Marching Forth!

As I left a meeting and stepped into the carpark this morning, the lyrics from Bryan Adam's "Summer of '69" went through my head.  It was a bit bizarre, as it has been at least a decade since I heard the song!  Looking back on his life Bryan sings, " Oh, when I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever.  And if I had the choice, yeah, I'd always wanna be there.  Those were the best days of my life ."  If we go through life looking on how things were with regret, wishing we could "go back in time" like Uncle Rico in the movie Napoleon Dynamite , we may end up living alone in a van somewhere.  We cannot go back in time, even if we use the internet to buy a machine - complete with crystals.  When we try to live in the past, we'll never embrace the future. That's one aspect of walking with Jesus Christ I love:  He provides the opportunity for new beginnings.  We don't need to long to return to a past awakening, revival, or mo...

God's Word is amazing how it provides keys to unlock deeper understanding of God and His ways.  The more you read of the Bible, the more you realise it is one book written by a single Author:  God!  There were many men used by God to pen the scriptures, but clearly He inspired all of them.  An example I have been pondering recently is found in the book of Proverbs which relates to what Jesus says in Matthew. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20, " Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them ."  I don't know abo...

Jehoshaphat was a king who trusted in God.  He was a man who "questioned" God, but not the doubtful way God's existence is "questioned" today.  Jehoshaphat asked questions of God, knowing God heard his prayers and would honour His promises.  It is not a lack of faith that moved Jehoshaphat to ask questions of God:  it was faith that compelled him to seek God in his time of need. When the Moabites and Ammonites came against Judah and Jerusalem with a massive army, Jehoshaphat's response was to seek refuge in his God.  In response to the invaders 2 Chronicles 20:3-12 says, " And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 and said: "O LORD God of our fathe...

One of the men in the Bible I truly admire is found in 2 Chronicles 18:  Micaiah the son of Imlah.  He was a faithful prophet to God when he faced a lot of pressure to fall in line with Ahab's 400 prophets.  The wicked king Ahab couldn't stand the man!  When Jehoshaphat asked if they could inquire of the LORD before going to battle in Ramoth-Gilead, Ahab quickly produced his 400 prophets.  Their consensus?  "Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand."  We are not told how, but Jehoshaphat discerned these 400 prophets were not speaking for God.  So he politely asked Ahab, "Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might inquire of him?" Ahab was blunt.  2 Chronicles 18:7 tells us, " So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah." And Jehoshaphat s...