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This World’s ‘Magic Spell’

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , on June 24, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Have we been led astray by this world’s

‘Magic Spell’?

Revelation 18:1-24
18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

“Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. 7 Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.’ 8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’
11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! 17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’
“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.'”
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. 22 The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great men.

By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.

24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints,and of all who have been killed on the earth.” NIV

Some Scriptures about the World

Do not love the world!

1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world . If anyone loves the world , the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world . 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. NIV

We do not belong to this world!

John 15:19
If you belonged to the world , it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world , but I have chosen you out of the world . NIV

John 17:14
14 They are not of the world , even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world , I have sent them into the world . 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. NIV

John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world . If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.“ NIV

Hebrews 11:13
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. NIV

Worldly Ways!

1 Corinthians 3:19a
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. NIV

Ephesians 2:1-3
2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. NIV

Colossians 2:8-10
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. NIV

Romans 12:1-2
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

Jesus doesn’t give as the world gives!

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. NIV

1 Corinthians 2:12
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. NIV

Turning back to the world!

2 Peter 2:20-22
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS VOMIT,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” NIV

Friendship with the world!

James 4:1-10
4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us ENVIES INTENSELY? NIV

Overcoming the world!

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” NIV

1 John 5:1-5
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 FOR EVERYONE BORN OF GOD OVERCOMES THE WORLD . This is the victory that has overcome the world , even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world ? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. NIV

2 Corinthians 10:2-5
2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world . 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV

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A Radically Different Kingdom…

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , on June 23, 2008| 2 Comments »

Two verses came to me during worship yesterday (ie: before the message).

The first one is from part of Isaiah 53:10 (Note: the whole of Isaiah 53 is a prophecy about Jesus). I offer a few different Bible versions for perspective…

‘Yet it was the LORD’s WILL to CRUSH HIM and cause him to suffer’ NIV

‘But it was the LORD’S GOOD PLAN to CRUSH HIM and fill him with grief’ NLT

‘Yet IT PLEASED THE LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief’ NKJV

The other one is part of Hebrews 12:2. (Read Hebrews 12:1-3) It’s about Jesus and the cross…

‘who for the JOY set before him endured the cross’ NIV & NKJV

‘He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the JOY he knew would be his afterward’ NLT

We have a Heavenly Father who LOVES US SO MUCH that He would choose to CRUSH His one and only Son for our salvation. And we have His Son who IN HIS LOVE FOR US and OBEDIENCE TO HIS FATHER and THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM allowed Himself to be CRUSHED for our salvation. He was (HOLY) SPIRITUALLY MOTIVATED by THE FUTURE JOY OF OUR SALVATION and THE GLORIFICATION OF THE FATHER THROUGH THE SON.

What a radically different Kingdom is this Kingdom of God!

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Trampling Grace

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , on June 19, 2008| Leave a Comment »

These verses came up in a prayer meeting on Wednesday so I am thinking and pondering and praying about them. I have given them a heading but I offer them with very little comments at the moment.

Titus 2:11-3:8 (What grace does)
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
3:1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace , we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. NIV

2 Corinthians 7:8-13 (Godly sorrow brings salvation, worldly sorrow bring death – and guilt and shame and self condemnation)
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it — I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. 13 By all this we are encouraged. NIV

Blessings Steve

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Faith (Part 2.1)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , on June 9, 2008| 2 Comments »

Proverbs 11:3
3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. NIV

I came across this verse this morning and, although I had a lot of other stuff to say, this single verse says a lot to me about being completely faithful to our Lord. We need to be people of integrity! We cannot mock God, or fool God. He knows our hearts and the intentions of our hearts. We cannot just serve the Lord with our lips but serve Him completely with our whole lives. Our God is a jealous God and a consuming fire and our lives need to be lives of ‘no compromise’ for Him(and no other Gods before Him) else our duplicity destroy us and our witness for Him.

Just a thought!

Blessings

Steve

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Giants (Part 2)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , on June 6, 2008| Leave a Comment »

There are some that say the story of Exodus in the Old Testament is, kind of, like the Spiritual journey of a Christian. That is, the coming out of Egypt is conversion, perhaps the parting of the Red Sea is baptism, the time in the wilderness represents the struggle that we have between our flesh and the Spirit and the promised land is (not heaven) but a place of milk and honey that the Lord has for us, perhaps representing relationship with(and rest in) our Heavenly Father rather than the material things of life.

Well, there are a few good things that we can draw from this analogy and a few problems, not least of which is the whole original generation that left Egypt never entered the promised land (except for Caleb and Joshua) because of their disobedience and their refusing to believe. That’s a scary thought!

There is one part though, that is speaking to me at the moment where the people of God reach the Promised Land (the first time) and Moses sends out 12 scouts to ‘explore’ it.

The story is captured in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. Read it! It is a great read. Allow me to draw some things out of these verses.

At the start of Numbers chapter 13 Moses sends out 12 scouts (one from each tribe). They explore and come back fearful because they have seen giants living in the Promised Land. All except Caleb and Joshua that is. Here is what they have to say…

Numbers 13:30
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” NIV

Numbers 14:6-9
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” NIV

Then the Lord said to His people(excluding Caleb and Joshua)…

Numbers 14:11-12
11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.” NIV

Moses appeals to the Lord and so the Lord has the people wander around in the desert for 40 years to die out because of their what? – because of their UNBELIEF!

You see, there were giants in the land that they needed to conquer before they could take possession of the Promised Land. Sure, they couldn’t do it in their own strength but that was the Lord’s plan all along. To believe in Him, to trust and obey Him to conquer the giants.

What giants do we have in our lives that need to be conquered by trust and obedience to our Heavenly Father. Are we to never reach the Promised Land because we treat the Lord with CONTEMPT and UNBELIEF?

Think and prayer about this.

Blessings

Steve

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Giants (Part 1)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , on June 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »

In 1 Samuel 17 we have the great story of David and Goliath. Read the whole chapter! It is rich in Spiritual truths. They are literally everywhere is this story! There is one section that the Lord has had me thinking about quite a lot. It is this…

1 Samuel 17:20-24
20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath , the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear. NIV

Now hear me on this. This is for me and for anyone with their Spiritual ears on. It is not a judgement made from a ‘superior’ position.

Observation: The Israelite army (the Army of God), led by Saul, took up their positions, shouted at the enemy, saw the enemy, and ran away. Now, how often did this happen? Once? Twice? Have a look at verse 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. NIV So, for 40 days (twice a day) we have the army of God going through their ritual of shouting and waving their arms and puffing out their chest’s at the enemy and then running away in fear when the giant shows up.

This is a wake up call!

We can’t be shouting out victory on Sunday and running away in fear from the enemy on Monday! I’m not talking about the enemy ‘out there’ somewhere. I am talking about the enemy within us that keeps us in bondage, that keeps us small and powerless for the Kingdom of God. God wants us truly released from the bondages of the enemy.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory , are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory , which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. NIV

Lord, I want to be a giant slayer in my life!

In Revelation 12:10-11 it says:
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony ; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. NIV

‘Accuses them before our God day and night‘ – does that remind you of someone – Goliath? And how did they overcome? By the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.

I want to be around giant slayers!

In Jesus, we have the victory to overcome every giant in our lives. By the blood of the lamb the battle and the victory has already been won, in Jesus name! And ‘the word of their testimony’ is the testimony of the victories Jesus has had in their lives. Testimonies of victories are contagious! And these testimonies bring all glory and honour and power and praise to our Heavenly Father as He transforms us from glory to glory into His likeness!

Lord, glorify yourself through us!

Think and pray about this.

