Forgiveness is a river that flows from a mountain of grace and runs into and ocean of love. And mercy falls like rain, again and again, and soaks us to the bone as it continually falls from up above.It falls, it falls into the deepest part of me and transforms me again and again until Christ is all you see. In the Kingdom of God there are times and seasons and they ebb and flow. And we are called to fall into their rhythms so that we take root and grow. Growing beside the river, the evergreens take their place, fed from the waters of life with the Son upon their face.
In season and out of season we are ever ready and I’ll shall walk in the way He leads, for He has ever led me. He leads me through the mountain passes and down into the valley, and we ford the raging spring time river. This river that flows from the mountain high, it continually flows forever. So there are times and seasons and mountains and valleys. There are times to live and there are times to die. I often look and wonder why. Yet only for a moment for then I lift my eyes to the one from whom all seasons flow. I shut my eyes and now I know the way that I must go.
The older I get in the Lord, the more I see it’s not about answers from God. Self seeks answers. The immediate problems of life presses in and we desire to be through it. We want acceptable solutions. Yet where is God in our many graspings? What good is the glory gained on the mountaintops if it can not be seen in the darkest valleys? Should not our greatest desire in the world be that the valley is, to us, the mountaintop?
In the end, the glory of God covers everything, as the waters cover the sea. Whether that sea rages or is tranquil, should we not lie down and sleep in the boat? Shall we not sleep in the lions den? Shall we not praise Him in the dungeon? The mountaintop experience should only serve to give us the strength to reflect His glory in the valley. Did not the Lord come down from the glories of heaven? Did we not see Him glorify His Father in the deepest valley as He hung there nailed to a tree? Shall we not enter into His rest and cease from our works? Cease from our running to and fro.
Oftentimes the sadness of loss or trials becomes dark clouds that obscure the sun. Yet above the clouds, above the mountain tops there is a perpetually blue sky. Sometimes we simply need a single ray of sunshine to penetrate the dark clouds to remind us of this truth. And that ray reminds us of the glory that we reveled in and will one day spend eternity in. A shaft of light is what we must pray for when we are in the darkest reaches of the valley, and this light shall lead us through it. Our lives are like a vapor and soon enough we shall stand in eternal glory, but before that we must find the glory now.
He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies so that we may, with Paul and Silas and every other saint who suffered unspeakable losses down through the ages, glorify God in the very midst of our situations. In the light of this glory all loss is subsumed into Him and our spirits can truly say that our eternal desire is to be found in Him. The road home to glory will be a difficult one for all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus, but it will be a vital one.
See God’s glory and live. Cast your eyes unto the heavens and live. Cast your eyes to that eternal horizon and live. There is life in His glory and life more abundant. Find that now brothers and sisters, right where you are, and the road forward will open up before you, one day at a time, indeed one step at a time. The difficulties of life will become open doors to the treasures of heaven. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and the glory.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
I think we need to redefine the word “blessed,” in the Christian world. The scriptural word means to “be fortunate,” “to be well off.” Now this has long been associated with material things. Yet as always, context matters, it gives meaning to the words that we use. Consider the most famous of all uses of this word, when Jesus uses it in the Beatitudes. The context gives us the meaning. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger, blessed are those who thirst. Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers. Blessed are the righteous who are persecuted. Blessed are the reviled. Given who Jesus says are blessed, do you still want to be blessed?
If it means “drawing closer to God,” then to be blessed is to walk the narrow path that leads through the valley. To shine like the morning sun in the midnight hour is to testify of God’s blessing upon your life. To look upon material gain as a measure of God’s blessing is to find ourselves in the same ranks as Job’s friends. That’s not to say the Lord cannot bless us materially for His own purposes, it’s just to say that it carries no particular anointing. Consider the words of Peter when he says “silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give to thee.” Peter gave to the cripple out of the abundance of what he had. There are very few today who could say the same as Peter, perhaps that is just one of the reasons we see so little of the miraculous.
How long have we associated the word blessed with some kind of material increase? How far we have fallen from believing we are blessed when we are hungry, thirsty, hated and reviled. What blessings fell upon Paul and Silas in the midnight hour having been hated and tortured and imprisoned for His name sake. See the blessings pour forth from heaven and shake the earth. How blessed was brother Stephen as the cruel stones rained down upon his mortal body and the heavens themselves parted and he was caught up in his heavenly vision. Where are the men and woman of today who count it all blessing and all joy when they fall into various trials, knowing just how much the testing of their faith produces. It produces glory to God as they stand upon their faith and become a living testimony to the power of their heavenly Father.
Your presence fills me with great joy And turns every shadow into light Great consolation is mine Which feeds the deepest part of me, and sustains me though the night.
Oh blessed joy is mine divine The eternal longing of my aching heart For the day when the morning star rises And then, forever, we shall never be apart
To look into the depths of who You are Even for a moment, gives life unto my weary soul The one who took the many broken pieces Before the throne and the Father made me whole
I will awaken the dawn with the praises of my King You will hear, from the ends of the earth, heavenly choirs sing Look through the door of your heart that He has knocked upon And hear the angels singing their golden heavenly song
Then shall heaven and earth be one together And we shall abide before His throne forever I in him and He in we Cast upon an eternal holy sea.
Trouble came knocking at my door And a voice inside said don't let it in I opened it And it knocked me to the floor I got backup on my feet And it knocked me down once more
Chorus Jesus pick me up so I can stand again Jesus pick me up, I so dearly need you friend You are my Lord of Lords and King of Kings The man of many sorrows If you do not pick me up today Then there will be no tomorrows
I came to a bridge over troubled waters But the bridge was swept away I went down into the waters And in the darkness I heard Him say I will be with you as you pass on through And suddenly the waters withdrew
Then I came upon a mountain high To scale it I would surely die I asked the Lord to remove this thing So that I could rejoice and praise my King No My son, ask of me to give you power To climb every mountain and to scale every tower
Bridge
I'll be with you as you pass on through I'll be with you in all that you do.
Trouble came knocking at my door And a voice inside said don't let it in I opened it And it knocked me to the floor I got backup on my feet And it knocked me down once more
Chorus Jesus pick me up so I can stand again Jesus pick me up, I so dearly need you friend You are my Lord of Lords and King of Kings The man of many sorrows If you do not pick me up today Then there will be no tomorrows
I came to a bridge over troubled waters But the bridge was swept away I went down into the waters And in the darkness I heard Him say I will be with you as you pass on through And suddenly the waters withdrew
Then I came upon a mountain high To scale it I would surely die I asked the Lord to remove this thing So that I could rejoice and praise my King No My son, ask of me to give you power To climb every mountain and to scale every tower
Bridge
I'll be with you as you pass on through I'll be with you in all that you do.
My cousin, who is just a few years younger than myself, has stage 4 prostrate cancer which has spread to his spine and to his liver. This was his initial diagnosis. Due to Covid and a general health crisis in Britain, he was not regularly tested. His father died of the same disease at roughly the same age. He lives in Wales and it is fairly rural. I have been to the small village of Lougher many years ago when I helped moderate a revival conference at Moriah chapel, the birth place of the Welsh revival. My cousin is an engineer and has worked all over the world and traveled extensively, indeed he has visited us in Kansas on many occasions. I have always really liked my cousin, he has many admiral qualities but we did butt heads on many occasions, both being younger and headstrong. Age and life and sanctification has knocked many of the rough edges off of us.
And so I found out that he had cancer when I was over in Scotland for my dads funeral back in March. I was deeply saddened by this report and upon my return to Kansas, I contacted him and we began to zoom on a weekly basis. The first thing that impressed me was his calm demeanor. He bore no ill will towards a system that had let him down. Nor was he angry at a particular Dr who specifically let him down. This is all the more impressive when you consider, that his dad, my uncle ( a wonderful saint) had been misdiagnosed and not properly treated at the beginning of his own battle with cancer that would lead to his demise. And so, his quiet demeanor and softening of heart and spirit is very heart warming and encouraging to me. He has a chair where he spends much time meditating on the Word of God and getting quiet before Him.
I want you to understand something. Such is the state of the health service in Britain in general and Wales in particular, my cousin has never seen an oncologist. He has only ever spoken to her over the phone. They told him that they were “going to throw everything at it,” and so begun a three month regimen of chemo and radiation treatment as well as hormone therapy and other drugs. The nurses were amazed that he never lost his hair and that he almost no side-effects at all. And so the course came to an end at the end of August and it took a few weeks for them to arrange images and blood-work. It takes a further month for him to get a call from the oncologist only to be told that his images had not been read by anyone ( she apologized) but that based on her own expertise she was somewhat pleased at what she saw but she would call again two weeks later and this time she would definitely have the radiologists reports.
Now you would think that all of this waiting would be agonizing, especially when you have returning pain in your lower spine. Yet, again, my cousins attitude was exemplary. Our sessions together are always good and our prayer time at the end of these sessions are always deep and meaningful to me. And so, just a couple of weeks ago, the day arrived that the oncologist was to call. The window for the call was either between 8am and 1pm, or 1pm and 5pm. So, you basically had to sit by the phone all day waiting on the call. And as he is want, he was sitting in his easy chair reading the Word. And as he is going through the psalms, this day he had arrived at psalm 20. His method was to read the psalm and mediate on it all day and so this is what he was doing.
“May the Lord answer you in day of trouble………………May the name of the God of Jacob defend you…………May He send you help from His sanctuary…………And strengthen you out of Zion……….May He grant you according to your hearts desire and fulfill all your purposes…………..Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed……… May the Lord fulfill all of your petitions……….He will hear from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand…………….some trust in chariots and some in horses but we shall remember the name of the Lord our God…..they have bowed down and fallen but we have risen and stand upright……save Lord! May the King answer us when we call.”
As my cousin was taken up with these thoughts the hours got away from him. He looked at the clock and realized it was almost noon. No calls. He glanced at his phone and to his great surprise there was two “missed calls.” It was from the oncologist. Now, my cousin is in an engineer. There is always a purpose in what he does and does not do. He looked at his phone to see how it was possible that he could miss not just one, but two very important calls. Was the volume off? No. As he looked further he realized that his phone was set to “do not disturb.” Now, he had not set the phone to do not disturb. In fact he had never set that phone or any other other phone to “do not disturb. He said he would not even know how to do it and of course, given the highly important nature of the call that day, even if he did know how to do it he would not have.
Suddenly the Lord impressed upon him that He did not want my cousin to be disturbed by the oncologist. And that he was not to be disturbed, rather he was to listen to Him and what He was saying to him through the word. Brothers and sisters, I have no doubt at all that it was the hand of the Lord Himself or some angel that pressed the do not disturb button on my cousins phone. There comes a time in all of our lives when there is no help from anyone. No help from the system, from the medical field or any other avenue. Whereby only the hand of the Lord Himself can save us and keep us and guard us from all alarm. We are not to be disturbed but rather we are to trust in the Lord and the power of His might. Whether we live or whether we die we are to stand fast in Him and He is to be glorified. All of this flows from trust. Be encouraged today brothers and sisters….do not be disturbed and do not allow the world to disturb you. In this world we shall have troubles, but take heart! Jesus has overcome the world.
Mat 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Peter sees Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the great storm. Jesus says to them that are on the boat to “be of good cheer, for it is I, do not be afraid.” Just seeing Jesus put their minds at ease. Our hearts are at peace when we “know” that Jesus sees our afflictions. And yet we see Peter, caught up in the presence of God. It is not good enough that he sees him from a distance, he wants to be right where He is, no matter the circumstance, and he is taken up by the Lord’s presence. In the Lord’s presence, when we are captivated by Him, then the roar of the wind dies down. The tumultuous waves that were otherwise so terrifying, cease to present any threat in the manifest presence of God. Nature itself loses all of its power as the water loses its ability to swallow whole those who stand with Jesus.
And we see what happens when Peter takes His eyes off Jesus. Immediately the noise of his present circumstances comes roaring back and would have been deafening. The waves would rise up and reach out to take him under to his watery grave. Nature comes back into its own and Peter begins to sink. Yet Jesus. He is still there even when we have momentarily lost our focus and our faith. He will not let us drown. He is faithful even when we are not. He will catch us. He will come into our boat and suddenly the storm is completely gone. And then all who witnessed this fell down before Jesus and worshiped Him. Brothers and sisters, we are called to come to Jesus. Oftentimes we are so tempted to “batten down the hatches,” yet in many cases this just delays the inevitable sinking of the ship in the great storms of life.
We must come to Jesus and follow Him. Whether out of the boat into the teeth of the storm, or out of the storm back into the boat. Where He is there is peace whether in the eye of the storm or the stilled storm. It is all the same. He is our peace. Where He is there is glory and all things are possible. Perfect peace casts out all fear and only in Jesus can we stand, whether that is upon solid ground or on the water. Let the whole world shake. Let the mountains begin to crumble. Let the seas rise up and roar. Let the skies fall down and the stars fall from the heavens. He still rules and He still reigns. No matter what you are facing today saints, He still reigns sovereign over all that exists. Look to Jesus today. Step out of the boat. Or reach out and take His hand. Or follow Him back into the boat. Wherever He goes, let us follow Him to the ends of the earth and to the gates of eternity. He shall lead us home.
2Co 2:14 Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
Can you say, with all honesty brothers and sisters, that through you, the fragrance of Jesus is made known every where you go? By His presence in you and your presence in, say, your marriage, you “diffuse the fragrance,” of Christ? That phrase means to make manifest. Is it manifestly evident that you carry the presence of Jesus? How about at work? When you are driving? Interacting with your family? Interacting with people who do not like you? Is there still a fragrance that emanates from you? Are you like a flower? Beautiful to behold, something that others want to draw near to them and just breath you in?
Atmosphere, it is something we can control. We can control it because God has given us everything we need for He always leads us in conquest. He leads. He goes before. Shall we step back or shall we get out in front of Him? When we are wronged do we rush forward with our carnal weapons of warfare and then pat ourselves on the back because it was “self defense.” The clue is right in the words. We are defending “self,” therefore we add to the blackness of the atmosphere rather than allow the light to shine forth from our innermost being which causes the darkness to flee. The flesh demands to be defended and when it is the atmosphere grows darker. We must infuse into the situation the rarified air of heaven.
In one year, the average mature tree will absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide and in exchange release oxygen. We saints are the spiritual “trees,” in this world. We are uniquely designed to triumph over the toxic nature of humanity and the world in which we live. The one vital difference is this, what the trees do by nature and design, we must do by choice. We can exhale out both spiritual oxygen or more hellish carbon dioxide. In every single occasion it is a choice. The power resides within us. Shall we follow God? If we do then He always leads us to victory. If we follow the dictates of our own flesh then we shall find ourselves wallowing in the toxic nature of defeat.
In every stage of our lives there are seasons
And almost always we never know the reasons
We live, we love, we cherish, we lose
And the sudden losses leaves us with very little clues
We look to the sky and we wonder why
One of our loved ones they had to die
Yet for the most part there is no rhyme nor reason
There is just the changing of the season
In the hand of the Lord there lies it all
The creation of man and then the fall
Sin and rebellion and death floods in
And Eden vanishes and loss begins
There is a time to laugh and then to cry
A time to live and then to die
A time to gain and a time of loss
A time to refine away the dross
We are called to walk through fire and flood
And sometimes called to shed our blood
We are also called to laugh and sing
And fall to our knees before our King
No matter the loss there is always a reason
For the fire , the flood and the painful season
For the joy, for the laughter for the passion and pain
Know this dear saint, nothing is in vain
God finds us like the wild donkey, our nostrils wide and our eyes blazing and our ears laid back, hating the touch of leather, hating the touch and smell of people. The Holy Spirit comes, takes over, and starts, as we say on the farm, breaking the colt. After that the whole nature of the animal changes. He perks his ears up and whinnies when he sees you coming. His eyes are calm now. Lay your hand on his neck and he will lean over and nuzzle you. The Spirit of God wants to do that for you. He wants to domesticate you, humble you and make you meek. The Christian who has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into a docile, obedient, meek, trustful person has more treasure than all the wealth of the world (A.W.Tozer)
Brother Tozer uses an analogy that most of the world would hate. I can hear the protests now (mainly because my own flesh raged against the process) “what do you mean, breaking the colt.” The truth is we are much worse that any horse or mule. We rage against the light because it brings us to heel if we indeed surrender to it. The horse is broken, yet we, unlike the horse, must first surrender to the process. And if we just had to do it once that might be ok. Yet just like everything else in the Scriptures that brings life it must be abided in. We must abide in His word daily. We must abide in the Holy Spirit daily. We must take up our cross daily. We must be filled over and over again. And so, just like that, we must surrender over and over again.
Brokenness is a process of surrenders. Stronghold by stronghold, high ground by high ground, well defended positions must fall. Jericho walls must come tumbling down and it wont be by might and it wont be by power, it will be by the Holy Spirit. We cannot cause the walls within us to fall, only Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit can do that. We cannot form the cross that we take up daily, only Jesus by the power of the Spirit can do that. Just like it is not possible to strangle yourself, we could never create crosses strong enough to break us. The flesh would not allow it That is uniquely the work of the Spirit and every step of the way must be surrendered to it. We are called into the river, not up to our ankles nor our knees nor even our waists, we must be fully immersed in the river of life. We must surrender to the current. We cannot be standing on our own two feet.
You may believe that you are walking in the depths with Jesus. Yet ask yourself this saint. Are you still standing on your own two feet? Do you think you are doing good because the water comes up to your neck? In the final analysis you will be no better off than the fella that is only ankle deep. The real changes come when you are swept away by the river, everything else is religion and vanity and ashes in the wind. We have to come to the point where we are simply not in control, we are not in charge. The River, Jesus, the Holy Spirit is. He can only take you to where He wants you to go when you are fully surrendered. And now, just like the broken horse, we fall deeply in love with our Master and long to see His coming. We nestle into His loving arms and when the storms rage all around us, we see Him and we know we are safe. Will you surrender to the river today?
Thank you for inexhaustible fountains That flow down from the highest mountains Higher still and then again We find the source of the falling rain
Living waters whose source is the King By their refreshing we hear angels sing Sing to the Lord for He has done excellent things Cry out ye saints for He is greatly to be praised
Deep in unfathomable mines there is treasure And at His right hand forevermore there is pleasure Refreshed by the waters that flow down on me They carry me onward towards an eternal sea
We shall draw water from the wells of salvation Upon the Rock we shall stand, our eternal foundation We shall raise our sails high and be carried along By the breath of the Spirit and a heavenly song.
My father died on the 21st of March and I went back to Scotland for the funeral. Below is a a part of his eulogy that I gave.
A portion of my fathers eulogy………. (picture I took that morning)
On the morning of my fathers funeral I got up early and walked along the shore. In a country where it could easily have been pouring down with rain, it was cloudless. The sun rose in the sky and the air was sharp and clear. I sensed the presence of the Lord and a word came to my spirit, so tender, and so beautiful and it spoke to me. This was to be the opening of my eulogy…………………
I am persuaded this morning of the blessed hope in Christ my Lord. Just as surely as the river keeps running and the hills and the mountains stand guard over the valley, my hope in Jesus is even more sure than that. I am persuaded that just as the sun rose gloriously this morning, my father has been gloriously raised again into eternal life by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. I am persuaded that………………….God is in this place. I am persuaded that God loves each person in this room and desires to know each of you personally.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us……….Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?………..For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In 1544 there occurred what became know as “The great debasement.” Ushered in by an impoverished Henry V111 in order to increase his revenue, he simply put less gold in a coin but maintained its face value. Gold was reduced from 23 karat to 20 karat and the amount of silver in a coin was reduced from 92.5% to just 25%. There was somewhat of an out cry but for six years this policy prevailed, thus debasing the value of the whole currency, it was ye old inflation.
Part of Solomon’s treasure was three hundred shields of gold. (2 Chron 9:16) It was only a small part of his treasure but it was worth a vast fortune in today’s money. When that treasure was foolishly handled and displayed in pride and arrogance under Rehoboam, Shishak, King of Egypt came and took them all. The divided Kingdom could not stand against the might of Egypt. Rehoboam’s solution was to make 300 shields of brass. As the rising sun glistened on the brass shields, from a distance no one could tell that it was not gold, but it was not gold, it was a poor substitute.
Today’s brass is dimmed lights, smoke machines, stadium seating, concert style worship, flashing lights and laser shows. Add to that salesmen pitches and the power of positive thinking and “sermons,” by men who could easily be self help gurus or motivational speakers and the brass is complete. When the real treasure is gone, the presence of the Lord, then the replacement is brass and if that replacement is brass then the heavens above them is brass.
The riches of our dwelling place is in the Lord. The beauty of dwelling with Him produces the finest gold of unconditional love. The walls of our dwelling place are encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy. The windows of our dwelling places are draped with meekness and humility. Trophies of grace hang on every wall. They are framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness.He is our exceeding great reward and His presence is pure gold that can never be devalued by men. It is the riches that will last throughout eternity. We have no brass heavens above us, rather we have an open heaven. And from that open heaven it rains and the skies are rent and down flows the treasure of Heaven, God Himself!
1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love , I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
In the previous sentence Paul tells us that we have to earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet, even above and beyond the best gifts, which we have indeed to earnestly desire, we must pursue love. It is not one or the other, God forbid. That’s a lie. Not only must the man or woman display the manifestation of the Spirit, above and beyond even that, He must walk in the greatest gift of all, love. Not human love, supernatural love. The kind of love that can only belong to the born again man or woman. The kind of love that shatters the gates of hell. The kind of love that inspired God to create us in the first place. The love that sent His only Son to die for the whole world. The kind of love that pursues us even when we are yet in our sin. The love that confounds hell itself. Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do. What kind of love motivated Jesus to cry this out in the midst of the greatest agony ever suffered? What kind of love would motivate Stephen to cry out the same thing even as those cruel merciless stones rained down upon his mortal body? Supernatural love. If one is truly endued with power from on high, that power will be first and foremost manifested in love in his or her life, the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Paul begins with what love does not do or what it isn’t. It does not envy. It is not boastful. It is not full of pride. It does not behave in a deliberately offensive manner. It is not selfish. It is not easily provoked. It does not think the worse of people. It does not rejoice when others fall. Love, instead, revels in the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love, indeed, never fails. It never fails. For this love is the manifestation of God Himself, in His own and through His own. It can never fail because God never fails. It is eternal for God is eternal. When the end comes, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and the Kingdom of God rules and reigns for all eternity then of course we wont have to hope any more, for all hope is fulfilled. We will no longer have to trust in the God that we cannot see, for now we shall see Him face to face.
Knowledge will vanish because we shall know as we are known. When all things are fulfilled in this manner, then love still stands forever. We are yet in this world, but the world to come is coming soon. Now we are like children, then we shall be complete in Him. Now we see in a mirror dimly, then face to face. Imagine it saints!!! There is now and there is then, we still exist in the now. And now we have the manifestation of the Spirit, then, all things are complete, perfect. And when that perfect has come, then all these other things, besides love, shall fall away. Do not let anyone fool you, do not be ignorant about these things brothers and sisters. For certain men have a form of Godliness, nevertheless they deny the power of God and say that it has ceased. From such men turn away.
To be known by you sets my troubled heart at ease
It lifts me high above the waves, above the stormy seas
To be known by you fills me with such great desire
It overflows my flooded heart and puts out every fire
To be known by you means that I have been redeemed
Delivered from the guilt and shame and every voice that screamed
To be known by you puts a sword into my hand
To be lifted up from the battle-field that I once more might stand
To be known by you sets all my enemies to flight
And with the Word of God helps me navigate the night
To be known by you it is manna to my soul
For that which once was broken, you have now made whole
To be known by you will hold me in that hour
When all the world is crumbling, I'll be standing in your power
This I know in the depths of my heart to be true
That I am overwhelmed that I am known by you.
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near:
There is a time that is called “while He may be found.” It is a mysterious thing, perhaps, “while it is yet day.” No matter, there is no doubt there is a time to seek the Lord while He may yet be found. In the broadest sense and for the most part it is life itself. Almost always while there is yet breath in our lungs, He may be found. Yet in the the very next sentence we are told “let the wicked forsake his way (note the singular nature of the word, it does not say his ways) The wicked are on a wrong path altogether and in order to turn to God they must reverse their course and go in the exact opposite direction. Yet it’s not just his way that has to change, it’s his thoughts too. It is not so much what we are saved out of, for the Lord can deliver us from the gates of hell, it is what we are saved into. The thoughts of a man make up the core of who he is. The true measure of the new man in the new birth is that his very mind has been transformed. And from the depths of who he is, God changes him from the inside out. And now we shall see, glory to God, that out of the abundance of a mans heart the mouth speaks. And it speaks of Jesus.
Now it is certainly true that God will not always strive with a man. A mans heart can be so hardened and his conscience so seared that his time has come and gone, this is a truly terrifying position. If you find yourself coming close to that place, turn and run to God with everything that is in you. He shall still be found. For He will have mercy upon that man and He will abundantly pardon. We as saints may be tempted to think we are living in a world that is beyond redemption, I have thought that thought many times. Yet here is the humility, God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.(Isa 55:8-9) And so just as the rain and the snow falls from the heavens and waters the earth and it brings forth seed for the sower and therefore bread for the hungry, so also does the Word of the God fall down upon the earth. It comes forth from His heart and it always accomplishes what He desires. To the thirsty, behold, water. To the hungry, behold, bread.
And so to those who are watered by the Lord, those who have sought Him out, their thirst is quenched to overflowing. And to those who have been fed by the Lord, they are filled to abundance. They shall stretch out the curtains of their spiritual dwellings for it shall be enlarged. They shall go forth with joy and be led out by peace and the mountains and the hills shall burst into singing before them. And the trees of the field shall clap their hands in delight to see such things. It can clearly be seen that goodness and mercy are following them all the days of their lives. And the thorns and the cares of life are replaced by fruitful trees and evergreens. And they shall always bring forth His fruit in season and they shall never wither for they are as the ones planted by the river, the river of God, the river of life and this river runs with them wherever they go.
Isa 33:5 The LORD is exalted; for He dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
The Lord our God dwells on high. He is high above the fray. He is high and lifted up above mere mortal men and their affairs. Nothing touches His glory, nothing defiles the beauty of His holiness. He is not righteous, He is righteousness. His judgments flow from justice. He is justice. He fills His children with righteousness and judgment. In a day where everything is spinning out of control, the wisdom of God in us, and the knowledge of God in us, this is our stability (And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times Isa 33:6) Salvation is our strength and the fear of the Lord is our treasure. This is our solid ground upon which we shall not be moved.
This which is to come has not overtaken us like a thief in the night. The Lord speaks to the hearts of His sons and daughters. They “see,” what is soon coming in the midst of a world overtaken by madness and blindness. The strength of our “knowing,’ God is the strength that will see us through. When all around us is spinning out of control and they come against us like men possessed, then they shall truly see the glory of our God. They will see indeed that He is exalted and magnified and they will see it in a people who know. What do we know? We know God in the intimate sense of that word. Tis not in the head but in the depths of the heart. And because His Spirit speaks to us we know that “now I will rise, says the the Lord, now I will be exalted, now I will lift Myself up.” (Is 33:10)
Christ is at the door. Let us lift up the eyes of our Spirit and see His appearing. Magnify Him from the depths of your heart to a broken and dying world which has plunged into darkness. The Lord promises us saints, that in that day there shall be a tabernacle that shall never be taken down. Not one of its stakes removed nor will any of its cords be broken. There the majestic Lord will be for us a a place of broad rivers and streams. Can you see it brothers and sisters? Can you see what the Lord will do when He comes back to judge the earth and raises up His children? Can you catch a glimpse of His glory? Magnify Him in your hearts today, exalt Him today and let your spirit go to where the glory is for He dwells on high and we dwell with Him.
