The Days of Awe

Today marks the start of the Jewish “Days of Awe” or 10 days of repentance, fasting and prayer that begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur. The description of this is in Leviticus 23, where the start of the New Year is marked with the Feast of Trumpets, and ends on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

I have been impressed with the need to pray for Israel, in part because of the tumult surrounding that country and the political situation which is in the news. No more about that here, you can read that for yourselves. I just felt the sense that God was calling me to pray for Israel and for the Jewish people as this is a time in which observing Jews are fasting and praying and seeking God.

In the midst of this, I am reminded of Paul’s prophecy that “all Israel will be saved”, I am reminded of the exhortation in the psalms to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”, I am acutely aware of God’s love for Israel and the Jewish people, and for the desire that they recognise their Messiah. I pray that they are able to receive the perfect atonement that He, Jesus, Yeshua, has made, thus upstaging the need for sacrifices; the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the temple in Jerusalem is no more because it is no longer needed for sacrifices, in the sense that it once was.

But I am also acutely aware of the shameful way which we, “Christians” have treated God’s chosen people Israel, at least in part through the dreadful heresy that is “replacement theology”. The truth is we are the ingrafted branches, as the Gentiles, and God as done away with the dividing wall between us through Jesus, Yeshua, through the perfect blood of His sacrifice.

So I have been praying for Israel, and for the Jewish people. And in so doing I saw a mental image of Israel in flames. Unlike the flames of war that have so ravaged that nation, this was a picture of Israel in flames, where the flames represent the flames of revival, the fire of God. I thought, “that’s interesting, that reminds me of how Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.” Then I realized that, in a spiritual sense, the flames represented the return of Elijah, coming back in the same chariot of fire which he left upon. As it was prophesied:

Malachi 4:4-6 (New King James Version)

4 “ Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

John the Baptist was a type of Elijah at the time of Jesus, likewise God is coming in the spirit of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the Fathers (as I see it now, Israel) to the children (the church) and vice-versa.

Secondly, at the mount of transfiguration, there were three men in the vision: Moses (representing the old), Elijah representing the transition, and Jesus representing the new covenant:

Matthew 17

1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us[a] make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist

Elijah is coming and bringing restoration to both the church and to Israel, and not a moment too soon!

It is interesting that Jesus’ last words upon the cross, before He spoke “It is finished” were interpreted as calling forth Elijah. Although that wasn’t what Jesus was saying (he was quoting Psalm 22:1 in Aramaic), this is an interesting thought. There is something in this, that even as Jesus dies on the cross, there is the sense of a foretelling of the days of Elijah, the days of the preparation of Israel.

Jesus Dies on the Cross

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

So let us not forget, during these days of Awe. Elijah is coming to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children, and to turn the hearts of the children to the Fathers, and let us not forget that “all Israel will be saved” and also never forget to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”.

The floods of disappointment

When disappointment comes, it’s as if somehow our lives are shut down, and the streams of our lives back up like water behind a dam.

It’s as if we’re stuck in this bitter, putrid, festering, muddy pool of frustration, self-pity and doubt. Its as if our lives have been inunundated.

This is not life as God intended it for us. His word says that he has come to give us life, and life in abundance. He doesn’t want us moping around by the festering pools of our life, without hope and without God active in our lives. He wants to get the streams flowing again.

Flooded fields are not productive fields. In fact, when the flooded water gets stagnant it grows toxic bacteria which can kill the ability for the fields to produce anything, even once the floods have gone. In order for the fields to be productive again, there is a plowing process which must take place, but more about that later.

God wants to open the floodgates of our lives which have caused the blockage, the areas which have allowed disappointment to take over. But even when the floodgates are opened, the floods persist sometimes. Why is that?

The reason is that there is much sludge and silt which has backed up behind the floodgates, so that even though they’re open the putrid, stagnant, foul, bitter waters remain. The gates are stopped up with the sludge and various other (indeterminate) junk.

OK, I’m speaking rhetorically here. What do I mean?

