Psalm 91. part 1
Psalm 91 stands out as one of the most eloquent and clear voices in the Scriptures of Gods promise of protection from danger and calamity for his people who trust in him.
Make no mistake God intends to protect his people from danger and from harms way.
The Apostle Paul writing in 2 corinithians chapter 1 says
"For all the promises of God in him are "Yes", and in him "Amen", to the glory of God through us.
In Christ ,in our union with him, God desires that every one of his promises are manifested through our lives to his own glory,as we affirm them as yes and as amen.
Notice he did not say maybe and perhaps but yes and amen.
That includes all of the promise contained in psalm 91.
All of Gods promises are yes in Christ.
And all of them are amen.
Many Christians come to the promises of God with a heart full of unbelief.
They read these promises with qualifiers and caveats and do not take these words as statements of Gods intent to every child of God regardless of who they may be.
Why then do some good and fine Christians die in tragic circumstances, and why do others fail to receive their promised deliverance, some may ask?
That is a good question and one that demands an answer.
The truth is that every one of Gods promises will not automatically fall upon us like ripe cherries off of a tree, for they are conditional.
The promises of God are dependant upon two things our obedience and our faith.
We simply cannot do as we please when we please even living and acting contrary to Gods word and expect these promises to be powerfully manifested in our lives to the glory of God.
And in order for them to be at work in our lives we must combine them with faith.
However if we will walk in the light of these truths and believe them from our hearts then we can and should expect Gods delivering hand of power to be present with us to enforce these promises that he has made.
Surely in this day and in this hour in which we are alive we need to lay hold of every provision that God has made and walk in the powerful covenant promises of the most high God who is also our El shaddai.
The psalm begins
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide or rest under the shadow of the Almighty."
The two terms here used to describe the Lord are Most High and Almighty, however in the original Hebrew they are El Elyon and El Shaddai.
El Elyon speaks of Gods might and absolute sovereign supremacy over all other things
There is no challenge thrown your way that God is not equal to the task of delivering you from it and giving you the victory over it.
He is sovereign over everything that you face in this life and you and I should never forget it.
This is the One in whom we dwell and in whose shadow we take refuge.
Why if he is sovereign some people say does he allow me to go through this?
Some of the things that we must endure are for our salvation and for our development as Christians but there are other things that the enemy of our souls has determined for our destruction and harm that can occur and do occur because we permit them.
That is simply the truth whether we like to hear that or not.
God commands us to "give no place to the devil" and "to resist him and he must flee from you", which does not imply that we will ever cease to prevent him from attacking us consistently in this life but it does imply that we can prevent his schemes from succeeding in our lives.
The Most high is the One in whom we have found a secret place of refuge and he is also called El shaddai.
That was the name that was first revealed to Abraham and comes from the word shad which means breast.
El shaddai therefore means many breasted one and conjures up all of the associations of a nursing mother with her baby laid to her breast,watching over it feeding and nurturing it, and fiercely protective towards it.
This name implies Gods all sufficiency; the all sufficiency of his grace and of his goodness to nurture us and provide for us and watch over and protect us as a mother does her suckling babe.
This is the God in whose shadow we find protection and in whose shelter we rest.
"Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler,
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with his feathers,
And under his wings you shall take refuge."
When the psalmist here speaks of taking refuge in under the feathers of Gods protective love and being covered by his wings, it reminds us of the words of Jesus when He spoke to the people of Jesusalem just before his arrest and trail and said
"O Jerusalem,Jerusalem,the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!
How often I wanted to gather your children together,as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,but you were not willing!"
Even in the face of ultimate rejection from the people whom he was sent to, the heart of Gods love expressed in Jesus is desiring to gather and deliver and save those to whom he was sent.
He desired to gather and to protect them and used the same intimate language of a mother bird covering her young under her wings to describe this covenant love of God.
This love is called in the hebrew language hesed and denotes a loyalty and protectiveness and a closely guarding and a watchfulness.
It speaks of the unchanging covenant love of our heavenly Father to hide us and protect us and gather us close to himself.
It is this love that is being spoken of in Psalm 91 also.
Why does God want to protect us from all evil and from destruction and danger?
Because he has entered into a covenant of love or hesed with us and desires to make known to us the nature of this fiercely protective love and of His goodness towards us.
Sadly satan has done a pretty successful job of distorting the image of Gods nature in His goodness towards us as His children.
What Father is their who would be considered a good earthly father who would willfully and knowingly let his child approach danger and harm without attempting to warn them and save them?
Mens religious ideas have implied that God allows us to experience tragedy and to endure destruction and loss so as to teach us more of His mysterious ways, and so as to deepen our faith and our trust in him in spite of everything that we are experiencing around us.
It is true that in times of great suffering Gods consolation and comfort will and does abound towards us, but to imply that God wants us to experience danger or premature death or injury or calamity for some mysterious purpose unknown at that time to us, is to flatly contradict the promises that he has so clearly spoken in psalm 91.
Remember numbers 21 says that "God is not a man that he should lie neither the son of man that he should repent.
Has he said and shall he not do it, or has he spoken and shall he not make it good"
Consider the words of psalm 91 that he has spoken to us as translated in the amplified bible.
"Only a spectator shall you be (yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High)as you witness the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,and the most high your dwelling place,
There shall no evil befall you,nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.
For He will give his angels (especial)charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways (of obedience and service) vs 8-11.
For us to deny these promises or to doubt them is to call God a liar and that I will not do.
This psalm is written to build into our hearts strong assurance and peace with regards to Gods will to protect our lives from danger,so that we can confidently face our adversary the devil with no fear of what he can do to our lives.
So The Lord who is our refuge and our fortress is also our El Shaddai who nurtures and protects us in His covenant love;and He is El Elyon who is the Most High over all things.
This Psalm is written to instruct us how to access this place of safety in the Most High and one of the first things that we are told is that we must say this of the Lord.
"I will say of the Lord , He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I have put my trust."vs2
The importance of what we say is always stated in the scripture, and here is no exception.
What we say is the barometer of what we believe,"I believed and therefore I have spoken"
However we may need to say something many times before is takes deep root in our hearts.
Many people miss the powerful truth about biblical confession, because they believe that if they say something without conviction then it is only vain repetition.
Firstly we can make the decision to believe, and so if we choose to believe what we are reading is true, and is true for our lives, then it can never be vain to repeat it.
But secondly to think that repeating Gods word over and over again as we say it to ourselves is vain repetition is to misunderstand the nature and power of Gods word.
Both in the Old and in the New testaments we read that "The Word (speaking of Gods word the bible) is very near you , that is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith which we preach."Romans 10 vs8, Deut 30 v14
The promises of God need to be put in our hearts and in our mouths continually in order for them to become a living reality to us, and in order for our faith in those very promises to be as instinctive to us as our speaking and eating and sleeping.
When we believe that the Heavenly Father cares for us, so as to watch over our lives, and we really believe that then that is an end to fear.
When we know as we know our own names and as we know the love of a loved one for us that our Father in Heaven covers us with the feathers of His covenant love,and that His love has anticipated danger and snares that lie before us, in order to warn us and guide us safely past them, then is an end to fear.
In verses 5 -8 the psalmist lists a number of potential dangers that can assail a child of God both day and night and states that we shall not be afraid.
We need never be afraid of anything that our enemy the devil tries to scheme against us for our destruction or injury because we know the power of Gods powerful protective covenant Love.
God is not impassively sitting upon His Throne in Heaven watching His children as they approach danger and not anticipating that danger and moving upon their lives to provide deliverance and salvation from that danger.
He is a good Father.
Jesus said in Johns gospel chapter 10 and vs 10 that
"The thief comes not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy.
But I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly."
Jesus came to deliver us, "Who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him."
The devil only ever desires our death and our hurt.
God only ever desires to communicate His life and to do us good.
The devil and God have never changed roles, neither will they.
And yet to listen to some preachers you may be forgiven for imagining that God is somehow glorified in the unnecessary suffering that comes into our lives.
I say unnecessary suffering because there is for certain a necessary suffering that will be our portion in this life, infact Paul said that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
However that does not and should not include unnecessary injury accidents or premature deaths.
These are the domain of the prince of this world, and thank God in Christ we have complete victory over the devil and all of his works.
God is a good God, and if we as earthly parents have a strong desire to protect our children from harms way, how much more does our Father who is in heaven.
But we have a responsibility to "close the door on fear" because our fear gives a place of opportunity to the devil to gain an advantage.
When the Scripture tells us to give no place to the devil, this includes giving no place to fear in our lives.
And our resting in that secret place (which we do by faith and trust)of the Knowledge of our Fathers love, is the way that fear is dissipated in our lives.
There is one more crucial factor which comes in to play here, when we are standing to see the delivering power of God at work in our lives,and that is our willingness to heed the still small voice of Gods Spirit.
Romans chapter 8 says that "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these shall be called the sons of God."
The Greek text is in the continuous present tense, which reads" as many as are being (continually )led by the Spirit of God, these shall be called the sons of God."
