it has been my observance that the absolute and sovereign God is rarely absolute in the communication of His plans to us. Yes, I do admit that there are times, thank God, when He draws close to us whilst we traverse the minefield of personal decision and guides us in the planting of each frightening and determined step, but on the whole, speaking from an earthly perspective, the sovereign God has inculcated and calculated some pretty wide and dynamic parameters for us to move in after He calls and commands us. Yes, I believe that God’s strategy has a dynamic built into it. I say this from a very human perspective of course, which for us humans on the ground, is very important and instructive. The heavenly component then is to know the orders, the command, the call of God. This is vital, but remember, the working out of this call command and order, is often down to us.

The earthly component, is the use of a multitude of counsellors. In others words, a bunch of brainstorming buddies of like mind (the like mind bit my friends, is so very important) who can help you pray and plan the timing, the provision and the protection of any directional move within the often wide, “how to” parameters of the call and command of God. I say again, it is absolutely vital that you have counsellors of the same mind, not yes men, but nevertheless, men of the same direction. Once you have the heavenly and earthly components in place, developing a directional strategy is reasonably simple.

Finally, let me speak of tragedies. For when bringing a dream down to the earth and flying that dream from destiny to destination, to do so without a strategy, without multiple strategies even, is nothing short of a tragedy. The wreckage beneath your own zooming wings is ample testimony to that. Tell me tonight; what’s your implemented strategy to arrive at, “You did it!” Airport? For strategic planning is not mere management, no, it is combat flying, yes indeed, it is warfare! Have you prepared for war? Have you prepared to be adaptive? Have you prepared for the need to go on even if it is by going round, by going over or by going through? Have you fully prepared your strategic war plan?

Listen: - Plans are established by counsel; By wise counsel wage war. Proverbs 20:18 NKJV.

Pray:- Lord, give me a discerning heart to choose counsellors of like mind. Yes Lord, give me counsellors of wound and scar, giant killers even to aid me in the strategic planning needed to get me from my destiny to my destination, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Mar | 15 | Refuge! Refuge! Refuge!

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Deuteronomy 19:10-13 lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you. "But if anyone hates his neighbour, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you. NKJV

REFUGE! REFUGE! REFUGE!

Blood. From Genesis onwards, from the time Cain slew able, when ‘innocent’ blood was first spilt upon the ground, the outraged haemoglobin began and continues to burn, like a red emergency flare shot up into the very centre of the pupils of God! You see, God always has His attention drawn to the spilling of innocent blood, for blood is the emblem and carrier of a person’s life and innocent blood, stains the land upon which it is spilt. Heaven looks down upon it like a spreading purple wine stain on the green carpet of life. I wonder if there is left just one clean spot on the planet, you know, a place where this staining scream of innocent blood has not spread its burning arms to heaven? The problem with this kind of red and noisy, power packed pollution, this shedding of innocent blood, is that it causes a consequential reaction in the God of justice, for when the land is polluted, it calls forth His furious anger upon it. Only retribution can expiate such innocent blood, whose rich red flare burns in the watching eyeball of the Almighty. Spilt blood demands a clean up operation of almost catastrophic proportions and that my friends holds a very expensive price tag.

Only when punishment falls upon the originator of the offence or their substitute, can the puss of this pollution be pierced out from the putrid boil, thus allowing the land to be healed of its hideous infection. Yes, when retribution is visited upon the offender, then and only then, can reconciliation with God occur. Did you get that? It is God, who is ultimately alerted and offended at the shedding of innocent blood! It is God that has to be propitiated. It is God, that is thoroughly satisfied with the retribution being poured either upon the head of the offended or their innocent substitute. You might be offended here because you have forgotten that deeper law, that which “.. is written in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the Secret Hill? That is engraved on the sceptre of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea?’ – that speaks of a reckoning of the earth for all the innocent blood which has been shed causing the whole land to be overturned and perish in fire and water. It is as though God has made a silent covenant with the planet that allows the blood and the red-stained earth to continually scream, until all the innocent blood shed upon its soil is finally expiated. Quieted. Yes, think not that this bright blue orb of ours hangs silently in the cold blackness of space, no, the earth weeps profusely, the dirge duet of an offended earth and innocent blood, joining her sad orbit as she wanders lost amongst the stars and all the waiting watchers hear her broken heart. Selah.

Yet the ears of all the living have been plugged by Satan and his sick society of selfishness and death. For our nations are awash with the spilt blood of the innocent. For blood by the bucket loads, full of abortions, the off-scouring of Satanic selfishness, thrown like old offal into the pigsty of pride, have spattered the walls of God’s universe with red and caused the very stars to stink! Yes, space is not silent, but full of the shrieks of crying babies, ripped from the womb, limb by limb, salted to death, millions upon millions of them united in life-robbed anger, with all their crying accusations and shouts for vengeance, continuing to echo through the aeons, all being amplified through the red and sodden soil, of sad and singing, shocked and reeling, offended mother earth.

Our verse tonight finds itself in the context of the three major Levitical cities of refuge. At least one would be within a days journey of anywhere within Israel, the roads of refuge built to them straight and true and maintained and kept clear each spring. Indeed, when signs were needed, some say that over every bridge that crossed a ravine, that they would read very simply:REFUGE! REFUGE! REFUGE!