To recap: there are two processes that need to take place, to get rid of the backed up junk and putrifying flood water. First, there is an opening: the floodgates have to be opened. Then there is an unstopping which must take place.

In Isaiah, we read “Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.”

The opening of the floodgates represents the opening of our eyes: we are able to see, we’re able to assess the damage, realize we’ve been subject to flood, realize that there is something we can do about it, and see the Lord before us, the blood of Jesus, the price He paid for our redemption so we don’t have to wallow in the floods of disappointment, bogged down in our lives.

Secondly, our ears are unstopped. We’re not only able to see, we can hear from God what it is that we need to do to get ourselves out of the muck. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Jesus opens the eyes of the blind (ours) and the ears of the deaf (ours) so that the backed up filthy floodwaters can subside, hope is restored, and the festering disappointment gives way to the fruitful fields of God’s plan for our lives.

Remember, he knows the plans he has for us, and they really are to prosper and not to harm us. Whatever the devil has meant for evil, God meant for good.

As the eyes of our heart are opened, we are able to say, with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I praise him”.

Then as we begin to praise him, our ears are unstopped, and we hear Jesus rejoice over us with singing.

He truly does delight in us, he is already saying “Well done, good and faithful servant”. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still a long way off, the father has seen us and is running with open arms.

He has come to change your name. No longer desolate, now your name is delight. The joy of the Lord, his joy over you is your strength.

The LORD has made proclamation
to the ends of the earth:
“Say to the Daughter of Zion,
‘See, your Savior comes!
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.’ ”

12 They will be called the Holy People,
the Redeemed of the LORD;
and you will be called Sought After,
the City No Longer Deserted.

Recompense and restoration are coming. A marriage, a restoration is coming, and is now here as you look to him.

Strengthen your bedraggled hands and feeble knees…

…and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather healed.

God wants to strengthen us, lift us up so that we can shine in these days in which we live.

From the strengthening flows healing, from the healing salvation, from the salvation praise.

God himself will do the strengthening, God himself will do the healing.  We simply need to call upon his name.

Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.

Isaiah 40:

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
“ Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended…

“ Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;

Psalm 28:

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

The LORD is their strength,
And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

Save Your people,
And bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
And bear them up forever.

For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Psalm 18:

For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
And sets me on my high places.
He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Wait for Him… Abide in Him

I’ve been meditating on Isaiah 30 today; God promises us rest if we turn to Him:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength
but you would have none of it.

How hard is it for us to do that… and when trouble strikes how easy it is to look to the tangible: our own resources, the resources of society, our friends, our employers, our workplaces, our education, our family. Yet in times like these where are we to turn when these fail us?

You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

Isaiah prophesied this when times were tough: Assyria was breathing down the neck of God’s people, and captivity beckoned. Rather like today. As captivity beckons, who do we turn to?

“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the LORD,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge. who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;

…

Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.

The effort involved in “travelling to Egypt”, to attain the “useless” help of the arm of the flesh, is just not worth it.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

What to do, then, in times of trouble. Obviously, not nothing. No, we are to seek the Lord:

…the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help!
As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you,
saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God himself will send the help, the teachers that we need.

Though he gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, as soon as he hears, he will answer us. As soon as he hears. Has he heard from you today?

The Key of David

God spoke to Isaiah:

I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

and to John the Revelator:

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

What exactly is this “Key of David”?

What is that David had that somehow unlocks the heart of God, so that God can work so mightily in Davids life?

What was the preparation that David went through that enabled him to stand before the giant Goliath and win?

Yes, it was faith, but it was more than faith.  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God“

How do we get the word of God, that gives us faith, of which a mustard seeds worth is sufficient to move mountains?

How will be able to stand in the coming days, should the worlds financial systems fail, should World War III break out, should our leaders fail, should men and women’s hearts melt with fear?

What will make the difference in our lives?

The Key of David is intimacy with God.  The same intimacy that God had with Moses

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

Jesus came to give us eternal life, that is that we would know him:

“this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.“

We are called to know him.  We are called to enter his throne room daily and to converse before the throne of grace, a two-way intimate conversation.   From this place of intimacy comes faith, and with faith comes power to move mountains, overcome giants, break free into the perfect will of God, see lives transformed, broken hearts healed.  This is the kingdom of God.