Many people I believe have failed to receive their deliverance from danger, because they have failed to heed the warnings and checks that the Holy spirit gave them.
Two ministers were flying back from a conference in the united states, the pastor and his assistant pastor.
During the lay over of the interconnecting flight the pastor had a strong urge not to board the flight that they were scheduled to take.
This was not a fear but a disquiet and strong ill ease in his spirit compelling him to take a different flight.
The practical implications of this were inconvenient to the pastor for it meant cancelling his flight and rerouting by a longer more circuitous route.
This pastor communicated his instincts to his assistant, but the assistant did not wish to change as he had pledged to his wife that he would make it home that night which was his anniversary.
The assistant never made it home, for the plane which he was on went down, killing everyone on board.
Some people may hear that story and wonder why God did not speak to that assistant pastor, but it was evident that he did.
He spoke through the other pastor who in this case did not have a strong motive for returning home early,and therefore could listen to God more objectively.
In another instance a man of God know to Jan and I was killed when the plane that he was on burst into flames as it was landing.
This man was a significant leader in an African nation and not only was he killed but a number of other pastors who were also on board this chartered flight, as they were flying in to an African nation for a mission.
After this event such was the stature of this man to those who knew him, that it caused much soul searching among those who heard.
Some people suggested that though we do not know why, perhaps in some way it was Gods time to take this brother home to his reward.
However I believe that the truth was nearer to what his wife subsequently revealed, that she had pleaded with him not to go on this particular trip, as she felt a strong check and was troubled in here spirit about it.
The leader concerned had overridden his wife concern, saying that it was his duty to go to the people that he had promised.
Again I have no doubt that his life could have been spared had he heeded his wife's concerns and taken it to the Lord in prayer.
John G Lake an apostle to the African nation and in particular to south Africa was once driving down a highway, when he distinctly heard the Holy Spirit saying to him,"Pull the car over right now!"
He obeyed and a few seconds later a truck came careering round an approaching bend in the road, on the wrong side of the road, as its brakes had failed.
Had He not have given heed to that warning he later said he would have almost certainly have been killed in a head on collision.
Again I am sure that had he failed to hear and to obey the Holy Spirits warnings, some would have said "Well it was Gods time to take him"
However this would not have been true since he went on to profoundly shake that Africian nation by the power of God.
That is why I said that the promises in psalm 91 are conditional, they depend upon our faith and obedience to heed implicitly Gods voice when He is warning us of impending danger.
Trust and obey.
Sometimes the Lord will give to us an intercession to pray and to avert danger that lies ahead, and this is one of the great blessings of praying in tongues.
We can "pick up" by a knowing a sense of something being wrong, without actually knowing what precisely it is.
By yielding to the Holy Spirit however we can pray through to a place of victory or of peace, and many times,I believe,have by the Spirits intercession through us,secured the victory and protection of God over a diabolical scheme of the evil one to try to injure or to kill us.
Lyn Hammon wife of Mac Hammon pastors of a great church in Minneapolis,was led to urgently pray for her husband who was returning from a ministry trip, sensing strongly that he was in danger.
Being a woman of prayer she discerned that there was an unusual degree of urgency upon this leading for intercession and prayed through until she knew that she had "hit"a note of victory.
Her husband returned back later that evening testifying that the plane which he was on had encountered difficulties on approaching landing, and though part of it had crashed no one on board was injured.
When we are called to be led by the Spirit this extends to far more then simply not losing our tempers!
As we are led by the Spirit so we shall learn to consistently walk in the Spirit and then we shall consistently learn to enter into and abide in the promises of God.
God is constantly seeking to speak to us, to lead us and to guide us maneuvering us away from danger if we will learn to listen to our spirits, for it is there that the Spirit of God dwells.
And it is in our spirits, in our inward man that the Holy Spirit communes with our spirits as children of God.
If we will believe his promises, and listen diligently to Him,he will lead us away from danger and He will guide us safely through.
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil
For you are with me, your Shepard's rod and staff they comfort and uphold me"psalm 23.

Forgiveness.
One of the central themes that runs throughout the entire scripture is that of forgiveness,from Genesis to revelation Gods mercy and His forgiveness towards us and our need to show mercy and to forgive is clearly and unambiguously declared.
Forgiveness is a central theme of the new testament, it is crucial to our discipleship as Christians and essential to our well being and to the development of our faith.
In particular our calling to "Forgive others just as God in Christ has forgiven us" is not only our duty but the only sane response to the incredible mercy from God that each one of us has so lavishly received.
It is my assessment that many Christians know that forgiveness is important to their spiritual growth and yet struggle with unforgiveness, sometimes with issues that stretch back for decades.
It is also to often the case that churches are divided and split apart and friendships between Christians aborted all because of a failure to act according to this one principle that of forgiving others even as Christ forgave us.
So why is this?
If forgiveness is so fundamental to our spiritual growth as Christians, and if it is so crucial to our relationship with God then why is there so much unforgivness and strife in the church?
I believe that forgiveness is a simple principal that can be simply mastered and when we do so it will enable us to walk consistently in the love of God without fear of failure or of being tripped up by the enemy of our souls.
The first reason that many Christians fail to practice forgiveness is because they look to their feelings rather than acting in faith according to Gods word.
If you were to ask any christian who has felt unable to forgive or still nurtures a grudge against another I am sure that the first words that you would hear coming out of their mouths would be "I don,t feel able to forgive"
Some would even say "I have tried to forgive but I can,t forget the offence"
It is evident that many Christians are looking at how they feel as the arbiter of whether they have truly forgiven;when my feelings change that I know that I will have forgiven, when they are still in turmoil then I cannot have yet let go.
Forgiveness however is like any other spiritual virtue in the new testament or like any other discipline something that we operate only by faith.
I believe that it is possible to not only forgive but also to so forget an offence committed against us that our feelings towards that person or about that past circumstance do change entirely, however the way to see this victory in our lives is only ever to act by faith on what God has said in His Word.
Jesus gave us a powerful parable in Matthews gospel and chapter 18 which deals with our attitude of forgiveness vs unforgivness.
The parable is to long to quote in its entirety here now however it deals with a king who forgives one of his servants of a large debt.
This servant owed him an enormous sum but because he is unable to repay the debt he faces both himself and his entire family being sold into slavery.
He pleads for mercy before the king"The servant therefore fell down before him,saying,"master,have patience with me, and I will pay you all."v26
And the king response is one of pure grace and mercy,
"Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
There are few places in scripture that indicate to us more clearly the reality of our need before God and the willingness of our Father in heaven to forgive then this.
We come to God hopelessly unable to pay the debt of Adam transgression which we have inherited in our fallen unredeemable natures, and we come with the addition of a life of having consistently failed to live as we should and having committed many sins before God and man.
And yet God who is rich in mercy forgave us the debt of all of our sin when we turned in repentance and faith towards Him,and wipes out the record of all of our offences that stood against us, and gave to us a brand new nature that is indwelt by God who is love himself.
In this parable in Matthew 18 the forgiven servant having received mercy goes out from the presence of the king and immediately finds one of his fellow servants who owed him by comparison a small and insignificant debt.
He demands payment and in spite of his fellow servant asking him for mercy in precisely the same way that he had some short time earlier, he refuses to give mercy and casts his fellow servant into the jail until he has repayed all of his debt.
His fellow servants report this to the king who summons the unforgiving servant into his presence and says these chilling words to him
"You wicked servant!
"I forgave you all that debt because you begged me."
"Should you not have had compassion on your fellow servant,just as I had pity on you?"
And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
"So my heavenly father will also will do to you if each of you,from his heart,does not forgive his brother his trespasses."
The wicked servant evidently had a short memory and forgot the extent of the mercy of that king towards him.
So to we have despised Gods great mercy towards us when we say "I will not forgive" to others who have offended us.
When the bible says that the unforgiving servant was delivered to the torturers until he should repay all his debt the actual Greek word that is used there could also be translated "tormentors"
People who withold forgiveness from another experience no rest in their lives, but it will because a harassing tormenting issue that they can never silence or shrug off, far less forget until they forgive.
The actual offence that was committed against them may have been committed 50 years ago but it is as real and present to them and as fresh in their memory as if it had only just been committed.
No christian should or has to live with torment in their lives due to their withholding forgiveness from another person.
There is a little phrase at the very end of this passage that is a key to understanding how we should exercise forgiveness consistently and freely in our lives.
"So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you,from his heart,does not forgive his brother his trespasses."
We are to exercise this forgiveness from the heart.
I mentioned earlier that forgiveness is not something that we do led by our feelings, by whether we feel that we can forgive or not.
Rather I said that forgiveness is something that we exercise by faith as we simply act upon Gods word.
But in order to do this we must separate and distinguish between the soul and the spirit in our lives.
You are a spirit you have a soul and you live in a body.
Jesus said that God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
We who are made in Gods image and in his likeness are therefore also a spirit and we have a soul which comprises of the mind and the will and the emotions.