These cities of refuge, were built primarily as a place of protection for those folk guilty of manslaughter. Here they would stay, the city becoming for them an open prison, where they would be protected from the tribal avenger of blood, until either they were acquitted by their trial, or the death of the High Priest instigated their immediate release. Yes, the Holiness of the office of High Priest, even then, meant their death was enough to cleanse the land of innocent blood and pronounce the guilty free to go.

Manslayers made it to the city of refuge. Murderers never did. This capital crime was dealt with by the avenger of blood out in the field, or by the Levitical court held at the city gate.

Christ however, makes no such distinction. For the great and ever holy, glorious and gracious High Priest of the universe, is become a city of refuge for both the manslayer and the murderer! His death cleanses all. His life justifies both the weakest and the worst. Yes, all roads of the Gospel lead to His overwhelming forgiveness and each turn, bridge and crossroads is marked with these three lit and neon words: REFUGE, REFUGE, REFUGE.

If you are a murdering mother tonight or a complicit father, then I beg you to flee to Jesus, for the land cries against you, no, not only that, the very voice of the children you have murdered cries out against you and seeks the judgement of God upon your very wicked heads. Flee to Jesus now and let Him your refuge be.

Listen: - "And this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Deuteronomy 19:4 NKJV.

Pray:- Lord, the land cries out against us. O God stay your hand that Your people might have the time to proclaim Your city Jesus, as the great and only refuge of the sinner, even a sinner like me. Be satisfied with the blood of the great High priest, who we take now as our Saviour and who He takes even now as His blood bought children. So in Your anger remember mercy, and in your great and rich red grace, justify both the manslayer and the murderer together. We ask You this in Jesus name, amen..

Mar | 07 | Oh, For Such Slippy Feet!

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Deuteronomy 33:24-25 And of Asher he said: "Asher is most blessed of sons; Let him be favored by his brothers, And let him dip his foot in oil. Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be. NKJV

Oh, For Such Slippy Feet!

What amazing things to say! What prophetic affirmation and additional and palpable power, does Moses now give to all the long laid blessings once received from beneath the departing hands of Jacob of old, which long time past now, were once laid in wonder upon his waiting sons!

Asher, the eighth son of Jacob, here becomes the symbol of the summation of all the blessings of Israel. Here, ‘Happy’ Asher, for that is what his name means, the most favoured in blessing of his brethren, is blessed both above and below the ground of promise. Blessed above with so much oil, that his descendents would wade through its slippy effulgence, anointing their feet in the flowing fatness from all the dripping trees laid up in olive groves and planted without number! Blessed below with so much mineral wealth, that both the possession and export of the same would provide them with every material blessing that their full fat hearts could ever desire! I tell you, what a blessing this was from Father Jacob. I tell you, what a blessing this was from Father Moses! Oh to receive such a personal and powerful, prophetic blessing from a blessed and powerful, God honoured departing father.

The last time I remember holding my father, he was lying on the couch. Made dumb and immobile by a stroke, all he could do was stare at me pitifully through his blank and glassy eyes. All the upside down lies which he had told in his life and laid up in his high bombastic belfry, though quiet for so long, had finally been chased from their long sleep by the sound of the hunched back blood clot ringing bells and now, they swarmed the air in derision around his old sick head. It was me, just in my early twenties at the time, who held my old father to myself, blessing him in his brokenness and telling him that I loved him, no matter what. It was all the wrong way around! The elder, should be blessing the younger, but like a parent attending their children’s funeral, I held him one last time and blessed him. These things, should not be so.

It is my personal goal, to so spiritually prosper, that it will demand such an expectant and respectful honour from my children, that at the time of all my departures, they will run to seek a blessing from me, because they know that not only do I have it to give them but the receiving of such a blessing, will be of inestimable value to the one who might possess it because God has been so evidently with me.

May I encourage you tonight in two things.

Firstly, that if you have missed the blessing of an earthly Father, that you would privately seek a out a particular blessing from your heavenly Father.


Secondly, that once being in receipt of such mighty blessings, you would thoroughly commit yourself to grow spiritually and in such a way, that when the time of all your departures are at hand, you too might have the authority and the respect, to place a prophetic blessing upon the bowed and waiting heads of all your children. Especially upon those whom you have helped both to birth and grow into the Kingdom of Christ our Lord and particularly on those of your most well loved blood line.

Remember, death may be your final departure, but is it is only one in a thousand of others which you shall make upon your long journey home. Yes, make sure, that in all your departures, you have both a blessing to leave and a blessing that is wanted!

Listen: - When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me — me also, O my father!".....................And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me — me also, O my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: "Behold,................ Genesis 27:35 & 38-39 NKJV

Pray:- Bless me O my Father. Bless me with the tri-fold fatness of the land beneath my feet, the ground on which I walk and all the heavens above. Bless me especially, with a great and particular, personal and prophetic chariot, upon which I might ride the heights of all the land which you have apportioned to me. In Jesus name I pray, amen.