David knew that Goliath didn’t stand a chance, because he knew God.  Nothing and more and nothing less is required.  Without Faith it is impossible to please God.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  And the word of God comes from a heart of intimacy with the Father.

Jesus Christ has made a way, He has come to give us eternal life that we may know the Father, His blood has redeemed us, he is the propitiation, the curtain is torn in two.  Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Amen!

Hold Fast to That Which is True Part II

The Bible teaches us again and again to hold fast; we are to speak the truth, we are not to be vague.  We are to let our yes be “yes”, and our no “no“, we are not to be double minded.   We are not to despise prophecies.  We are to test everything.

The disturbing fact is, when God speaks something over us, or through us, or to us, it’s all to easy to lose the moment in the glory.  How could this be?  When experiencing the glory of God, its all too easy to feel invincible, that the clarity of the moment will remain when the glory lifts (not departs, just lifts, as in is no longer tangible).

Then as we return to the tyranny of the familiar, the word becomes all too distant and vague and unbelievable, and before long we forget it.   God instructs us to write his word on our doorposts, to strap it to our foreheads.  That is true of the written word, the Bible, and it ought to be true of the things that God shows us, that we know that He’s shown us, that He’s confirmed to us.

Maybe now would be a good time to dust off the word that God’s spoken to you, the vision God’s given you, the dreams Gods given you, and take a good look at them for what they are.  Don’t let the distorted goggles of disappointment and the choking black smoke from the fires of your current circumstances cloud your judgement and cause you to forget what God has promised.  God will do whatever it is He said He would do.  God is still true to His word.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and don’t you forget it!

And those circumstances—just what are they?  Just as Jesus said to Peter “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed that your faith should not fail” Satan and his diabolical henchmen also ask to sift us, and will send anything in their power to discourage us from what God has clearly spoken.

Fortunately, Jesus has prayed for us too, and our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through those same struggles.   If you faint in the time of adversity, how small is your strength? Similarly, while Jesus is sleeping and the storms of life knock the boat, remember Jesus’ words, as He rebukes the wind and the waves and calm prevails: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”.

You of little faith, why are you so afraid?   God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

You who are disappointed, remember Jesus’ words “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” So the other ten doorways were dead ends?   So what?   Jesus has asked the Father, on your behalf, and He has provided many rooms for you.  No matter what life may have thrown your way, He who promised is faithful.  Don’t you dare let life steal from you the joy of the great cloud of witnesses, cheering you on in heaven.  And don’t you dare think you have it harder than they did.  Press on! Remember the promises of Hebrews Chapter 11, and fight the good fight of faith!

Overcoming Disappointment

  

“Sing, O barren woman, 
       you who never bore a child; 
       burst into song, shout for joy, 
       you who were never in labor; 
       because more are the children of the desolate woman 
       than of her who has a husband,” 
       says the LORD.

When dreams are shattered, its not just hard to pick up the pieces.  It’s impossible.  We know what happened to Humpty Dumpty.

What does God say to us when life gives us lemons?   Make lemonade??  No.

God knows that the lemons of life are often too bitter to be of any use for anything, other than to be tossed back into the pit from whence they came.  So what does He give us instead.  He gives us hope.   Not the pitiful “I hope so” of the plaintively desperate.   Not the “hopefully” of the hopeless.  No.  

Paul writes to the Romans:

…since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

“Hope does not disappoint us”

Hope, in the Glory of God, does not disappoint us.  And we also have hope from the word of God in Isaiah.  A promise, that he will give us “children” in our barrenness.  Joyce Meyer says “If you’ve been disappointed, get reappointed”.

And when I first heard that—well, I was seething—but then God gave me a picture.  God reappoints us with a new appointment—not the same appointment—a new one, tailor-made for where we’re at

Because within the black hole of disappointment, the crucible of broken dreams… the-thing-that-you’d-hoped-for-that-just-ain’t-gonna-happen…ever!  The nothingness of defeat.   God says “I will turn the specter of failure in to a sceptre of righteousness”

How?

