GIFTED FOR SERVICE

Number 18:7
‘I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service,

but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.’

1. Serving YHWH is not just a call, it is a GIFT!

2. The call is ‘person-specific’ not random!

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

I am specifically chosen

to be blessed (gifted)

with a specific call to serve

the LIVING YHWH ELOHIM !

Just as I would joyfully receive a gift

– especially if I know that the giver is

a most honourable and trustworthy person

– so I should joyfully embrace

my call in God.
There is nothing to fear,

only an expectation of something good!

Thank You Father, for calling me.

Thank You for the gift of serving you

especially through my worship.

I am so blessed to know that You consider me

worthy of such a gift as serving You, the only true and living God.

Help me to rejoice always in this gift

– even through difficult times.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

INSTABILITY

Num 9:18-23

‘At the command of the LORD the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not journey. So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the LORD they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the LORD they would journey. So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the LORD they remained encamped, and at the command of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses.’

We often hear about how children need stability in order to grow into well balanced adults. The second generation of Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert at the most irregular and unpredictable pace imaginable. If stability was something to be desired, it was definitely something they never even understood.Yet it was this same generation that went in and conquered the land of promise, Canaan land!

What is the real stability our children need?

A permanent address?

Or the permanent presence of YHWH leading them through the days and nights of their lives?

How lovely is Your tabernacle,

O LORD of hosts!

My soul longs, yes, even faints

For the courts of the LORD;

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young

—Even Your altars,

O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.....

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness...

(Psa 84:1-3,10)

Thank You Father, for Your presence in our lives and homes; for it more than makes up for allthat we may lack in our natural lives. Thank You also for the assurance, that just by Your presence alone our children can enter in and possess all Your promises for a full and blessed life in the service of Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

FAITHFUL GOD

Psa 60:9-12Who will bring me to the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?
Is it not You, O GOD, WHO CAST US OFF? And You, O GOD, WHO DID NOT GO OUT WITH OUR ARMIES? Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.

THROUGH GOD WE WILL DO VALIANTLY, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies. David had an unwavering confidence in God’s faithfulness
– even at the lowest point of Israel’s relationship with Him.The same God who had cast them off and had not gone out with their armies was the God whom David knew would bring them a great victory and destroy their enemies!
Joh 14:16 Jesus said, ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever...’
2Ti 2:13 ‘If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.’

Nothing can stop YHWH from granting us victory over all our enemies.

Even in the midst of disciplining us, He will cause us to be victorious!

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (Lam 3:22-23)

OUR INHERITANCE

Psa 47:4
He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

We often talk about claiming our inheritance in God.
But the Word clearly shows us, that God chooses our inheritance for us.
Ours is not to choose, but to rejoice in and enjoy it!

Before entering Canaan land, God had already apportioned territories to each tribe of Israel.

Jos 14:1-2 ‘These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan,
which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of
the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them. Their inheritance was by lot,
as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses,....’

Eph 2:10 ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’

Even the works that we are to do for YHWH has been predestined.

It is not about how busy we are, but whether or not we are doing what He wants.
It is not about how much we have, but whether or not it is what He has given us or what we just decided to take for ourselves.

Rom 12:2-3 ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.’

It is worldliness that pushes us to be over ambitious and claim as much as possible for ourselves (even in the name of Jesus).

God has chosen our inheritance for us. We should not settle for less, but neither should we aspire for more.

1Ti 6:6 ‘Now godliness with contentment is great gain.’

Thank You Father, for the inheritance I have in You. Help me to possess
all You have apportioned for me for Your glory and my joy.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

A YEAR OF REAPING :Direction for 2011

Key Scripture: Psa 126:5-6
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Apostle Paul exhorts us in Galatians 6:9
‘And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.’

I believe, in the coming year and onward, all we have been patiently sowing will begin to bear fruit. We will begin to reap the seeds we have sown. We can even expect some surprises with regards to some of the deep, silent prayers (with tears) we have been praying.

However, Psalm 126 does set a condition to reaping.
The question to ask is: How do we reap?
Then, based on Psalm 126:
Do we rejoice because we are reaping, or reap because we are rejoicing?

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- As a people of faith, we must rejoice in order to reap. ‘Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.’

Isa 12:3 ‘Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.’ We will reap if we remain in a spirit of thanksgiving, praise and worship.

I believe YHWH is calling upon His people to pull back (slow down) and spend more time in worship.
Psa 50:9-15, 23 ‘I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills......"If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."....Whoever offers praise glorifies Me...’

Isa 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

As we mature in the Lord, we are to do less but allow God to do more. Instead of flying, we should run; instead of running, we should walk; instead of walking, we are to be still.Our power and might must decrease, but the work of His Spirit in and through us must increase. And that will only happen when we are willing to stand still and allow Him to go before us.

‘And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD,
which He will accomplish for you today.”’ (Exo 14:13)
Psa 149:1-9Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song,And His praise in the assembly of saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name with the dance;Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;He will beautify the humble with salvation.Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds.Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,And a two-edged sword in their hand,To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;To execute on them the written judgment—This honor have ALL HIS SAINTS.

Praise the LORD! We will see victory by the ‘high praises of God’ – Worship, and ‘a two-edged sword’ - the Word. The coming year is a year of reaping. Not by own strengths, plans or strategies but by the Spirit of the Lord through an increased ministry of worship and proclamation of His word.

My exhortation to all of us, brothers, is to reduce our busy-ness (even ministries) in the coming year and to come away more and more into the courts of the King.

Songs 2:10-14
My beloved spoke, and said to me: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.The fig tree puts forth her green figs,And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell.Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away!"O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff,Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice;For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely."

Heavenly Father, Your Son Jesus made a way for us to come boldly into Your throne of grace. Move us by Your Spirit to come and to remain behind the veil, offering up the sacrifices of praise to You, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to Your name. For this is the sacrifice that You desire, the offering that glorifies You. In Jesus name we ask and pray, amen. May you be blessed with the manifested presence of YHWH in your life this coming year 2011. SHALOM.