Psa 27:13 I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Can I go a wee bit further brothers and sisters. I would have died unless I had seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I have seen His goodness. I have laid down in that goodness the way a child lays down in the arms of his mother. He has been so good to me. I am not hoping in some goodness in some future time, I am alive because of the goodness of God. He was good to me in the depths of the fire. When everything around me was falling to pieces, when I was hard pressed on every side, He was good to me. When I was lying wounded on the battle field of life, His goodness came charging in on a white Horse and picked me up. When I could see no way ahead and despair began rising like mighty floodwaters all around me, His goodness lifted me up to higher ground.
The Lord is my strength and my shield and my heart rejoices in Him. ‘When my mother and my father forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.” Many saints have been rejected by their loved ones for a myriad of reasons and the Lord is with them through it all. His goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. In the great dark dungeons of our lives, Gods goodness light up the way out. When we are faced with challenges that we simply cannot face, His goodness brings strength to our inner man. “In the time of my trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion.” Oh brothers and sisters, I know this pavilion, I have hidden there many many times. In the secret place of His tabernacle He hid me and set me high upon a rock.
The greatest desire of my life has been to dwell in the house of the Lord. His pavilion, His tabernacle. I want to dwell there all the days of my life to behold the beauty and the holiness of my God. Yes indeed, I would have died if I had not seen these places, not hidden in these places, not run into that High Tower. The Lord is my light and my salvation and my goodness and He is the strength of my life. My own strength has failed me so many times, and I am glad, for in my weakness, I experienced the goodness of God. In my weaknesses I boast. I can do no other. And in that boast the power of Christ rests upon me. For surely, when I am weak, He is strong in me. When I am dying, His goodness is displayed in me. When I come to the end of myself the Lord Jesus is there for all the world to see. Lord Jesus, be glorified in your servants
Isa 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
William Cowper, in his famous hymn “God moves in a mysterious way,” writes “Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.” Even when God is angry with His people, His plan is moving forward. We can trust Him in all things. His ways are higher than our ways, He sees it all, we see a snapshot. And in that snapshot we often only see the dire circumstances that surround us, but of course there is an unfolding plan that will not change. “His purposes will ripen fast,unfolding every hour.The bud may have a bitter taste,but sweet will be the flow’r.” There is a bitter taste in the world today brothers and sisters, no doubt, but the sweet smelling aroma of His presence is with us still, in the hearts of His saints. No matter how bitter the hour, how pleasant is our Lord and God who holds us and sustains us in the midst of it all.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.(Rom 5:1-2) We rejoice in the hope and the glory of God. God is our salvation, God alone is our strength. His strength and power and and glory are without beginning and they have no end. They are inexhaustible. Therefore, brothers and sisters, because of this great truth we shall draw near to Him with great Joy and draw waters from these inexhaustible wells, the glorious wells of our salvation. As the land is ravaged by drought, we who are found in Him shall never thirst as we draw near to Him. “Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill He treasures up His bright designs and works His sov’reign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.” Thank you for the rain Lord, thank you for your refreshing waters that water the very depths of our souls.
Every now and then, in a glorious symphony of realization, my heart is overwhelmed by the music of my Saviour’s love for me. I am swept up in its majesty! It carries me with the substantial fullness of a raging river and yet with the gentle sound of a thousand doves wings flapping in the wind. I am undone by it all. Every doubt and all the rocks of my flesh are removed and suddenly the river is in full unabated flow and all I want is to be taken. Time loses its meaning as I am swept towards the vastness of my Jesus. An ocean so vast that I am swallowed whole. Everything returns to its simplicity. All the barriers are broken down and I glimpse and am engulfed, once again, by the glory of it all.
A Call To The Remnant 