Daily Word: Isaiah 5417 silence the accuser, reconciliation and restoration

Today’s word is from Isaiah 54:17 no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. The scenario is not new. Jesus had many accusers in His time on earth. So were the apostles. For example, Paul. Take note that the accuser uses words, spoken or written. Their accusations were based on their own personal (political) agenda and in the case of Jesus and the apostles (and later the believers of Jesus Christ) they were not true. For those who read the Bible to the end you will have noticed A RECORD OF AN ACCUSER of the brethren in the Book of Revelation. Jesus called the accuser the FATHER OF LIES. Those who lie and give false witness in courts/similar official places (of governing authority) are termed children of the father of lies. In the Old Testament Book of Exodus 20:16 recorded the original commandment of God against lying/giving false accusation about others, “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.”
In the New Testament Book of Revelation 22:15 Jesus names those (including everyone who loves and practices falsehood) who will not be allowed to enter into God’s presence (New heaven and new earth).

(The Bible verses are quoted from New Living Translation unless otherwise specified)
THE ACCUSER OF CHRISTIANS Revelation 12:10
10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,
“It has come at last—
salvation and power
and the Kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters
has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.

THE GROUP WHO WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM GOD’S PRESENCE
Revelation 22:15 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Outside are the dogs [the godless, the impure, those of low moral character] and the sorcerers [with their intoxicating drugs, and magic arts], and the immoral persons [the perverted, the molesters, and the adulterers], and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying (deception, cheating).

GOD’S PROMSE OF A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR HIS PEOPLE
Isaiah 54:9-17
9 “Just as I swore in the time of Noah
that I would never again let a flood cover the earth,
so now I swear
that I will never again be angry and punish you.
10 For the mountains may move
and the hills disappear,
but even then my faithful love for you will remain.
My covenant of blessing will never be broken,”
says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
11 “O storm-battered city,
troubled and desolate!
I will rebuild you with precious jewels
and make your foundations from lapis lazuli.
12 I will make your towers of sparkling rubies,
your gates of shining gems,
and your walls of precious stones.
13 I will teach all your children,
and they will enjoy great peace.
14 You will be secure under a government that is just and fair.
Your enemies will stay far away.
You will live in peace,
and terror will not come near.
15 If any nation comes to fight you,
it is not because I sent them.
Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat.
16 “I have created the blacksmith
who fans the coals beneath the forge
and makes the weapons of destruction.
And I have created the armies that destroy.
17 But in that coming day
no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice
raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord;
their vindication will come from me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
New Living Translation (NLT)

A NEW BEGINNING FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN JESUS
2 Corinthians 5:14-21 Amplified Bible (AMP)
For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a human point of view [according to worldly standards and values]. Though we have known Christ from a human point of view, now we no longer know Him in this way. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. 18 But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him], 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God].

20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. 21 He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].

Three perfect storms in Bible (1) Prepared for Crisis

What are the three storms recorded in the Bible that still impact our lives today?  What are the common key(s) of overcoming the storms? Reading afresh the respective story of the storms encountered by Jonah, Jesus, and the apostle Paul (in chronological order), we shall find the amazing answers to overcoming the storm of FEAR. We shall read in three parts (in three days in chronological sequence). The first story is about the supernatural encounter of prophet Jonah.
JONAH’S STORM (quoted in parts from Jonah chapters 1-2; boldness of some verses added by this watchman; my notes are in italics).

THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME: in all three instances the Word of God is a significant deciding factor. In the case of Jonah and Paul they could hear God’s word (speaking to them in their spirit). God wants the ones who can hear Him to pay attention, believe and take action.  In the case of Jonah he chose not to listen even when he had heard clearly and specifically. He knew the consequences of his own decision against God’s decision about the lives of others at stake. He braved his own little body and soul (‘rightly’ constrained by his love and loyalty to his own nation, which had suffered thousands of years due to jealousy, hate, persecutions and oppression through recurring cruel conquests by enemy nations which surrounded her) against the foreseeable great personal storm to no avail. Why? Because God’s Word has spoken. God speaks of His mercy and wants to forgive and He gives an appointed time for them to repent, turn away from their wickedness and believe in the holy God, so that they may also be included in His Kingdom reserved for the Redeemed. God shows to even those who hate Him that He is a gracious and merciful God. But He has set a time frame for their repentance as shown in the case of the city of Nineveh.
ON THE QUESTION OF OVERCOMING FEAR: Jonah slept during the storm which threatened the lives of others as well as his on-board the same ship. Why? Was he oblivious of the big problem? From his conversation with others and with God, there was no question that he knew God. Knowing God is a key to overcoming fear. He was angry but fearless. The ship did not sink. God had not finished with him yet. Jonah knew it was a matter of time before he had to face God and not hide. From beginning to end of this episode Jonah was in the presence of a living God. And he knew this. 
KEY TO OVERCOME STORM: He prayed. And God heard his prayer.