By giving us a new dream, a new vision, a new hope.   Maybe yesterday we dreamed of a perfect marriage.  Until that was decimated in the ashes of an acrimonious divorce.   Maybe we’ve been crippled… physically or emotionally.  Maybe we got struck down by depression.  Maybe we lost our confidence. Maybe our best friend betrayed us.  It doesn’t matter.

The new hope is a vision of Gods glory, it’s engaging Gods plan for redemption that meets us head on right where we’re at.   Its focusing on the cross,  Jesus Christ, the True King, himself utterly broken and bereft for our sakes.  But not without hope.  As we gaze upon the cross, a remarkable transformation begins to take place.  He who knew no sin, no brokenness, was made sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  There it is—the specter of failure turned into a sceptre of righteousness.  Its praying through the depression.  Its loving our enemies.  Its learning to be gracious in defeat.  Its the gospel… the good news.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Hope has come.  Jesus Christ is that hope,  he alone can fulfill that longing and complete the picture right in the midst of our incompleteness.   And in the midst of that, the new plan for our future begins to unfold, right where we’re at.

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future an a hope.

Exceed Your Vision

Do you have a vision? Or if you do have a vision, is it a God-sized vision?

God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask—or imagine… and He wants to develop our vision so that it exceeds “our” vision (if you get my drift).  He wants a God-sized, impossible vision, and He wants us to believe it.

He says to us “Call to me, and I will answer and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know“

If anyone lacks wisdom—lacks vision—they should ask God, but they must believe and not doubt (lest they be as a double-minded person, unstable in all that they do).  And if the vision isn’t immediately crystal clear, keep asking, keep seeking… [actually it just needs to be "plain" not crystal clear]

The band I’m listening to on iTunes at the moment is called the “Desperation Band”

Maybe God is waiting for some good old desperation before He provides the picture… just a thought

Or maybe He’s provided all of the picture that we need, and we haven’t walked in the light that we already have.  God’s plan is usually revealed like an unfolding… little by little, each step a step of faith.  He patiently waits for us to walk out in the light we already have, and as we follow through, more is revealed.  To the one who has, more will be given, to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken…

God makes our footsteps firm, and He’s not bothered when we ask for more certainty each step of the way. If you’re not sure about the next step, ask Him.  He will give you the vision you need. True faith is not blind faith.  Faith is not blind, faith requires a vision that transcends and supercedes natural vision.  Ignorance isn’t a problem to God—in fact “ignorance” coupled with desperation is a prerequisite to hearing from God:  The one who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know.   The word of God doesn’t refer to blind faith, the word says “we walk by faith, not by sight.“  The vision of faith is far greater than the vision of the eyes, or the vision of human planning, or of any human endeavour.    Faith is the actual evidence of things hoped for, the very substance of things not yet seen.

What to do, then, when one has no vision?  How then are we to know the way we are to go?

Pilots are taught, early on in their training, how to fly in conditions of low visibility.  Such conditions are known as “instrument conditions”.  Pilots in instrument conditions cannot afford to fly by their senses, and their feelings, because these are invariably wrong.  In instrument conditions, a pilot must determine his position and his course by his instruments, and his instruments alone.   Failure to do this will result in disaster.

Likewise, God often requires of His children that we learn to “fly” in instrument conditions, when there is little or no vision.   The instruments are the word of God, the Bible, prayer, faith, hope and above all love. As long as we plant ourselves in God’s word, we cannot lose.  As long as we bring everything to Jesus in prayer, how can we worry?

Jesus tells his disciples to “keep” his word.   The word of God isn’t always easy to understand, nor is it easy to digest.  In fact sometimes digesting Gods word is like chewing dry weetbix.  It is in these times that we must learn the definition of perseverence (which literally means to “stand [stay, abide] under” in New Testament Greek).  God is teaching us to fly by our instruments and not by our feelings.