Blessings

Steve

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Faith (Part 1)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , on June 2, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. NIV

I’m reading “By Faith Alone” by Martin Luther, at the moment. It’s in the form of 365 devotionals (1 for each day). You see, I have an understanding on faith, but I want to check it. The easiest way I can describe faith (my faith) at the moment is ‘FAITH IS A RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST AND DEPENDENCE IN MY HEAVENLY FATHER ENABLED THROUGH JESUS AND GUIDED AND DIRECTED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT‘. ‘FAITH IS DELIBERATELY AND INTENTIONALLY PLACING MYSELF IN THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD’. I’ve heard other ideas about faith, but they seem to be appealing to selfishness and pride and doing things without God, even bypassing God altogether. So I am searching things at the moment. Here’s a little exerpt from ‘By Faith Alone’ by Martin Luther… (I’ve never considered these words from Jesus being about faith)

————————–exerpt start——————————

Under His Wings

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings!

Mt 23:37

In this passage, Christ gives us a beautiful illustration of faith. The Lord tenderly says to the Israelites that he would have gladly been their mother hen if they were only willing to be his chicks. Note carefully his words and illustration. Christ pours this out with his whole heart and with great seriousness. In this picture, we see how we should act towards Christ. It shows us how he can help us, how we should make use of him and enjoy him. If we watch how a hen behaves with her chicks, then we will see Christ and ourselves depicted better than any artist can paint.

Our souls are the chicks, and the devil and evil spirits are the hawks in the air. Except, we aren’t as clever as the chicks who flee under their mother hen. Also, demons are more skillful in attacking us than are the hawks in grabbing chicks. I previously taught how it isn’t enough to be devout, do good works, and live in grace. For not even our righteousness, let alone our unrighteousness, will endure before God’s eyes and his judgment. I have said that faith, if it is genuine faith, doesn’t rely on its own ability to believe but holds on to Christ and places itself under his righteousness. Just as chicks don’t rely on themselves and their own quickness but simply flee under the hen’s body and wings, so we must run to Christ and let him be our shield and protection.

————————–exerpt end——————————

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Prayer (Part 2)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , on May 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The Wisest Person in the World

Humanly speaking, if you were able to meet with the wisest person in the world, there are two questions that come to mind:

1) Would you do more talking or more listening?

2) How much time would you put aside for the meeting?

I think the answers are pretty obvious. You would listen more than you would speak and you would put aside as much time as you could. Perhaps you would even make time in your day that you never thought you had!

OK, now heavenly speaking. In prayer, we are able to meet with our Heavenly Father who is infinitely wise, who infinitely loves us, who is infinitely creative and made you and me and who has a Heavenly plan for each one of our lives. So, considering the above, when we pray, should we do more talking or more listening? Again, considering the above, how much time should we put aside for the meeting?

Are you getting my point? How much time do we pull away from this world to spend time communing and listening to our Heavenly Father? Now, don’t give me the answer, “I am in constant communication with my Heavenly Father 24-7”. Jesus was in constant communication with His Heavenly Father 24-7 and He still very, very often pulled away, to a quite place, and prayed with His Heavenly Father. It was His source of strength!

To Know Him

I have another question. What would be the point of spending eternity with someone we don’t know? This verse has come up before, Jesus prayed for us…
John 17:3
3 Now this is eternal life : that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. NIV
This is a really important verse. It defines what ‘eternal life’ is. It is pretty clear. It’s not ambiguous or complicated. Eternal life is knowing the Father and Jesus Christ His Son (and they are revealed through His Holy Spirit).

So what is our aim in our Christian life? To live a ‘good’ life. Trying our best to be a nice Christian or is our aim to know Him intimately (and to do what He is telling us to do)?

For Him to Know Us

Here are a couple of scary verses (notice the word MANY):

Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord , Lord , did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ NIV

Looking at these verses, we can even be ‘doing the stuff’ that we think Jesus wants us to do but still have no relationship with Him. Hear what these verses are saying, “Lord, didn’t we do ‘this stuff’ (in your name)”. And Jesus still has honoured His Name through them in spite of their lack of relationship with Him!

You know, we even have arm bands that remind us “What would Jesus do?” But is that really what it is all about? Isn’t it rather “What is Jesus telling me to do?” and then our response is we go and do it. The former is a (knowledgeable) guess and the latter is …… FAITH! (Ah! faith, that’s another blog)

Spend time with Him today! I mean more than 5 minutes of babbling on. Wait on Him and enjoy Him, in Jesus Name, AMEN

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Prayer (Part 1)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , on May 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »

White Noise

In electronics, there is an instrument called a ‘White Noise Generator‘. It’s function is to put out a whole lot of different frequencies at once for the testing of audio equipment. It puts out sound just like you get on a TV when you are not tuned in to any station correctly – kind of a SSSHHHH sound.

When we pray, we can have a kind of ‘White Noise‘ going on in our heads. I don’t mean a whole lot of different frequencies but I mean a whole lot of different voices going on at once. Voices from our past, voices of our mother and father, voices from our work, voices from our friends, voices from people who have hurt us, voices from last week, voices from yesterday, voices from TV, radio and advertisements, voices of the evil one. I guess you would call these voices, ‘voices of influence‘. They have shaped who we are. Not all of them are helpful. Some shape us positively, some negatively.

In prayer, there is only one voice that we need to hear, and that is the voice of the Lord. I guess, what I am trying to say is, are these voices or is this ‘white noise’ drowning out the voice of the Lord?

The Word of the Lord brings life!

John 6:63
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. NIV

John 6:68-69
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” NIV

Indeed, who else has the Words of Eternal Life!

In prayer, we need to come to a place of stillness in Him. A time when all the other voices are silent and we begin to commune with Him and we begin to hear the Word of the Lord and He begins to ‘restore our souls‘ (Psalm 23).

Psalms 46:10
10 “Be still , and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” NIV

Psalms 37:1-7
1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. NIV

Psalms 23:1-4
23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want,
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. NIV

Father, still those voices inside me. I want to hear your voice and your voice only. You are the only one that can give me Words of Life. You are the only one who can restore my soul. Help me to be still and know you are God, in Jesus Name, AMEN

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The Enemy Wants to Gouge Out Our Right Eye!

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , on May 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

There is an interesting story in 1 Samuel 11 where God’s people, the Israelites of Jabesh Gilead, are being besieged by the Ammonites. If you read my blog about ‘Lot and His Family’ you may remember where the Ammonites came from – Genesis 19:38 The younger daughter(ie: Lot’s daughter) also had a son (from incest with her father Lot), and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. NIV Anyways, they are being besieged, and all the men of Jabesh Gilead want to make a treaty with the enemy…

1 Samuel 11:1-2
11:1 Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.” NIV

It’s obvious that the enemy here is wanting to disgrace and disfigure God’s people. It is also obvious that the enemy is wanting everyone who looks upon or knows the men of Jabesh Gilead (ie: God’s people) to see that they have the ‘mark of the enemy‘ and have been overpowered and defeated by them.

What is not so obvious to us, is the importance of the right eye for battle during those times. With a shield in a warriors left hand, the left eye was (at times) partially or totally obscured behind the shield. This left the right eye to be used to sight the enemy so that he could wield sword or spear or bow against the enemy and defeat the them.

Wow! Let’s apply this scripture to our own lives. Have I been disfigured by the enemy? In my life, have a made some sort of agreement or compromise with the enemy and my spiritual sight has been impaired? Am I waving about the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ and completely missing the enemy because I am spiritually impaired or blind?

Lord, speak to my heart. In my heart is there some sort of compromise or agreement with the enemy? Am I fighting a useless battle because of my spiritual blindness? Lord, show me where compromise has crept in. Help me to have true, heart felt repentance for my compromise so that I can wield the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ effectively for ‘your Kingdom come, your will be done‘, in Jesus name, AMEN

(Thanks Gary)

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