After Jonah obeyed and preached to the city of Nineveh (modern-day Mosul, Iraq), because of the repentance of the king and all his people, it was given a respite from destruction. The Book of Jonah depicted events from the reign of the Hebrew King Jeroboam II (786-746 BC). While, in The Book of Jonah, the city is spared the wrath of God, other references to Nineveh in the Bible (The Books of Nahum and Zephaniah, among them) predict the destruction of the city by God’s will because they reverted to their wickedness against God’s people. In 612 BC the city of Nineveh was sacked and burned by the allied forces of the Persians, Medes, Babylonians, and others who then divided the region between them. The area was sparsely populated thereafter and, slowly, the ancient ruins became buried in earth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible verses from Jonah chapters 1-2 (in parts)
1:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah …, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He …found a ship going to Tarshish; …to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. ⁴ But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, ^[a] …But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. ⁶ So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; …” ⁹ So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” …“What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. ¹² And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; …” ¹⁵ .. and the sea ceased from its raging. ..

¹⁷ Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. ² And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me…Salvation is of the Lord.” ¹⁰ So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Freedom from fears

never before seen
such ample bountiful rich
blooms defying drought
————————————-
Sometimes we go through a prolonged spell of heat and drought. It seems very difficult to carry on living even the routine living human beings are equipped to live. The mind simply tells us self-talks that discourage and depress us further.
Today we read what Jesus says instead. All these words have come true. What Jesus has promised has happened. Those who believe in Jesus have experienced the abundant life through the power of the Holy Spirit He has given to His believers. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty – freedom from bondages, oppressions, depressions, infirmities, and all hindrances that block us from taking and living the abundant, super-sufficient life that Jesus has promised.
John 10
⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 7
³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ³⁹ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing^[g] in Him would receive; for the Holy^[h] Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 4
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Luke 11
¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
2 Corinthians 3:14-18 New King James Version (NKJV)
¹⁴ But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹⁵ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

a prayer for those who want freedom from fear of exam

this is the summary of prayers I pray for a student (also a relative) at the request of her mother.

Dear Abba Father:

I give thanks for Your giving … her precious life. thank You for loving her and giving your only Son Jesus for her. Thank you for giving her to our family.
I pray for … to know You and seek You first above all else. Let her have the desire and passion to read Your words and pray to You. Let your Son Jesus become her best best friend.
Father God, I ask You, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give … spiritual wisdom and insight so that she might grow in her knowledge of God. I pray that her heart will be flooded with light so that she can understand the confident hope You have given to those You called—Your holy people who are Your rich and glorious inheritance.

I also pray that she will understand the incredible greatness of Your power for us who believe You. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at Your right hand in the heavenly realms.

 

Father God, I pray that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You will empower … with inner strength through Your Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in her heart as she trusts in Him. Her roots will grow down into God’s love and keep her strong. And may she have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. May she experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then she will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
I pray for the mind of Christ take over her mind.
I pray for the Wisdom who is Jesus Himself for her.
I pray she will be led by the Spirit of Christ.
By Jesus’ stripes she has already been healed of all her infirmities and sicknesses. Surely He has borne all her diseases, and carried all her pains. By being hung on the cross (tree), He had taken all curses from her. The Holy Spirit comes upon her and breaks all her yoke.
I pray for the gift of foreign tongues (languages) for her so she may learn them (including …… at this time) without stress. I pray for her understanding the spiritual importance behind every subject that she learns and truly likes to learn them, as You have designed her to do accordingly.
I pray all these in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Thank You, Father, for hearing my prayer.

let the mind of Christ takes over

End Times crisis management: Abraham's success case

All over the world, people are woken to the fact that crisis and disasters are almost daily affairs. No time in history has there been such increasing intensity and urgency for a preparedness to be built up in every man and woman, every organization, regardless where or who or what we profess to be.
Christians have a manual on hand. The Bible. So I intend to spend sometime starting in this post to read some biblical events and ask that the Lord Holy Spirit to lead us through valuable lessons from the Commander in Chief in heaven Himself in His words. The cases show us principles that we can apply physically, mentally and spiritually. 
The first case recorded how Abraham responded successfully to a major life and death crisis of his loved one - nephew Lot and family.
Background:
1. Wars broke out between two interest groups (in those days, of kings)
2. Lot was a 'civilian citizen' or 'resident' of one of the kingdom. His king was defeated.
3. The defeated kingdoms were plundered and Lot too was captured with his family and all he owned.
4. Someone escaped and told Abraham.
Abraham's response:
1. He mobilized his best army whom he had trusted (318 trained men born into his household ). He was always prepared with good and trusted warriors for war like this. 
2. He was also prepared with faithful allies (neighbors with whom he had maintained comrade relationship long before the crisis). 
3. He was prepared in physical and mental stamina. He pursued until he caught up with the enemy.
4. He divided his men and attacked during the night. He was prepared with a battle strategy that indeed worked and overwhelmed this group of newly victorious invaders. 
5. The enemy fled, but he chased them (regardless the distance, the time and length of the war). He was prepared with his battle goal -total and definite casting out of the enemy. 
6. He fought until he recovered all that had been taken by the enemy. He did not stop until his final goals are fully accomplished - complete freedom for all the captives and their possessions. 
7. Why was Abraham so confident of success? He knew His God. He knew God was on his side. Who can be against him? 

Genesis 14
Abram Rescues Lot

New Living Translation (NLT)

14:1 About this time war broke out in the region...

5 One year later Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived and defeated ...
8 Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle ...10 As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains.
11 The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies.
12 They also captured Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned.
13 But one of Lot’s men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram’s allies.
14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15 There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 
16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Words: John­son Oat­man, Jr., in Songs for Young Peo­ple, by Ed­win Ex­cell (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: 1897).
Music: Edwin O. Excell (MI­DI, score).
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Refrain

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Refrain

Ephesians 1:3-6  (NKJV) Redemption in Christ

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
_______________________

HYMN HISTORY:   Rev. Johnson Oatman, Jr., was one of the important and prolific gospel song writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was born near Medford, New Jersey, on April 21, 1856. As a child he became acquainted with the hymns of the church through the singing talents of his father.
At the age of nineteen Oatman joined the Methodist Church and several years later was granted a license to preach in local Methodist congregations. Though he wrote over 5,000 hymn texts, Oatman was busily engaged throughout his life in a mercantile business and later as an administrator for a large insurance company in New Jersey. Other gospel favorites by Johnson Oatman include “Higher Ground, and “No, Not One!” (http://hishymnhistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/count-your-blessings.html)

Psalm 91: positive voice amidst confusion and fear

 This psalm speaks of four positions. I have divided the verses according to these positions with my notes in brackets. This is for today and all the days when you see the descriptions of this psalm around you. You will not be afraid when you know what happens in the spiritual realm and that our God has made a provision for such days for His people, those who are called by His name.

The four positions are: God; the psalmist witness; you and I (those who have believed in Jesus and are now in God's Kingdom); the wicked (those who are still outside God's Kingdom) in God's eyes. 

___________________

Psalm 91

New King James Version (NKJV)

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

(the witness speaks and testifies of what God shall do for His own children in His Kingdom)

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

(God has a place called 'secret place' under His protection. He wants you to live in that place. Where is it? It is right under His shadow, in His presence.)
² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

(We have absolute security there. But we need to say to ourselves, and proclaim this truth. This spoken word shall be our shield and buckler, the armor that we must put on at all times.)

_______________________

³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

(The dangers are real. But God is real and can be trusted. Surely He shall do as He has said. These words of deliverance from actual trap and potential harm are real. God has spoken through the psalmist witness, who knows God and has experienced God. God will do just as He has promised. How shall we receive the protection?  By believing in and proclaiming His words, which are truth. The truth will set us free from any dangerous situations we may be in.)

_______________________
⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

(The threats and attacks are real. They can come in any forms, intensities, impacts, times. They cause massive destruction, fears and even death. But our position in Christ is secure. We can even witness the physical damages to people around us.) 

_______________________

⁹ Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
¹² In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

(How do we receive such supernatural protection? The psalmist witness spoke again. Only one condition is needed; that we make God our dwelling place. In God's presence, no evil spiritual forces or the use of any forms of physical attacks can come near our location, because we live and position ourselves before God in Christ. Our daily movements will be guarded by God's mighty angels, spiritual guards. We have our protection in the spiritual realm. Who are the enemies? a 'stone', something to stumble us and make us fall. 'Serpents and lions'. Spiritual beings. 

 There are two scenario here: when we rest, we are safe in God's presence. When we need to move and carry out our assignments in life, mighty angels will assist us in the spiritual realm.)

 _______________________

¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

(God has spoken here. He tells us why He is pleased to deliver and even honor us. he expects us to love Him and know His name, having a close relationship with Him. He has assured again He is pleased to give long life and salvation to us.)

___________In conclusion:

Psalm 92:1-2

New King James Version (NKJV)

Praise to the Lord for His Love and Faithfulness

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.

92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
² To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night...