God is faithful.  He will not let us be tempted [tested] beyond what we can bear, but when we are tempted [tested] he will provide a way out so that we can stand up under it.  Persevere.  Stand under (understand?)

“You will seek me, and find me,” says God, “when you seek me with all your heart.“

Come see
Come see with spirit eyes
Come see
The door is open
Come near
Come weary and ashamed
Come near
His arms are open
His arms are open

Come live
Come live in freedom here
Come live
The chains are broken
Come rest
Come take his gift of grace
Come rest
The word is spoken
The word is spoken

Come see
Come see with spirit eyes
Come see
The door is open
Come home
Come lay your burdens down
Come home
His arms are open
His arms are open
His arms are open

Hold fast to that which is true

“Do not treat prophecies with contempt; test everything; hold fast to that which is true.”

Lets face it—God doesn’t always speak to us in the way that we would necessarily have Him were we to have a choice in the matter.  No, He often speaks to us through the channels that, naturally speaking, probably offend us the most.   And He’s been doing it for centuries (well, millenia… at least).  Consider Balaam, who God chose to speak to through a donkey.  Or Ezekiel, Hosea, Jeremiah and Isaiah. If you’re religious, you might not want to think about this, but the fact is, would you have listened to a butt-naked maniac with a personal hygiene problem, and a seriously scary nervous disposition?

No, God speaks in all kinds of ways.  Sometimes, He even speaks to us, and we just don’t get it.  Our poor self-image finds the concept of God speaking to us the most offensive of all.  But He does speak to us.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah:

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,  ’they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
 

So Jesus speaks to us, somewhat cryptically, “Don’t you understand any parable?”

The correct answer, I believe, is “No, I don’t understand, Lord. Please help me to understand.”

So when God speaks to you cryptically in ways you don’t fully understand, via ways that you don’t fully understand… don’t throw out what God is saying in the bathwater of everyday life. God is speaking!

You have seen many things, but have paid no attention;
your ears are open, but you hear nothing.”

And more than that

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

and

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Could it be that we, at least in the measure that God is speaking to us (which He is, O ye of little faith), are His servants the prophets?  Then surely God is speaking to us about that new thing that is springing up.  And if He is speaking to us, surely we ought to be praying expectantly, and believing intently, that the very thing He speaks of will indeed come to pass (if we do not faint!)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways my ways,” 
declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are my ways higher than your ways 
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow 
come down from heaven, 
and do not return to it 
without watering the earth 
and making it bud and flourish, 
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: 

It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire 
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

For God does speak—now one way, now another— though man may not perceive it.

Everlasting Love vs. Wasting time

A song on the bus impresses upon me the love of God:

Open up your eyes
Then you’ll realise
Here I stand with my
Everlasting love

Do we not realise how wide (all-encompassing—for everyone—even you), how long (everlasting), how high (beyond human comprehension), how deep (unfathomable—were we to have all eternity, there would still be more to search) is the Love of God.  As I sat in the bus this morning, I was impressed that God himself is singing this very song to humanity, this unrequited love song and invitation to marriage

Need you by my side
Girl to be my bride
You’ll never be denied
Everlasting Love

You’ll never be denied.  Gods promises are for everyone.  Come all who I thirsty and drink of the waters of life, says Jesus.  Come as you are, surrender your heart and be a part of me.

From the very start
Open up your heart
Be a lasting part of
Everlasting Love

When we surrender our hearts to Jesus, when we give him our lives and experience His everlasting love, which is freely given to all humanity, our lives have meaning and purpose as we allow Him to transform us by renewing our mind.

Contrast this to what life might be without Jesus (or without the daily renewal we need from the Holy Spirit, or what happens when we knowingly disobey God).

Another song on the bus:

Sitting in the morning sun
I’ll be sitting when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
And I watch ‘em roll away again

[Refrain]
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I’m just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
‘Cause I had nothin to live for
And look like nothing’s gonna come my way

So I’m just…
[Refrain]

Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same

Sittin here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

“…Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty