Be Not Deceived

 “Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

James, the half-brother of Jesus writes - “My dear friends, do not go wandering off into deception.”  By giving credit to temptation, you may possibly think this is God’s way of speaking to you!  So what about the Lord’s Prayer - “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”?  This sounds like God had temptation on today’s agenda for you, but if you pray this prayer, then maybe He will change His mind!  In Greek ‘to lead’ means to reach inward and within; and ‘temptation’ means to test through piercing and examine closely to determine the hidden value of something.  But earlier James clearly pointed out that no man should say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man - God is not in the teasing business.  He is not the source of good and evil!  God delivers us from our propensity to align ourselves to the law of works where we give evil a foothold.  Let’s pray, “Father, You know me inside out.  Free me thoroughly from any hidden alliance with the old system of performance based living!  Remove any trace of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  In Jesus’s Name”. Amen!

Jesus Christ the Stairway

 “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭28‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jacob had a dream of a stairway securely fixed on the earth and reaching into heaven.  In his dream, messengers of God were ascending and descending on the stairway.  The steps of this stairway go up into the heavenly realm where our true riches are found.  Each step is a progressive revelation of God’s purpose for our lives found in Jesus Christ.  The stairway goes both ways, touching heaven and touching earth.  Jesus Christ is the Stairway that reaches earth (His human nature) to heaven (His heavenly nature).  Jesus spoke to Nathaniel about this.  Jesus is the only valid entry into the spirit realm, the true way into the heavenly realm.  The intercessors and promise-claimers prayers are taken by the angels up, and we ascend in the spirit up the Stairway.  We are in Christ and God has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!

The Executive of our Redemption

 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Take your lead from Jesus.  He is your reference to the most complete life.  In Him yesterday is confirmed today and today mirrors tomorrow.  What God spoke to us in Christ is as relevant now as it was in the prophetic past and will always be in the eternal future!  There is a history to our salvation that carries more authority and relevance than anything that ever happened in our past, or anything present in time or still to happen in the future.  Imagine the enormity of eternity in His sameness before time was; and we were there in Him all along!  What further ground can there possibly be to condemn mankind?  In His death He faced our judgment; in His resurrection He declares our innocence; the implications cannot be undone!  He now occupies the highest seat of authority as the Executive of our redemption in the Throne Room of God.  The heavens declare His glory, night to night exhibits the giant solar testimony that is mathematically precise, revealing that God knew before time was the exact moment He would enter our history as a Man, and the exact moment the Messiah would expire on the Cross and be raised again from the dead!  Glory and honour and power and praise belong to our God!

Embrace God’s Blessing with Gratitude

 “And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, That thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭27‬:‭40‬ ‭KJV‬‬

When Isaac blessed Esau, he said that Esau will live by the sword and serve his brother; but when he grows restless, Esau will break free from his brother’s control.  Esau would be given all the provisions he would need in life.  Isaac blessed Jacob with the fatness of earth but now reverses the order and Esau would be a man with his heart attached to the world.  He would live by the sword-principle, always retaliating and unable to forgive.  Many who believe in Christ today have enough of God to get by, but live with unresolved anger and unforgiveness like Esau.  Esau is described as someone who was careless about God’s blessing.  The descendants of Esau, the Edomites were a violent people who raided caravans and pillaged cities.  During David’s reign, Israel dominated the Edomites but a few hundred years later they revolted.  Our God Who is our Father, has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ.  Let’s not be careless about it or let unresolved anger and unforgiveness block God’s exceeding great blessings on us.  Amen!

Mediator of the New Covenant

 “and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jesus is the Spokesman and Arbitrator of the New Testament order.  His Blood signature sanctions mankind’s innocence.  This is a complete new language that communicates better things, in that it is the very substance of what was spoken in the shadow-type message of the blood sacrifice that Abel brought.  Abel’s faith was a prophetic introduction to the sacrificial shadow system of the old covenant.  Jesus is the substance of things hoped for!  By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.  It was faith that made the difference between the sacrifices of Abel and Cain, and confirmed Abel’s righteousness.  God bore witness to righteousness as a gift rather than a reward!  Even though he was murdered, Abel’s faith still has a most relevant prophetic voice directing us to the Blood Sacrifice of the Lamb of God!  Glory to God!