The bible talks about the Word of God separating and dividing asunder the soul and the spirit,and it is so important that we do allow this process to begin in our christian lives.
We need to dintinquish what is of the soul and what is of the spirit or we will remain carnal Christians who are immature in our responses for the rest of our earthly lives.
The spirit of a man is his innermost being his innermost conscience and the place where faith resides.
In the scriptures the word for spirit is most often used in the new testament where greater light was thrown upon the nature of man in his redemption, and the word for heart is more often used in the Old.
But essentially they are one and the same the heart is the spirit and the spirit is the heart.
It is in our heart or our spirit that we believe and it is in our heart or spirit that we forgive.
Our feelings are irrelevant to our ability to forgive and will most often hinder us, especially if we allow them to be at the forefront of our lives when it comes to our decision to forgive.
Rather when we forgive we do so from our spirit and we do so by faith.
We need to have faith that when we forgive we do so not as some empty act or mere ritual but we do so in the Presence of God and that obedience on our part releases the activity of Gods Spirit to work in that situation and in that other persons life(if they are still alive)
The book of proverbs chapter 4 tells us that we should "Guard our heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of life"
It then proceeds to tell us to "Put away perversity from our lips and put deceitful speech far from us.
To let your eyes look straight before you and your eyelids look straight ahead.
Do not turn to the right hand or to the left keep your foot from evil"
Walking in Gods love and exercising his forgiveness is walking in a straight path and not departing from it.
But it is most especially in the heart that we are to be vigilant to guard our thoughts and attitude because it is there in our spirits that we have the "issues if life"
It is in our spirit that we have received this new seed of a new nature
It is in our heart or in our spirit that we have received eternal life.
And it is in our spirits that we now are indwelt by God who is love who also has shed abroad his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given to us.
It is so important that we release this love of God by the words that we speak.
According to proverbs 4 we guard our hearts and maintain the issues of life by "putting away perversity far from us and corrupt talk far from us."
We select the words that we speak carefully not engaging in words of strife or resentment and similarly we need to speak out our forgiveness.
Jesus said that" out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks"
The love of God that is in us needs to overflow out of us in forgiveness by what we say.
When someone has taken advantage of you or wronged you or unkindly treated you or acted selfishly towards you, you and I need to be able to say "Father in Jesus name I choose to forgive that person"
"I forgive them of any grievance or complaint that I have have against them"
I choose to forgive from my heart.
As an act of my will I am willing to forgive them in Jesus name."
In the new testament the agape love of God which is from God and which dwells inside of every child of God is always linked to our will.
We chose whether to exercise this love or not.
And how do we choose this?
By simply choosing to act upon God word.
God has told me to forgive anything and everything that I may have against another(no matter how insignificant or small it may seem)And He has told me to do so from my heart.
The bible says that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines, so never be deceived into thinking that any offence is too small.
If it was significant enough to register on you then it is significant enought to need to be forgiven.
Remember that this lifestyle is essentially for your sake not just for the other persons, to keep your heart free from all bitterness or resentment that would choke off the love of God from freely flowing through you and would play havoc with the quality of your faith
In fact if you are not praticised in doing this as a quick and spontaneous response and if you are not accustomed to speaking this out of your mouth as words spoken in a simple act of faith, then it may take a while to learn to bring your feelings into line.
But take heart you are obeying Gods word and he will honour you.
Your mind may tell you this is not working;likewise your feelings may be screaming at you I still feel the same.
Learn to deal with your soul, and your mind and its doubts, and your emotions and its turbulence just as you would an unruly child.
Say to your mind "Be quiet!" And say to your emotions" No! You will not deceive me.
I have already forgiven that person in Gods sight."
I have chosen by an act of my own will to forgive and to do so from my heart.
Say, "That is already dealt with and I have rolled the care of that person and of that situation over upon the Lord.
Now I will not think about that any more or touch that in my thought life."
You may need to do this repeatedly at first until you become established in these things but remember that you only need to forgive once, and then you take your stand of faith.
Littered throughout Christendom are Churches today that have been significantly weakened because of the entering in of strife and a spirit of division and rivalry and where people have taken an offence and others have walked out and others are bitter and determined to contaminate as many others as they can with their words of unforgivnesss.
These things are to our shame.
There is a powerful little scripture in Jeremiah 12 which says
"If you have run with the footman,and they have wearied you,
Then how will you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted,they wearied you,
Then how will you do in the flooding of the Jordan?"
If some Christians are so quick to take offence over issues that are seemingly so slight then how will they fare when a real offence occurs?
If a christian is overwhelmed by someone saying something unkind to them or ignoring them and not giving to them what they feel they need, then how will they possibly stand in the midst of a real trial of unjust provocation?
We need to be men and women of greater backbone spiritually speaking.
It is always helpful to remember this; I am not responsible for what you may think of me or what you may feel about me,or of anything that you may speak against me.
I am not your controller and I am not responsible for your thoughts or actions towards me.
You will have to give account of yourself to God for your own thoughts and words and deeds, just as I will also.
What I am responsible for however if my own thoughts towards you, how I act and feel and think towards you.
I am responsible for my own actions towards you and that is what I am vigilant in guarding over closely.
Some deluded Christians and that is the truth of what they sadly are, feel that it is their responsibility to make someone else change and demand that they change and require them to change their attitude towards them, whilst all the time ignoring their own heart which is full of anger and unforgivness and bitterness.
Some will say," Did not Jesus say that we were to go to our brother who has sinned against us and point out his fault and then to take another with us, and finally to tell it to the whole church?"
Yes he did in Matthew 18, but if ever a Scripture was misunderstood and abused it is this one.
Those in the church who have as they would call it a ministry of exposing the sins and failures of others are operating straight out of a demonic inspiration.
A "fault finding spirit never comes from God"
In that passage of scripture we are told to deal with an offense that is a clear sin or offense against us and to seek personal reconcilation first with that other brother or sister so as to heal the breach before it is necessary for it to affect the whole church. This takes honesty and humility and courage to do it but it is also hugely rewarding for those who do so and obey,especially when you are able to see reconcilation and recovery of a realationship that is on the brink of a complete breakdown.
What it does not say is if a brother sins against you tell it to your pastor and then to everyone who is willing to listen to you.
This scripture is dealing with a serious offence not just a matter of someone giving offence because of a thoughtless word or selffish act or an unkind response.
If we went to point out these "sins " to them all the time then we would be guilty of becoming fault finders ourselves.
Most offences can and should be dealt with in the privacy of our own payer closets between us and God
But when a more serious breach of trust and sin against us has been committed which would put our relationship and christian fellowship between ourselves and that person in jeopardy unless it is resolved then we have been given a clear guideline as to the procedure in taking the steps necessary to win back this brother or sister if they are willing and open to God.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3 vs 3 "For where there are envy,strife,and divisions among you,are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?"
Paul was having to deal with strife and dissensions and disunity among the Corinthians because they were acting as mere men.
They should have been acting like spiritual men.
When we act out of the fallen nature and carnal instincts of our flesh we are acting as mere men.
We may try and justify it to ourselves or to others but the fruit will always speak for itself.
But when we choose to become spiritual men and women and to live in the spirit and to walk in love, then forgiveness becomes a law that we live by and from which we do not change.
Then we will see the greater blessings of God, and then we will see the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
And then we will prove that we are growing up into him who is our head Jesus our Lord from whom the whole body knitted and joined together by that which every joint and member supplies see the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.Eph 4 16

Reading the signs of the times part 1.
We are living in extraordinary times
.All too often when we watch events unfold in the world we are confronted with events of such magnitude that we can wonder precisely what disaster or calamity is going to unfold next.
It is a remarkable fact often overlooked that at least one quarter of all of the scriptures are predictive prophecy.
In other words God alone knows the future and often describes the future to us where we need to know things that lie ahead,in order that we may be thoroughly equipped to serve him and have prepared ourselves for what lies ahead.
Many Christians are worn down by life and by the continued barrage of disasters that are occurring which can sometimes only serve to anesthetize them to being able to discern what is going on in the world.
There is a passage of scripture that I have always loved in 1 chronicles 12 20 21 which says speaking of the tribe of Issachar that "the children of Issachar who had understanding of the times,to know what Israel ought to do"
This old testament tribe of Israel not only had discernment in their times and of their times but knew what God required of them to do.
They knew what their response in the midst of those times ought to be.
This is a very apt description of what we should be like as Christians, not as those who are going about wringing their hands saying what in the world is going on, which is incidentally what a lot of people in the world themselves are saying at this moment,but we should rather be as those that know what God is saying and respond accordingly.
The bible has spoken of the days in which we are alive and mapped out for us precisely where we are going.
In Matthews gospel chapter 24 the disciples are commenting on the architectural beauty of the temple and Jesus startles them with his words that follow.
He says to his disciples in verse 2 "Do you not see all these things?Assuredly,I say to you,not one stone shall be left here upon another,that shall not be thrown down."
Later we are told the disciples come to Jesus as he is sitting on the mount of olives looking out over Jerusalem and they ask him when this destruction of the temple will occur.
"Tell us,when will these things be?And what will be the sign of your coming,and of the end of the age?"
So we see that there are two distinct lines of thought here firstly when will the temple be destroyed,and secondly what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of this age?
Jesus answered both questions describing exactly what to look out for before the destruction of the temple which happened exactly almost 40 years later, and then proceeds to devote the rest of this passage to describing precisely what the signs would be just prior to his coming.
I believe that as we look at some of these we can never doubt that we are alive in that very generation.
The first answer that Jesus gives to his disciples of when will the temple be destroyed is in Luke's account of this same passage in Luke 21 20 22
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,then know that its desolation is near.
"Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart,and let not those who are in the country enter her."
This was precisely fulfilled in 70 ad when the roman general Vespasian surrounded Jerusalem and laid siege to it,intent upon its destruction.
Early into the siege however he was abruptly called back to Rome by the senate as he was chosen to be the next emperor.
The siege was lifted and the Roman armies withdrew.
Those Christians however that remembered the words of Jesus recalled that he had said "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies know that its destruction is near.Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains and let those who are in the midst of her depart..."
And that is precisely what the Christians living in Jerusalem did who believed Jesus words they departed and withdrew to a town called pella which was on the east side of the Jordan.
Vespasian's successor Titus reformed the siege and eventually Jerusalem fell.
During that war over 2 million Jews were slaughtered and a further one million sold into captivity and Jerusalem was so completely destroyed that literally not one single stone of the temple remained upon another.
It is important for us to acknowledge that God always means what he says and the He says exactly what he means.
The Christians who believed Jesus words and acted accordingly saved their lives those Jews living in Jerusalem who did not believe were summarily slaughtered.
Likewise for us today when we see unambiguously the words of Jesus prophecy coming to pass we need to take these things to heart and to act accordingly.
In this first blog I want to simply touch upon the initial signs that Jesus outlines for us to look out for and look at the first of these.
In subsequent posts I would like to consider some of the other signs and what our response needs to be.
In Matthews gospel chapter 24 and verse 4 following we read "And Jesus answered and said to them;
"Take heed that no one deceives you."For many will come in my name saying,"I am the Christ,and will deceive many.
"And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars.See that you are not troubled;for all these things must come to pass,but the end is not yet.
"For nation will rise against nation,and kingdom against kingdom.And there will be famines,pestilences,and earthquakes in various places.
"And these are the beginning of sorrows.
vs 12 "And because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold .
"But he who endures to the end will be saved.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
Jesus refers to the signs of his coming and a sign is just that something that points to and announces the approach of something else.
If we were driving along a stretch of road and passed by a sign announcing a sudden dangerous bend in the road, we may if we were distracted or careless have missed the first sign.
However the sign would be repeated and so if we repeatedly missed the signs and approached the curve in the road too fast it would be because we ignored the signs.
The signs were not placed by the roadside to draw attention to themselves, but instead they were placed there to call attention to the reality of something that the driver is about to encounter further along the road.
Likewise the signs of the end of this age and the second coming of the Lord are not meant to draw peoples attention to themselves but are given by God to point to an impending event the coming of the Lord.
Jesus called the people of his day hypocrites because they had learned to accurately predict the patterns of the weather but could not discern the signs of the times.(Luke 12 56)
The Lord Jesus did not have particularly good things to say concerning hypocrites so we do not want to be in their company.
Today we have spent millions of pounds on satellites that can very accurately predict for us the weather patterns for several days, but sadly all to often even Christians are living in ignorance of the signs of the times.
Some Christians I am sure feel slightly confused about the array of various "end time teachings"that are circulating about the body of Christ, many of them conflicting in their assertions.
However this should not deter us from our responsibility to study what Jesus said concerning these things, or what other of the new testament writers said.
When we break down the words of Jesus concerning these events then we discover that it is remarkably clear and simple to understand.
For Jesus did not teach his disciples these things to confuse them but to equip them and us for what I believe is not about to occur on this earth.

It is important to see that whilst the increase of natural disasters such as earthquakes,famines and pestilences are foretold that is not the number one sign that we are living in the generation before the coming of the Lord.
The number one sign which we will see before the Lord returns is rather that of people being deceived or of deception.
And Jesus answered and said to them take heed;
"Take heed that no one deceives you.
"For many will come in my name saying,"I am the Christ", and will deceive many".
The emergence of false messiahs and false Christs is not going to happen it has already happened throughout the history of the last two thousand years.
One Jewish enclyopedia lists over 40 false Christs or Messiahs which have arisen and come to the Jewish people to mislead them.
However what is also implied from this warning is that there will be an increase in deception in general and Christians need to be rooted in the truth of who Jesus is and of what he has done for them as never before.
The Apostle Paul says the same thing when he gazes prophetically into the future in 2 Tim 4 and states,
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.Convince,rebuke,exhort,with all long suffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,but according to their own desires,because they have itching ears,they will heap up for themselves teachers;and they will turn their ears away from the truth,and be turned aside to fables.
Paul predicts an hour of human history when there will be a multiplication of teachers who give to people what "their itching ears want to hear"
Or in other words what their flesh wants to be flattered with.
Truth often stings it always challenges and it always builds us up in faith hope and agape love.
Truth always points us to Jesus and his death upon the cross.
It builds us up in the knowledge of our inheritance in Christ Jesus, and gives light on His inheritance in us.
It establishes and strengthens us, humbles and equips us, and always it brings us into a closer and more vital walk with Christ.
Today many of the foundational truths of the gospel are being denied even by those who call themselves believers.
Truths like the atonement and the new birth the authority of the scriptures and the reality of hell are all under attack.
And this attack is often coming from surprising quarters.
In addition there are today a rising army of "wellness" gurus and self help teachers who spout doctrines extolling the virtues of self discovery and maximising the potential of your self, but say nothing of Christs death burial and resurrection and the relationship of that to all of human kind.
They do not teach the reality that all of human kind irrespective of race colour culture or creed is born into one of two families and one of two natures Adams or Christs, Jesus or the devils life or death.
Political correctness and its counterpart within the church religious correctness have silenced much of the church whilst condemning multiplied millions of souls to hell.
If ever a generation needed to know and to love the truth it is ours.
But this rising tide of deceivers and deception is not something which we are to fear as Christians.
The Bible never points to fear as the answer to deception, infact if we fear a thing long enough we are in far greater danger of being vulnerable to it.
Job said that "what I have greatly feared has come upon me"
Rather it is our vigilance and love for the truth that will save us,not our fearing of deception of any kind.
Paul when he is writing to the Philippian church prays for them that
"Your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all discernment,that you may approve and discern the things that are excellent,that you may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ."
In other words it was their growth in walking in love that sharpened their spiritual discernment, not their succumbing to a spirit of fear.
Some misguided Christians see it as a God given calling to warn everybody else of the dangers of this deception or that,whilst failing to see that they are themselves focusing on the darkness that they are wishing to warn others away from.
And such preaching almost always only sows increasing fear into the lives of those who are listening.
I remember being told of the process that the US Treasury uses when it is training its bank tellers to recognize counterfeit currency.
To begin with they allow them no exposure to any counterfeit notes, and train them to handle and become completely familiar with the genuine currency.
Only after some time will they introduce a false note here or there and the results are always the same.
The tellers always report "feeling strange" when handling the counterfeit notes, even when there may be no discernable difference between the real and the false.
The hundreds of hours which they have spent working with the true notes have made them instinctively sensitive to discern when they encounter a false.
This is precisely how we should be when knowing and discerning truth from falsehood.
Our propensity to know truth from falsehood should be honed from the amount of time we have spent listening to and loving the truth.
Paul talks in 1 thess about those whom God allows to be subject to delusion becuse he says they would not "receive a love of the truth"
We are kept safe by our love for the truth not by our fear or focus upon the darkness.
Heart motive is so important in the christian life, we may emphatically defend the truth whilst all the time operating out of a motive of anger in wanting to correct those who are being mislead.
Our motive however can only ever be one of love, and we should seek to win others by exhibing a spirit of humility not contention.
But if our desire to help others is based upon our desire to focus upon the truth not upon the lie or the falsehood,and if our driving motive is our love for God and our love of his truth then we will be kept by God in his truth and have no fear of going astray.
Gods word declares that he has not given to us a spirit of fear but one of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Let us believe that and thank God for that and let us walk in the light of that day by day.

The power of a gracious giver part two.
This is a continuation of my previous blog on the subject of showing the generosity of God and being a good witness to the grace of God.
I addressed the subject of the tithe and gave my view on that and spoke of the importance of every christian growing in their confidence to hear Gods voice in the area of how they give and to whom they give.
In this second part I would like to continue by addressing the issue of the motives for our giving and the Lords system of rewards.
When we most often think of motive we of course most naturally think of the primacy of love and this is a truth that can never be overstated.
However I also have come to see that there are other motives that can be a real bind upon a Christians heart and upon their mind and the most significant of these is fear.
Fear will spoil our joy and our ability to freely give and it is important that we learn to eliminate fear in our giving in order to be more effective in it.
There are in most churches a wide range of people from comfortable retirees to good earners to those who may have no job at all.
Yet none of these is immune from fear seeking to encroach upon their giving,and it can never be assumed that because someone has money their giving will be more freely and joyfully offered.
Those who have worked hard and saved diligently may hold back out of a fear of not having enough for the future.
Or they may fear that those in need will come to depend on them in an unhelpful way.
Similarly those who are blessed with good jobs and are industrious may secretly resent those who don't appear to work so hard as they, and feel that their money is the just reward of their labours and should not be depended on by others.
They may feel an unspoken pressure from others to give more and respond to this by actually going in the opposite direction.
And then there may well be those who have low paying jobs or no jobs at all and their concern is that they feel unable to give as they would like.
The common denominator in all of these different scenarios is fear, and fear will always bind and restrict.
It may well be that those who have been materially blessed are looked to, or do feel a certain unspoken expectation placed upon them by others in their local church in ways that are not always helpful.
This I believe is in part because often ministers as well as congregations have not learned to look to the Lord alone as their ultimate source not to any one human channel or lesser source(it is a great temptation if someone of means is in your congregation but it is still wrong)
This simply betrays that our eyes are not on the Lord alone to provide for us and to give to us what we need,and that it is always better to let him speak to those whom he wishes to use than to try to apply subtle tactics and hints.
Gods word clearly states that he rewards diligent labour and hard work,and those who have worked industriously to gain their comfortable lifestyle should feel a sense of entitlement to reap the benefits of their hard work without guilt.
However the Bible is also clear in its instructions to them that,

"Charge them that are rich in this world,that they be not high minded,nor trust in uncertain riches,but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy;
That they do good,that they be rich in good works ready to distribute,willing to share
Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come,that they may lay hold on eternal life. 1 Tim6 17 19
God is the One who gives to us richly all things to enjoy;He is not asking of us to strip ourselves down or of those who have to have not.
Rather the exhortation to them is to be willing.
To be willing to share and to be ready to give.
There should be an alertness and an attentiveness to be always ready and prepared to give where ever and whenever the Lord leads.And it should be whatever amount the Lord requires.
Likewise those who may have very little to give should not hold back any the more due to a sense of not having enough.
Rather they should raise the bar and give in the expectation that as they are obedient to the Lord he will reward them.
The bible says that our giving is acceptable according to what one has not according to what one does not have.
Our giving therefore has to be proven in the measure that we can give now not in a greater measure that we hope to be able to give in the future,and as we are faithful God will bless us.
Fear is such a controlling motivation if we allow it, but when fear is not resisted(and we resist it by acting on our heart instinct in spite of any fear that we may have)it develops another attitude which is equally pernicious and that is guilt.
How many Christians I wonder have given financially out of a guilt to give rather than out of a place of faith?
Some may feel guilt that they do not give more and end up giving not by heart conviction but as a gesture to relieve themselves of feeling guilty.
Frankly such giving does not impress God and brings no joy to the giver, and the Bible has much to say about the motive of our heart when we give being one of willingness and eagerness to do so.
So why do many in the church struggle with fears in this area and battle against guilt?
One of the primary reasons I believe is because their giving is not done in a heart attitude of faith and with out faith it is impossible to please God.
There is probably no area in the scriptures as designed to inspire our faith as that of the principal of seedtime and harvest.
Throughout the scriptures the principal of seedtime and harvest establishes a God given law;what you plant is what you will harvest and what you sow is what you are going to reap.
gen 8 22 says that
"As long as the earth remains,
Seed time and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And winter and summer,
And day and night shall not cease."
It is an inviolable law, as certain as the ending of every day and the inevitability of the coming of each night,as inevitable as the change of seasons from year to year.
How foolish we would consider it to observe a farmer standing in a field looking out over his fields in the anticipation of seeing a crop soon come up when he had not planted any seed in the ground.
This law of sowing and reaping is given not just to cover agriculture but as a spiritual law that governs everything.
It is called the law of returns.
"Whatever good thing a man does the same will he receive from the Lord"
"Do to others as you would have others do to you"
"Be not deceived,Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap"
This law of sowing and reaping affects also our giving of the tithe and offerings.
Paul speaking to the Philipians says,
"Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel,when I departed from Macedonia,no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.
For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.
Not that I seek the gift,but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account."
And he concludes this passage by assuring them that "My God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Notice that he describes it as the matter of giving and receiving;not just giving,and not just receiving but both giving and receiving.
They were obviously ahead of other churches in this revelation and in their willingness of heart to practice it.
Paul is pretty blunt with them in that he reminds them that "not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account".
We have so much that we need to grasp from this single statement.
God is a God of justice.
He sees and he knows; he marks every good thing that we do to another, and He will reward.
For good or for evil we are going to reap what we sow.
"Do not be deceived whatever a man sows that shall he also reap."
Paul carries this same principal over specifically into the area of our giving financially in " Corn chpt 9
"Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully, and he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly."
And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance to every good work."
"Now may he who supplies seed for the sower and bread for food supply and multiply the seed that you have sown and enlarge the harvest of your righteousness."
As I said in the first part of this blog God is our source in everything.
This is the revelation that Abram had and this is the revelation that we too must have.
He is the one who will provide us with both the seed to sow (the means to be able to give) and He will multiply the seed which we have sown.
What does this mean?
It means simply that God will not only continue to provide us with seed to sow as we trust in Him but will multiply that seed that we have sown,bringing increasing fruit to our heavenly accounts from it.
It means that as we are obedient in our giving He will increase our capacity to give, and meet our needs also"He that provides seed for the sower and bread for food" so both are given to us from God.
However our minds should be as focused upon the seed to be sown as the bread for our food or our own needs.
This is not to say that our own needs are neither important or should not have any concern, however it is our giving that generates our receiving and not the other way around.
Far to often Christians have held back through fear of leaving themselves not enough because they have not grasped and taken to heart this principal.
Our needs are not to be met exclusively by our own capacity to provide for ourselves(it is important to take responsibility for our needs,but so to, to be able to receive as we give)
Rather the Lord I believe wants to expand our understand of this Kingdom lifestyle we give as freely and generously and quickly as the Lord enables us to, never holding back.
And in return the Lord causes His supernatural Grace to minister more powerfully towards us in inspiring and increasing our giving and multiplying its fruitfulness, and ministering back into our lives the meeting of those needs which we possess.
This of necessity involves our being willing to receive from others too.
Some Christians freely give to others as the Lord directs because there is a need in the life of the one that they are giving to and that person cannot meet it by themselves.
And yet the same person who gives to help another considers that they need to provide of all of their own needs and would feel embarrassed to receive from someone else concerning an area of need in their own life.
Their attitude is that of "I will help others as much as I can, but I will take responsibility for myself and my own needs"
This may sound commendable but actually it is nothing more than pride.
It is not letting God minister back to you.
It is saying in effect I can do it all myself.
Humility is therefore the key to sowing and reaping.
God wants us to be responsible but not at the expense of learning to trust in Him alone as our ultimate source.
Often our obedience to give may leave us short for a future need, but that leaves us open to be able to see how God is going to minister back into our lives by his supernatural grace to meet that need through the giving of others.
Really this is the most exciting way to live!
There is a religious spirit that has the attitude of
"I give but never to expect anything in return"
That is simply unbiblical.
Certainly we always give with the heart motive of love not looking to anyone in particular to give to us also however the Lord has also given to us the incentive of promising to us that "give and it will be given to you"
Good measure pressed down shaken together and running over will men pour into your bosom, for with the measure that you give it shall be given to you."
This is not just talking of forgiveness, but of every aspect of our lives, and to give looking to the Lord alone to remember is a biblical truth.
Therefore whenever I give I do so not as a duty or an obligation.
I do not give as a debt that I owe but as a seed that I sow and do this in the conviction that the Lord of the harvest will bring a harvest to me from what I have sown.
This area of teaching is one that I believe we need to lay solidly in place especially in these days in which we live.
We have to begin to operate by the kingdom of God in our finances and giving, for it is only that kingdom which shall not be shaken.
We are living in extremely troubling times and I believe that the economic crisis is only about to begin to be unveiled.
The American dollar is going to fail, and the implications of that for us all are immense.
Likewise the basic price of food and oil and other commodities is going to continue to increase.
We will witness a greater surge of fear in the world, but to those of us who know the Lord we cannot and must not allow fear any room for maneuver.
People will suffer real needs in the days to come and the Lord will call us to rise up and help others to meet some of those needs as we reach out in faith and in love in our giving.
And as we do so we can have a godly confidence that my God will meet all of our needs according to his riches in Glory in Christ Jesus.
As we learn to operate in the supernatural grace of God more in our giving (by listening to Him and acting in faith and not fear) so too we will begin to see more powerful demonstrations of Gods grace ministering back into our lives independently of our own labours to earn sufficiently to cover all of our needs.
Is this not the very definition of Grace?
Rather we need to build our lives in every area,no less in our giving upon those principles of Gods kingdom that are found in his word, knowing that as we seek first his kingdom and His righteousness all these other things will be added to us.

The power of a gracious giver.Part 1

One of the greatest revelations in the scriptures is that of the grace of God;the truth that our God, the God we love and serve is a gracious God.
The scripture affirms that he is kindly disposed towards us, that he is great in mercy and quick to offer it to those who turn to him with a sincere heart.
One cannot image that a christian has ever really or truly grasped the heart of the gospel unless they have seen the reality of Gods grace.
And this revelation of the grace of God has to permeate beyond a mere mental assent to a willingness of heart to likewise show grace to any and to all with which we deal day by day.
The grace of God is most captured I believe in an attitude of generosity towards others.
Even those who may seek to exploit me, misuse me and abuse me,some may ask?
Yes even to the ungracious and ungrateful for this is a tiny mirror reflection of Gods grace and mercy which he extended towards you and towards me.
There are many ways that we can show this generosity of course; in our forgiveness towards those who abuse and misuse us, in our time and service and love and believing the best of others(which is not a blind denial of the sins of others but a choice to see them and speak of them through the eyes of grace)
Think of the manner with which king David spoke of Saul on hearing the news of his death on the field of battle in 2 Samuel 1 v 23
"Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives,And in their death they were not divided;They were swifter than eagles,They were stronger than lions."
Wait a minute David! You mean that Jonathan was beloved and gracious, not his father who hated and feared and persecuted you until his death.
David refusal to see Saul as he was in his sin but to see him as he should have been and was called to be is a powerful testimony from the scriptures of a heart of generosity that saw and spoke in grace.
Another of the most powerful ways that we can manifest the grace of God in and through our lives is in the area of our giving to others materially and financial.
James reminds us in his epistle of the hollowness of sending away a brother in need without aiming to do something practical to assist them when it is in our hand to help.
"If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,and one of you says to them"depart in peace,be warmed and filled",but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body,what does it profit?"
It certainly does not profit the person in need and ultimately it does not profit us either for every time we harden our hearts and fail to respond to the Holy Spirits nudging we become more impoverished.
I have no doubt that the number one reason why more Christians do not give more freely to financially help others is because of fear.
And yet the bible is so full of wonderful promises of the heart of God to bless the giver and increase their capacity to give.
The first place to start if we want to hold our attitude of giving up to the light of the scriptures,the great litmus test is that of the tithe.
If we are right on this we will be moving in a direction of connecting with Gods grace in all our giving, if we fail on this then we will not and cannot experience the same measure of Gods bountiful grace ministering to us in our giving.
Contrary to some peoples assertions that the tithe is "an old testament principle which is not binding upon new testament Christians now" we need to remember that although the tithe was established as a precept in the law it did not originate with the law of Moses,rather it was introduced much earlier as a principle of obedience and worship for Gods people with Abraham,who is called the father of our faith.
You recall that Abram on returning from the slaughter of the kings in gen 14 18 was met by the somewhat mysterious figure of Melchizedek king of Salem(which was the first biblical reference to the present day city of Jerusalem),who blessed him and received from Abram the tithe.
What is the significance of this for us today?
The narrative reads "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine;he was the priest of God Most High.
And he blessed him and said:
"Blessed be Abram of God most high,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hands."
And he gave him a tithe of all.
The tithe is simply defined as a tenth portion of that which we have.
A significant verse is verse 19 God Most high is described as" Possessor of heaven and earth."
In other words He who had just delivered Abram from a much larger army and given him the victory and restored his nephew Lot to him and given him the promises of inheriting the land was the One who possessed everything in heaven and on earth.
Everything belonged to him.
All of Abrams increase and wealth and future inheritance of the land was a witness to the fact that God most High was the possessor of it all.
The military intervention and success that the Lord gave to Abram was but a token of this fact and Abram recognized this truth and by revelation responded by giving to the Lord the tenth portion of all that he recognized that God had given him.
The most commonly held objection towards the tithe being a new testament requirement is that we should be free to give what we want when we want and not be required to give a certain portion.
Certainly we are free to give what we want however we should not give less then the tithe and we can always give more than the tithe if we choose to.
At the heart of our tithing needs to be the recognition that God is the possessor of it all,and nothing which we possess belongs to us alone, but is ultimately given to us by the Lord.
So then at heart the tithe is an obedience test; do we withhold what is not ours to keep, or give what God requires as a covenant act that declares that we belong to God and all that we are and have and will be and will one day have belongs to him.?
The tithe is important to God and so it should be to us to,for there is no other place that I know of in the bible where the Lord throws down the gauntlet and challenges us to prove him.
Malachi 3 v 10 says that we are to "Bring all the tithe into the storehouse,
That there may be food in my house and prove me now in this,"
Says the Lord of Hosts,
"If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it."
"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,"says the Lord of Hosts.
Rebuking the devourer is good news, and there are many who have discovered to their cost that by withholding the tithe they find that their money is being quickly devoured in spite of their work and constant labour.
Haggai 1 v 6 says that
"You have sown much,and bring forth little;
You eat,but do not have enough;
You drink,but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves,but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
Earning wages to put into a bag with holes in it is a perfect testimony of what so many in our society would say of themselves,"I just don't know where my money goes", but to the tither things can be different.
I personally believe that the tithe belongs to God and that as believers our responsibility is to give the tithe as the Lord leads us to give.
Some people may say "I just do not have the confidence to give as the Lord leads; "
"How do I know that it is his voice that I am hearing?"
Firstly it is important to state clearly that no man or woman can tell another man or woman where they ought to give their money.
Two of the most tell tale signs of a church or church movement that historically has veered off course into that area of what we would call a "cult" or heavy shepherding is that they will begin to tell you who your friends should be, that is who you should and should not associate with;and they tell you what to do with your money and possessions.
Anytime you encounter this, run from it like the plague!
It is certainly legitimate that a man of God may bring to the attention of his congregation a need or item to prayerfully consider but this is entirely different from the motivations that tries to instruct and control other people as to how they should use their money and their possessions.
It has been traditionally taught in the church that the tithe belongs to the local church, and that an offering over and above this belongs to other kingdom concerns that require supporting also.
I must confess that I have never adhered to this rigidly and have come to believe that it is not a hard and fast rule that can be imposed upon Christians.
This is not because I have a light view of the importance of the local church or fail to appreciate the need of each church member to be willing to share the need to support the ministry of the pastor and other outreaches that are part of a churches mission.
Rather I believe that the tithe belongs to the Lord.
It is his, not the pastors, not any one need or any one ministry gifts exclusive prerogative to demand;rather it is the Lords and as his body in the earth he requires us to direct it to those places and people that he wants us to distribute it to.
This thinking is difficult for some pastors to conceive.
After all they are dependant upon the giving of the church members to support them, and should not be left wanting in this respect.
However I also believe that if more pastors were able to rejoice that their church members were directing their giving in other areas in the tithe God would bless them and bless the church and actually increase the income of that church.
I have actually heard of this happening.
In one large church in America the pastor would encourage his people to give a portion of their tithe to other ministries that had especially blessed them or fed them each week, and the results were that rather than losing income they actually gained income by taking this stance.
God never honours insecurity and fear but honours faith and trust and sees when we are truly looking to him for our support and supply rather than any single earthly channel.
It is important also to state however that I believe that every person who belongs to a good local church should be as supportive as they can be towards that local church,and that begins with our financial support.
It is obvious that if a church is small in its numbers then a greater weight of responsibility is going to rest upon the shoulders of those members who regularly attend, and so they will of necessity be in a position to give more to support the minister.
And really they should rejoice to do so.
The bible says "Let him who is taught share in all good things with him who teaches" this should not need to be asked for but should be freely and spontaneously given.
The reason that I believe that the tithe is the Lords and should be directed by each one of us as he requires it to be given is also because it develops our faith and responsibility to hear Gods voice and be faithful stewards of the grace of God in our financial giving.
If we give in a certain direction all the time with occasionally giving an offering over and above this then we can become lazy in our hearing God to give constantly as he directs :however I certainly believe that the first financial commitment that we have must be to give to support our local church.
Many Christians as I stated earlier lack the confidence to hear Gods voice in this area and yet like every other area it can be so easily cultivated.
God may so often nudge us or drop into our minds a thought of a person or of a ministry or He may lay upon our hearts a real desire to give in a certain direction.
All of these are ways in which he speaks to us and as we learn to yield to these promptings and respond quickly to them we soon grow in confidence.
(Even if you were to get it wrong and it turned out to be your own thought or desire what is so terrible about having given some assistance and help to someone that you had on your heart?)
Most often however it will most probably not be just our own thoughts or desires but the Holy Spirit working in and through our thoughts and desires to accomplish his purposes
So we should I believe see the tithe as Gods portion and ask him how he wants us to apportion it, how we can be the best and most faithful stewards of it as He instructs our hearts.
When I joined the local church which we are currently attending the Lord clearly placed upon my heart the amount that He required me to give into the offering each week.
I understood this to be the minimum required level that I was called to consistently maintain, but there have been times when He has prompted me to give more.
Hearing Gods voice in our giving is one of the most exciting and adventurous ways that we can live and it brings its rewards too.
In part two of this blog I would like to address the rewards of God and our motives for giving.

The peace of God.
You don't have to be a genius today to recognise that this world and our society in general is not an environment that fosters peace.
Sadly many Christians lack that aura of Gods peace when it comes to their day to day practical living as they seem to absorb something of the stresses and cares of the world in which they live.
Is it unreasonable to expect that we should live with a quality of Gods peace in our lives that is not easily forsaken?
And if it is reasonable then why do so many in the church seem to lose sight of this?
In this blog I want to encourage all who read this that it is not only reasonable but possible to live with a great measure of peace in their lives, and to do this without retreating from the responsibilities of life in order to maintain it.
In the book of Isaiah chapter 54 we read these words
"For this is like the waters of Noah to me;
For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn that I would not be angry with you,nor rebuke you.
For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed
But my kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall my covenant of peace be removed,
Says the Lord who has mercy upon you."(Isa 54 9-10)
The phrase translated in vs 10" my covenant of peace" is translated in the king James version as "The covenant of my peace" and I like that and think that it is better.
God has established with us a covenant of His peace.
What does this mean?
It means that God has joined himself in indissoluble bonds of love with us through Jesus to be to us our peace and to grant us His peace all the days of our life.
Why does God say that He has entered into a covenant of peace with us?
Because in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 5 we read that
"The punishment that brought us peace was fully laid upon him"
In other words on the cross Jesus bore the full weight of Gods judgement and punishment for us to have secured this peace.
I think that it behooves us to reflect a little longer on this subject sometimes.
We easily forsake our peace because we do not cherish that peace or reflect on the heavy price that Jesus took upon himself to obtain this peace for us.
I think that we often are guilty of trivializing the costliness of this peace because we do not hold on to it with every vestige of our being.
The peace of God is not arbitrary.Unlike the world God does not give to us any one of His gifts and then withdraw them if our performance is not up to the mark
Jesus said in John chapter 14 and verse 27
"Peace I leave with you,my peace I give to you;not as the world gives do I give to you.
Do not let your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid."
So Jesus did not take this peace back to heaven with him but left it with us and gave it to us.
He intends for us to know and to exercise this peace to protect us from the many cares and anxieties that assail us in this life.
But notice what our responsibility is in this verse "Do not let your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid"
It is therefore up to us whether we allow anxiety to enter in and trouble our hearts or not.
We are the ones who are not to let our hearts be troubled.
We are not to let them be afraid.
Many Christians are praying that God would take the cares away from them and that he would take their fears away.
But Jesus says that we are the ones who are to disallow them.
We are the ones who take our stand.
There is a wonderful scripture in Isaiah26 v 3 which says
"You will keep him in perfect peace,whose mind is stayed on you,because he trusts in you."
From this scripture we see that the number one area where the battle for our peace is to be won or lost is in what we allow into our minds.
It is as we keep our minds set upon the Lord and His Word that we safeguard our peace.
We cannot blame our lack of peace upon anyone or anything else.
Remember that Jesus said in John chapter 14 that the peace which he gives to us he does not give as the world gives.
The world considers that a mans peace is to be given by his circumstances being propitious, a lack of financial worries or good relations or job security or good health.
Insure these things and his peace of mind is guaranteed,lack any one of these and his worries are justifiable.
How different is the kingdom of God.
The covenant of peace that the Lord has entered into with us is guaranteed to work even in the face of all of the onslaughts of hell itself.
It neither requires us to retreat from life's responsibilities or to detach ourselves from this world in order to walk in it.
What it does require is for us to believe from the heart what Gods Word says about his provision of peace and to understand from the Word of God those things that we must do to safeguard it in our lives.
I cannot stress enough that it is vital that we make the decision not to blame anyone else or anything else for the quality of peace that we enjoy.
Some Christians may be tempted to think well it is all right for so and so to have no worries but look at his life. He does not have any financial worries, or he does not have any marriage problems. Or she always enjoys good health.
The peace that God has given to us is not dependant upon any circumstances or upon any other person it is dependant only upon our relationship with God.
There is a scripture which more than any other teaches us how to abide in this covenant of peace and it is found in Philippians 4 and verse 6-7.
Be anxious for nothing,but in everything by prayer and supplication,with thanksgiving,let your requests be made known to God:
And the peace of God,which surpasses all understanding,will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."
Be anxious for nothing, or do not be anxious about anything.
We are nowhere told in scripture that a little anxiety or a little fear is healthy and good we are told to not be anxious for anything.
All of us are tempted to anxiety and all of us are tempted towards fear and some more than others, but we can stop that anxiety from taking hold of us if we are willing to follow the instructions of Philippians chapter 4.
Some people may say "Well it is unrealistic to say that we do not need to ever be anxious or afraid"
Billy Graham was once asked if he ever was tempted to doubt and his reply was "Yes, but I know what to do with it when it comes"
In the same manner it is precisely because fear and anxiety are an all to present foe that we need to know precisely what to do with these thoughts and emotions when they come.
Notice that Philippians 4 says to "Be anxious for nothing"
There is according to Gods Word nothing no- thing for which our being anxious or worried about it is warranted.
So the first decision that we must make is that we will not be anxious in any situation for any reason.
Instead of anxiety and worry being tolerated it needs to be resisted and stood against.
You remember how in the parable of the sower Jesus spoke about the thorns that grew up and chocked the word of God,
"These are the ones who hear the word,and the cares of this world entering in,choke the word,and it becomes unfruitful."
There is a pressure to worry and a temptation towards anxiety that we may feel, but we do not have to let it enter in.
If an undesirable person was banging upon the door of my house desiring to enter in he may well make his presence known, but I would be a fool to go to the door and to let him in.
Likewise you and I are given the guardianship of our own minds.
We get to choose what thoughts we either allow or disallow.
And if we allow and cultivate the right thoughts then the quality of Gods peace will greatly increase in our lives.
In chapter 4 of Philippians Paul goes on to urge us to cultivate the habit of constantly thinking about the right thoughts
"Whatever things are true whatever things are just and pure and noble and lovely and of a good report think upon these things and the God of peace will be with you".
There is as I said earlier a direct correlation between what we think and the extent to which the peace of God will rule and reign in our hearts and minds.
I said earlier that we may be tempted to be anxious and worried but we do not have to let this enter in.
How do we let it enter in?
By constant meditation upon those negative fearful thoughts and by speaking them out.
If we think about them and speak about them then they will certainly take root in us.
But here in Philippians Paul tells us what to do with the temptation to be anxious
"But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving present your requests to God"
We must swiftly and immediately learn to take those situations to God in prayer,and entrust those situations into His care.
In other words we cast all of the care of that situation over onto the Lord and refuse to take the care or worry of it back again.
It is in a very real sense an act of faith.
Certainly our minds will want to revisit that concern again and again but we must learn to stand our ground and to say, out loud if necessary "no that has already been dealt with.
I have rolled the care of that situation over onto the Lord and I refuse to take it back again"
Then we need to train our minds to think away from that situation and to focus on something else and to meditate upon the promises of Gods word that speak to us in whatever the particular area of need is.
And we need to do this as often as is necessary in order not to allow the anxiety to enter in.
A wise old godly woman once said to her son"Son if you let the devil ride in the back seat with you it ain't going to be long till he is wanting to drive the car"
If we tolerate anxiety and fear it wont be long until they will be consuming our thoughts.
Some people say "I have tried to cast my cares onto the Lord and to walk away but it just does not work"
Did you notice that in Philippians 4 it says in everything (there is no situation to small) present your requests to God with thanksgiving"
How many times do we leave out the thanksgiving?
If we want the promise of Gods peace then we need to follow His instructions and add thanksgiving always to our asking when we bring our concern to the Lord in prayer.
I heard a story some years ago that has helped me as much as anything that I have ever heard.
A women who was an Pentecostal missionary in the early part of the twentieth century became sick with a killer disease while on the mission field.
Believing as she did in divine healing she sought the Lord in prayer from her hospital bed imploring Him to heal her.
One night she received a vision in which she saw vividly a set of old fashioned weighing scales and on the one side of the weights she saw the word inscribed "Requests"and on the other side she saw the word "Thanksgiving"
She noticed that the side of the weights that was inscribed requests was tilted down with a heavy amount of weight while the side inscribed with the word "Thanksgiving" had virtually no weight on it at all.
The Holy Spirit spoke to her and said
"When your thanksgiving is equal to your asking then you will receive your answer from God"
She begun almost at once to lift her hands there in her hospital bed and for almost three nights and three days did nothing but praise and worship God.
And at the end of that time she was completely healed.
The final promise of this passage in verse 7 is
"And the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ"
The amplified translation says that the peace of God will garrison your hearts and minds.
Gods peace is a protective barrier to any and all the onslaughts of the evil one.
His peace is more than a sense of well being (it includes that)but it is also a protective wall around our hearts and thought life when we walk in obedience to the steps laid out in verse 6.
When I fly to Spain with my family we often find ourselves sitting near the front of the plane.
Therefore we can see into the cockpit when the door is open pre flight and observe the pilot and his assistant doing all the necessary flight checks.
This would comprise a list scrupulously compiled by Boeing who manufactured the plane and every pilot would be required to go through the list before the plane is considered ready for flying.
Why I wonder do we so often apply a more slipshod attitude towards the Word of God?
If we desire the peace of God to Garrison our hearts and minds we must bring our requests to God in prayer.
We must lay deliberately before God those thoughts that are troubling us and deliberately cast every care upon the Lord.
Then we must learn to walk away from that situation as far as worrying about it is concerned which means that we will change the way that we speak about that situation no longer rehearsing our fears and concerns but if we think of it at all thanking God that it is now in His hands and He will work it out for our best.
Thanksgiving must infuse all of our prayers and under gird all of our requests.
I believe that if we will follow these steps we will learn to abide in that peace that far surpasses our ability to try to understand and work things out.
And will will enter in to a fuller measure of His rest.

The greatest faith (part three)
In my previous blog I spoke about how faith is essentially a quality of the heart and that it is fed and grows only by our hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Jesus spoke of" the greatest faith in the gospels" and to understand this kind of faith is to have a clear goal as to how to maximize pleasing God since the scripture informs us very clearly that "without faith it is impossible to please God"
It therefore follows that the opposite must also be true that with ever increasing faith we more and more please God.
What kind of faith did Jesus refer to as the greatest faith?
Matthews gospel chapter eight provides us with the answer to this.
It is the story of the Centurion whose servant is gravely sick and tormented and he approaches Jesus to heal his servant.
"Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum,a centurion came to him,pleading with him,saying
"Lord my servant is lying at home paralysed,dreadfully tormented".
And Jesus said to him,"I will come and heal him"
The centurion answered and said,"Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.
But only speak a word,and my servant will be healed.
"For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.
And I say to this one,"Go," and he goes; and to another
"Come,"and he comes; and to my servant,"Do this,"and he does it."
When Jesus heard it,he marvelled,and said to those who followed,
"Assuredly,I say to you,I have not found such great faith,not even in Israel!"
The passage is concluded by Jesus saying to the centurion
"Go your way; and as you have believed,so let it be done for you."
And his servant was healed that same hour.
Jesus was willing to go and lay hands upon the servant and to heal him but the centurion surprises Jesus by declaring that he is perfectly willing to simply take Jesus at his word,for He understands the authority that Jesus is under and therefore the authority of his spoken word.
(Jesus said that he did not do anything or say anything that he did not see or did not hear His Father doing or saying,making himself subordinate to his Fathers authority at all times)
Jesus commends the Centurion for taking him at his word alone before he saw any evidence to support his confidence in that which Jesus had just said.
This is faith in its simplest and most pure essence.
It is having faith in Gods word that is in what he has said without needing to see in the process of our believing that our circumstances have immediately changed.
It is holding onto Gods Word tenaciously and believing it with all of our hearts even in the face of every contrary circumstance because we know that through faith and patience we inherit the promises.
God does not promise us immediate deliverance every time we pray but he does require that we believe what he has said with the same measure of confidence that a young child would trust implicitly the word of their parents whom they trust and love.
Why do we wobble so at the promises of God?
Most often it is because we are impatient and think that because our circumstances do not appear to change as quickly as we wish them to therefore our prayers have failed or our faith was insufficient.
What a lie that the enemy sows into our minds in this.
Our faith is often at its strongest and its purest when we are facing the reality of circumstances that scream at us to the contrary and yet we will not let go of our assertion and trust that what Gods Word says is the way that it is going to ultimately be in this particular circumstance of our lives.
Notice that Jesus said to the centurion that "As you have believed,so be it done for you."
And his servant was healed that self same hour.
The power of God moved to change that circumstance and so it will to, in our lives as we truly believe that what Gods word says has the final authority over this circumstance of our lives, and what God has said he has power also to perform.
Contrast this response of the centurion which Jesus commends with that of another person in the gospels;one who was not willing to just take Jesus at his word at first but whom Jesus was able to bring around to this same kind of faith which the centurion showed.
(This should be an encouragement that we to can walk in this centurions example no matter how much we may have wobbled in the past)
The incident is found in Johns gospel chapter 4 in the healing of a nobleman's son
"There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee,he went to him and implored him to come down and heal his son,for he was at the point of death.
Then Jesus said to him,
"Unless you people see signs and wonders,you will by no means believe."
The nobleman said to him,"Sir,come down before my child dies!"
Jesus said to him,"Go your way;your son lives."
So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him,and went his way.
And as he was going down,his servants met him and told him,saying,
"Your son lives"
Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.
And they said to him,"Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."
So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him,
"Your son lives."
And he himself believed,and his whole household.
In this second instance the nobleman who approached Jesus requested that he come down to his house in the expectation that he would lay hands upon him there or command the sickness to depart him and heal him.
The thought that he could simply take Jesus at his word and know that it would be just as effective and just as powerful as if Jesus was there in person standing over his son did not occur to him.
Notice Jesus initial response
"Unless you see signs and wonders,you will by no means believe."
Jesus was characteristically going to the heart issue in the man,and was identifying where his faith was.
In this instance it is evident that his faith was in what he could see,"If you come down"
In other words he wanted to have Jesus physically present with him and pray for his child and in the process see a miracle transpire.
Jesus is lovingly but firmly redirecting him towards the truth that faith in his spoken word is in itself enough to see the power of God move to change the circumstance that represent our need.
Both this passage and the passage in Matthew are specifically challenging us to have faith in God, and specifically faith in his word alone.
It is encouraging that in this instance the nobleman was quick to grasp the lesson that Jesus was teaching him for we are told,
"Jesus said to him,"Go your way; your son lives!"
"So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him,and he went his way."
He went his way,that is he did not require to see first and then to believe.
Rather he believed and that on no other evidence than what Jesus had said to him;and before he had reached his home he was met with the news of his sons miraculous recovery.
The challenge of these Scriptures is very clear;we too must deepen and strengthen our absolute confidence in Gods word.
The bible is not just a book of ethics or a historical record,it is God breathed and full of His life.
It is life giving and strength giving, able to heal and to transform.
It is able to straighten out things that are crooked and to demolish all human pride.
It is the way that God imparts more of his own life to us it is the means by which we were saved and the instrument of our sanctification.
However all of the above will be to little effect in our lives unless we exercise real heart faith in the Word of God continually.
In 1 Thessalonians Paul commends the church because "When you received the word of God which you heard from us,you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth,the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe."
The word of God only effectively works in our lives as we actively believe what we have heard.
It was John Wesley who once said that the greatest counterfeit to true heart faith that the devil has successfully substituted in the church is mere mental assent.
Sadly this is true.
Many Christians are not seeing circumstances change in their lives because they mentally assent to a biblical promise but do not really at heart believe that what God has said will come to pass in their lives.
The author to the book of Hebrews underlines the same truth when he sites the example of the old testament saints who failed because of their unbelief.
"For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them;but the word which they heard did not profit them not being mixed with faith in those who heard it"Heb 4 vs2
The word will not profit us also unless it is mixed with faith in us who hear it.
And so it is our solemn and yet joyful responsibility to ensure that our hearts are full of Gods words and that we too are combining it with faith.
How do we ensure this?
By putting it in our eyes and in our ears and in our mouths and then and only then it will get down into our hearts.
"The word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart"
Many people like the nobleman's son want to see signs and wonders before they will believe.
They want Jesus to come down that is to see him change their circumstance before they believe that it is his will to really do so.
Jesus however requires something more of his followers.
He requires that we "only believe"based on no other evidence then what he has said.
The bible is full of wonderful and life changing promises which God has given us to show us His intention to do us good, and to bless us.
What he requires is our obedience and faith.
Not faith only without obedience or obedience without faith but both working in tandem together to enable us to inherit his promises.
God does not gives us his promises to tantalize us, but to assure us of his goodness love and faithfulness to do for us what he has said, if we will believe.
All of Gods promises Paul tells us are yes in Him and in Him are amen.
They are not perhaps possibly and maybe.
We must root out our unbelief which hides under the guise of intellectualism and be like little children again in our readiness to believe.
Through the exceedingly great and precious promises of Gods word we are made partakers of the divine nature Peter tells us, that is we we become participants of more of his life.
Things can change and things will change if we,like the nobleman will believe the word that Jesus has spoken to us, and go our way.