Marching Forth!

On the theme of rest, last night during a prayer meeting the LORD lead me to  Psalm 116:5-9 which says, " Gracious is the LORD , and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. 6  The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7  Return to your rest, O my soul, f or the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 8  For You have delivered my soul from death, m y eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9  I will walk before the LORD in  the land of the living ."  The psalmist loved the LORD and cried out to Him knowing he would be graciously heard.  How blessed are the people whose God is the LORD, the Creator of the heaven and earth. The good things God does spring from how good He is.  God is gracious, righteous, merciful, the One who preserves, a Saviour.  In the midst of trouble the psalmist was moved to return to his Rest who is the God who dealt bountifully with him, having delivered his soul from death, ey...

When King Hezekiah was besieged in Jerusalem with the remnant of Israel, the pompous Rabshakeh of Assyria hurled a lot of verbal rubbish as he threatened, cajoled, and mocked.  Nestled in the arrogant boasting and blasphemy there was a grain of truth.  He falsely accused King Hezekiah as relying upon Egypt for help, but his conclusions about those who place their trust in men was dead on.  He said in  2 Kings 18:21 , " Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him ." There is reason why reeds are not used for supporting the structure of buildings.  A gentle breeze moves them and very little effort is required to push them over.  The Rabshakeh compared the king of Egypt to a broken reed damaged beyond repair, and trying to lean on the staff of Egypt--a sturdy stick used to maintain balance and footing while walking-...

Have you ever been in a room or an area so dark your eyes strained to find any source of light in vain?  I think that well describes the condition of many today in the world without Jesus.  Scour the news reports, check that superannuation again, tune into the predictions of professors, and we are left in an unsettling darkness of doom.  For those who are in Christ we have a source of light which comes not by improved circumstances, positive thinking, or forecasts of better days ahead, but in Himself expressed by love, grace, provision, and compassion. For my mates in Australia, it was just in December I remember the bleak reports concerning the drought situation.  Stage 2 water restrictions had just been implemented in NSW and the immediate reports from news stations and the water minister was Stage 3 restrictions were right around the corner.  When rain was forecast caution was urged:  "Don't expect this rainfall to make any impact in our dams or reduc...

" Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers' houses, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here ." Ezra 4:1-2 It is strange that enemies of Israel would seek to help them in building, yet here a tactic the enemy of our souls employs.  The enemies of Israel could not overturn the command of King Cyrus but could be a thorn in their side by close proximity.  If permitted to work alongside God's people they would labour to undermine the project rather than to advance it.  They happily pointed out their allegiance to God and conveniently made no mention of other gods they also worshiped.  Thankfully God's people were in a high point of zeal for the glory of God and the hono...

Jesus used parables to teach spiritual truth, and God uses all manner of things to instruct us today in His ways.  During preparation for last Sunday's message I was blessed to gain insight concerning what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Plain:  " Of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks ." ( Luke 6:45 )  "Garbage in, garbage out," some people say, but the point Jesus made was that it is the rubbish already in the heart of people which expresses itself in our words:  what is hidden in our hearts and heads will be manifested in our thoughts, words, and decisions. I maintain a pool at our house we rent that is surrounded by several palm trees.  Almost simultaneously they all put out pods of flowers and small berries which drop into the pool.  Leaves from an overhanging tree also fall into the pool and the circulating water pulls the debris floating on the surface into a filter.  There is a primary and secondary filter to prevent debris from da...

We have been reading through the book of Ezra as a family and I was struck by the remarkable scenes of the children of Israel returning to Jerusalem at the command of King Cyrus to rebuild the temple.  People were not commanded to go up by heritage alone or lot but according to their willingness.  The LORD stirred the hearts of people to leave the land of their captivity and return to the ruins of Jerusalem to re-establish the worship of God who was their Inheritance.  They were greatly blessed and provided for by God.  It was God and faith in Him which enabled them to overcome their fears. See what Ezra 3:1-3 says:  " And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it ...

I am convinced unless God was entirely good, loving, gracious, and merciful there would be no possibility for humanity to survive.  If there was a shred of greed, selfishness, pride, or arrogance in God it would only be a matter of time (and God is eternal!) before He wiped us off this planet like we sanitise surfaces of unwanted germs.  Even in times of difficulty and trials He remains good.  Our natural tendency is to turn away from or against the God who is our only source of hope, healing, and salvation to worries and fears. In correspondence with my mum today she referenced Psalm 103 and what consolation is found there for all!  When I read through God's Word I mused to myself, who can say it better than God Himself, the One whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting?  Now matter where or when we live, we exist in the peak season of God's mercy.  What an exhortation it is for people hungry for God's blessings to place their focus on blessing ...