Sow Generously & Reap Exceedingly Abundantly

 “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭26‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Isaac planted crops in that land, and in the same year reaped a hundredfold harvest, for Yahweh greatly blessed him!  Isaac grew greater and greater until he was extremely wealthy.  God transformed a land of famine into a land of abundant harvest. Those who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest. Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty, springing up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity! Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you have more than enough of everything —every moment and in every way. He makes you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.  Because you sow extravagantly and given to the poor, your kindness and generous deeds will never be forgotten. This generous God who supplies abundant seed for the farmer, which becomes bread for our meals, is even more extravagant toward you. First He supplies every need, plus more. Then He multiplies the seed as you sow it, so that the harvest of your generosity will grow. You are abundantly enriched in every way as you give generously on every occasion, for when your gifts are given to those in need, it causes many to give thanks to God.  Amen!

Blessing of Righteousness by Faith

 “Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Faith brought into reality an offspring beyond calculation; from one as good as dead, children would be born more numerous than the stars and as impossible to count as the grains of sand on every distant seashore.  The uttermost parts of the earth, bordered by the seashore, will know the blessing of righteousness by faith which is the blessing of Abraham, meant for the entire world.  Let us celebrate God with articulate acclaim!  He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His matchless mercy and tender compassions, He birthed us again when Jesus was raised from the dead.  Now we are alive to witness the expectation of the ages unfold.  What a Living Hope we have in Christ!  Amen!

Our Birthright in Christ

 “And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25‬:‭31‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Yes, but first you must trade me your birthright,” Jacob replied.  The birthright refers to the right of the firstborn to inherit from the father a double portion - twice as much as the younger siblings inherit.  Jacob now rightfully possesses the rights and blessings of the firstborn, which included authority, headship, double portion inheritance, and the right to be the priest of the family.  God identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The God of Abraham is God of Promises Fulfilled.  The God of Isaac is the God of Inheritance and Miracles.  The God of Jacob is the God of Transformation, for Jacob becomes Israel, a prince with God.  God gives us the promise, but the promise requires a miracle to perform it.  This miracle-promise releases true transformation within the heart of man.  This is the revelation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, available to all mankind through faith in the Blood poured at the Cross of Christ.  Amen!

God is not Far from Each One of Us

 “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭35‬ ‭KJV‬‬

We are urged not to relinquish our confident conversation.  Persuasion in God’s achievement in Christ, redefines the idea of reward and confirms what grace reveals.  Jesus Christ defines God’s faith - He is Immanuel - the substance as well as the evidence of all that God believes.  Let’s understand that righteousness is revealed by faith as a gift and not as a reward for keeping the law; because faith pleases God, not good or bad behaviour.  Just love living in the awareness and full persuasion of the closeness of God.  As Paul told those idol-worshipping Greek philosophers in Athens on Mars Hill, that God is not far from each one of us.  Even in our ignorance, indifference or hostility to Him, He successfully reconciled the human race to Himself in Christ!  The Incarnation celebrates that Immanuel means that God has no desire to be without us!  Hallelujah!

The Church is the Bride

 “And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24‬:‭9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

So, the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to carry out his wishes.  We can see a picture here of the Father releasing the Holy Spirit to seek out a Bride for His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is the Father that brings the Bride to Jesus as His love gift to the Son - a gathering of a Bridal-partner for Jesus from the nations of the earth.  The Church is the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.  His ministers are “friends of the bridegroom” who are sent to awaken bridal love in the nations as they persuade souls to espouse their heart to Him.  Only the trusted Servant, the Holy Spirit, is capable of drawing hearts to the Son, imparting endless love for Him.  He desires a willing Bride, willing to leave all to follow the Holy Spirit to be led to her Bridegroom.  Let’s be willing to leave all and follow Him, led by the Holy Spirit.  Glory to God!

God Himself became the Sacrifice in Christ

 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭22‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Thus, according to the law, all purging was by means of blood; forgiveness was specifically associated with the shedding of blood.  It is clear to see that we were ransomed from the futile, fallen mindset that we inherited from our fathers, not by the currency of our own labour represented by the fluctuating values of gold and silver, and the economy of our religious efforts; but we were redeemed with the priceless Blood of Christ - He is the ultimate Sacrifice, spotless and without blemish.  God does not demand a sacrifice that would change the way He thinks about mankind.  He provides the Sacrifice of Himself in Christ, in order to forever eradicate sin-consciousness from our minds and radically change the way we think about our Maker, one another and ourselves!  Worthy is the Lamb of God!

New Covenant of Life

 “that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭23‬:‭9‬ ‭KJV

“..to sell me the cave he owns at Machpelah on the edge of his land.  Let him sell it to me publicly and at full price, so that I may own it for a burial site.”  Machpelah means “double” and everyone buried in this cave would be as one of a couple: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah.  Death for the patriarchs was a gateway into the resurrection.  This tomb was more an altar than a grave, to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who is not a God of the dead but of the living.  Jewish tradition believes that Adam and Eve were also buried in this cave.  At the resurrection of Christ, there was a huge earthquake and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared to many.  Thank God that we died with Christ and are now alive in Christ - His new covenant is a covenant of Life and not of death.  Amen!

Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV

This knowledge of me will never again be based on sin-consciousness.  My act of mercy, extended in Christ as the new covenant, has removed every possible definition of sin from memory!  God’s memory of our sins was not what needed to be addressed in the redemption of our innocence.  God did not have a problem with sin-consciousness, we had!  He wasn’t hiding from Adam and Eve in the garden - they were hiding from Him!  What needed to be addressed was our perceptions of a judgmental God, which was the inevitable fruit of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This was the loss of our identity and the ensuing crises till Jesus restored it by taking every judgment of the fruit of the good and evil knowledge by becoming the tree of life on the Cross for mankind.  Thus sin has been removed and righteousness restored.  Let’s be forever thankful of God’s mercy triumphing over judgment in Christ!  Hallelujah!

Father of Faith

 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the young men.  “Isaac and I will go up and worship; then we will return to you.”  This is the first instance of worship in the Bible.  Abraham freely offered his beloved son to God and called it worship.  True worship always involves a sacrifice.  The first reference of the New Testament to worship is found with men bowing down before a Child and offering sacrificial gifts to Jesus - gold, frankincense and myrrh.  The Biblical concept of worship includes freely bowing down before God bringing our gifts (sacrifices of praise) to honour and adore Him.  Abraham is the father of faith because he knew that God, if He had to, would resurrect Isaac so that both Isaac and his father would return to where they left the servants.  This gift of faith has come to all those who are in Christ and have the blessing of being the seed of Abraham through Christ.  Amen!

New Covenant Laws

 “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭7‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

If there is a new order of priesthood, there must obviously be a new law.  Melchizedek reveals a new basis of righteousness, related not to a person’s effort to keep the law by their own willpower, but based upon the perfect work of Christ.  The new law is called the law of faith - Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.  Also the law of perfect liberty - But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he or she does.  Even the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.  Let’s walk according to the new covenant laws under the order of the Melchizedek priesthood where we all are priests; and according to the perfect and finished work of Christ!  Hallelujah!

Love Not the World

 “And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21‬:‭33‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree, in Beersheba and there he worshipped Yahweh, the everlasting God.  When Abraham planted the tree he was revealing his faith of endurance until the time of fruitfulness.  God Eternal El Olam is the God over Eternity.  Abraham’s heart and focus were turning to the God of Eternity.  The things of the earth were growing meaningless to him.  El Olam was preparing Abraham to yield his greatest treasure, his son.  Only one whose heart is fixed on eternity can ever make sacrifices pleasing to God.  When we see the Eternal One, we can let go of temporary things.  Abraham touched eternal life as he dwelt by the tree and the well.  This was his true preparation for giving up Isaac.  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever.  Amen!

God’s Immutable Promise

 “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

In the same context we are confronted with God’s eagerness to go to the last extreme in His dealing with us as heirs of His promise, and to cancel out all possible grounds for doubt or dispute.  In order to persuade us of the unalterable character and finality of His resolve, He confined Himself to an oath.  The promise which already belongs to us by heritage, is now also confirmed under oath.  In the Incarnation, God has positioned Himself in the midst of His creation.  The Mosaic law spoke the language of the fallen mindset, and required mediators, the Levitical priesthood, because mankind had a part to obey God’s commandments and God’s part was to bless.  God’s covenant with Abraham was a grace covenant pointing to the Man Jesus Christ, in Whom God Himself would fulfil mankind’s part and therefore needed no mediator apart from Himself.  Mankind was not redeemed from the devil, a thief never becomes an owner!  Neither did Jesus do what He did to change His Father’s mind about us, it was our minds that needed persuasion.  God was not to be reconciled to His creation - God was in Christ when He reconciled the world to Himself!  Hallelujah!

Passionate Prayer of those Righteous in Christ

 “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭20‬:‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Then Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech!  He also healed Abimelech’s wife and female servants of their infertility and they began to have babies again.  Considering that Abraham’s wife had never given him a child, it was an amazing miracle for Abraham to pray for someone else to give birth!  The very first healing in the Bible was through the prayer of a childless man, Abraham.  He had no confidence in himself as he prayed this prayer of faith.  He could pray in total confidence that it had to be God doing the miracle.  He prayed for the very thing he had not yet received.  Isaac’s conception happened shortly after as a result of Abraham’s prayer for another person with the same need.  Because of the new covenant through Jesus, we too must learn to pray when tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a righteous person in Christ!  Amen!

Meditate on Christ’s Finished Work

 “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The revelation of righteousness is the meat of God’s Word.  Babes live on milk (the prophetic shadow of the real, which was to come); so does everyone who is not pierced in the ear of his/her heart by the revelation of Christ.  God’s act of righteousness in Christ restored mankind to blameless innocence.  This is the nourishment of the mature.  They are those who have their faculties of perception trained as by gymnastic precision, to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant.  The mature are those who know the difference between the shadow and the substance; between the futility of the law of works and willpower to work righteousness, and righteousness revealed by the faith of God in the finished work of Christ.  Let’s be the ones who meditate on Christ’s finished work of the Cross even more!  Amen!

The Hope we have in Christ

 “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭KJV‬‬

And Yahweh’s fire from heaven fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah.  He completely destroyed the cities of the plain, and all their inhabitants and whatever grew in the valley.  Jesus made it clear that if the miracles He did in Israel, had been seen in Sodom, the people of Sodom would have repented.  Therefore, it will be more tolerable for them in the Day of Judgment than for the cities of Galilee.  Knowing how God will soon judge the corrupt world, it is vital that we live holy lives.  Since all these things are on the verge of being dismantled, don’t you see how vital it is to live a holy life? We must be consumed with godliness while we anticipate and help to speed up the coming of the day of God, when the atmosphere will be set on fire and the heavenly bodies consumed in a blaze. There are coming heavens new in quality, and an earth new in quality, where righteousness will be fully at home. With all that you have to look forward to, may you be eager to live pure lives when you come into His Presence, without blemish and filled with peace. Our Lord’s extraordinary patience simply means more opportunity for salvation!  Amen!

Radiate His Image

 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The message God spoke to us in Christ, is the most life giving and dynamic influence in us, cutting like a surgeon’s scalpel, sharper than a soldier’s sword, piercing to the deepest core of human conscience, to the dividing of soul and spirit; ending the dominance of the sense realm and its neutralising effect on the human spirit.  In this way a person’s spirit is freed to become the ruling influence again in the thoughts and intentions of their heart.  The scrutiny of this Living Sword-Logos detects every possible disease, discerning the body’s deepest secrets where joint and bone-marrow meet.  The moment we cease from our own efforts to justify ourselves, by yielding to the integrity of the message that announces the success of the Cross, God’s Word is triggered into action.  What God spoke to us in our sonship (the Incarnation of Christ in us), radiates His image and likeness in our redeemed innocence.  This Word powerfully penetrates and impacts our whole being: body, soul and spirit.  Hallelujah!

Christ’s Blood has a Greater Voice

“And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭18‬:‭20‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Yahweh explained to Abraham, The outcry for justice against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant..  The outrage against the people of Sodom and their indictment against them was because the sin of Sodom was blatant and outrageous.  The voices that cry out would literally include those suffering the abuses of those in power in their homes and cities.  Sin has a voice that cries out for justice, but the Blood of Jesus has a greater voice!  Let’s depend fully on Jesus’s Blood.  Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant, and His Blood speaks better than that of Abel.  Glory to God!

Unbelief

 “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Make sure that none of you tolerates the poison of unbelief in your hearts, allowing callousness to distract and distance you from the living God.  Unbelief is believing a lie about yourself and your salvation.  The children of Israel thought they were grasshoppers in their own eyes!  Unbelief exchanges the living God for a dead god of our own imagination.  A calloused heart is a mind dominated by the senses.  Lets make everyday count as we remind ourselves of our true identity in Christ - which is our ultimate conclusion - our union with Christ.  Hallelujah!

A Generational Transfer

 “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Yahweh said to Abram, “You will no longer be named Abram because I am changing your name to Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you abundantly fruitful, more than you expect.  I will make nations out of you, and kings will trace their lineage back to you.”  Abram means exalted father and Abraham means father of a multitude.  The Church today does not need exalted fathers, but rather fathers who will multiply themselves to their sons and daughters.  A generational transfer is in the heart of God and is here revealed to Abraham.  Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Hezekiah were leaders and kings who came forth from Abraham’s blessed relationship with Yahweh.  He has likewise made you and me, who are in Christ, kings and priests to Him.  Amen!

Christ’s Preeminence & Prominence

 “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Christ towers in conspicuous prominence far above all things.  He is both their Author and their Conclusion.  All things exist in Him and through Him.  He now, triumphantly leads the sons of glory through a perfect salvation.  The extent of the suffering He bore, is the measure of the perfection of the salvation over which He presides.  In Him the image and likeness of God is made visible in human form in order that everyone may recognise their true origin in Him.  What darkness veiled from us, He unveiled.  In Him we clearly see the mirror reflection of our original life.  The Son of His love gives accurate evidence of His image in human form.  The Incarnation means that God can never again be invisible!  Hallelujah!

God Who Sees

 “And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

After her encounter with Yahweh, Hagar called Him by a special Name, “You are the God of my Seeing”, for she said, “Oh my, did I just see God and live to talk about it?”  This encounter at the well reminds us of a later time when Jesus would journey to a well to meet a woman who had a history of running from God.  At this well of Jacob, the Living One again sees into the heart of a woman and speaks mercy to her.  At Jesus’s encounter with the woman at Jacob’s well, “God saw” into her heart, and she saw into God’s.  This is the sacred place where God sees into our hearts, inspite of our hidden motives, and speaks mercy and grace to us.  Let’s be those who are able to receive mercy and grace because of Christ’s unconditional love shown at the Cross for us, and be those who speak mercy and grace to others.  We live in the age where mercy triumphs over judgment.  Let’s allow God’s unconditional love to flow through us to every person we meet, and give glory to Jesus through our lives!

The Incarnate Word Mirrored Us

 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Throughout ancient times God spoke in many fragments and glimpses of prophetic thought to our fathers.  Now, this entire conversation has finally dawned in sonship.  Suddenly, what seemed to be an ancient language falls fresh and new like dew on the tender grass!  He is the sum total of every utterance of God.  He is Whom the prophets pointed to and we are His immediate audience! In the Son, God declares the Incarnate Word to be the Heir of all things.  He is after all the Author of the ages.  We have forgotten what manner of people we are - we have forgotten the face of our birth!  Jesus successfully rescued the real you, not the pseudo, make-believe you!  God has never believed less of you than what He was able to communicate in the Sonship that Jesus mirrored and redeemed.  The beginning declares the destiny of the Word, image and likeness would be mirrored and redeemed in incarnate human form!  All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.  Sonship endorses heirship!  Let’s believe in the sonship we have in Christ.  Hallelujah!

Faithful Shield and Abundant Reward

 “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Afterwards, the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision and said, “Abram, don’t yield to fear, for I am your Faithful Shield and your Abundant Reward,”. Yahweh assured Abram to protect him from any retaliation by the kings he had conquered.  Abram chose to be hidden behind Yahweh’s Shield than to take refuge in what the world could give him.  Because of what Abram had done by rescuing Lot and refusing to take financial reward for his noble acts, Yahweh Himself became Abram’s reward.  This new, intimate relationship with God exceeded any financial loss Abram experienced.  Because of the finished work of the Cross, we can now make the choice to choose the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our life, instead of the worldly pleasures.  That’s when we come into that new intimacy with God.  Let’s have that relationship with Almighty God in Christ.  Amen!

Forgiving Love

 “whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels: whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:”

‭‭Philemon‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul is demonstrating forgiving love with grace and tact to Philemon, to receive Onesimus, Philemon’s once run-away slave as a dear brother in Christ.  Paul says that Onesimus is his very heart and been sent back to Philemon with this letter.  Paul would have preferred to keep Onesimus at his side so that he could take Philemon’s place as Paul’s helper during his imprisonment for the sake of the Gospel.  It would be hard to imagine a more powerful way to describe the affection between Paul and his spiritual son, Onesimus.  The one who gave us the love chapter of love holding no record of wrongs, demonstrated that love in his relationships, even with those who were much younger than he.  May we be led by the Holy Spirit to think good of every person and walk in forgiving love, in all our relationships.  Amen!

Overcoming Any Impossibility

 “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭14‬:‭14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been taken captive by the four kings, he mobilized all the men in his camp, 318 in all who had been born and trained in his own household, and he pursued the invaders as far north as Dan.  These were not only warriors but also disciples and trained ones of Abram.  It was God Who supernaturally won this battle, for Abram was facing fierce and numerous tribal warriors.  Abram realised that the battle would be won with God’s help.  Abram was a noble man, he could have easily left Lot, who chose to live in Sodom, in the hands of his captors.  Because of the blessing of Abraham upon our lives through Christ, in the New Covenant, we can overcome any impossible situation by faith.  With God’s help, no challenge is insurmountable.  For we are trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And we find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses us to conquer every difficulty.  Hallelujah!