Moses was the leader of the descendants of Abraham. He led the people out from Egypt after God sent the ten plagues.
The people came to Mt Sinai. Moses brought the people out to meet God. There was thunder, lighting, a dense cloud and the sound of loud trumpets. All the people were filled with fear.
The Lord had descended upon Mt Sinai in the fire and smoke rose up like the smoke of a furnace. The entire mountain trembled. The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then God spoke the Ten Commandments to the people, the Jews. Exodus 19-20.
They were entrusted with the words of God. Romans 3. They heard God speak. There is no other nation who heard God’s voice. God gave revelation to the Jews, the Ten Commandments.
Four weeks ago the daffodils in our front town garden were beginning to bud. They blossomed and produced a stunning , bright, fresh, spring display of gold. Two weeks on we had an overnight fall of snow which weighed heavily on the daffodils. They were bowed down for two days till the snow melted.
The daffodils have recovered from the ordeal. They have lifted their heads again to enjoy a few spells of sunshine. They are signs of hope of better days of warmth and recovery.
Nature speaks of the Glory of God. He created all life around us. Praise Him.
I was reading today from Acts 2. Brendan and I visited the Upper Room which is historically know to be where the disciples met together after Jesus ascended into heaven.
We met a group of believers from Brazil praising God in the Upper Toom. Brendan and I joined in their dancing. I noticed a lady beside me who was weak. I asked did anyone need prayer for healing. I offered to pray. Many of the group gathered around me and I prayed in Jesus name for them. It was a special time.
There are two important feasts the Jews celebrated. Firstly the Passover, to remember the freedom from Egypt. Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead on the weekend of Passover.
Secondly the Shavuot which is fifty days after Passover. It was to remember Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. All Jewish men were required to come to the Temple in Jerusalem on these feast days. It is interesting to read that there were Jews in the city from as far away as Pakistan, Egypt and Rome.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven He told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift The Father had promised. They were baptised with the Holy Spirit at Shavnot, know to us as Pentecost. They spoke in new languages.
When the disciples went down among the men who were gathered from the nations they were speaking in new languages. The men from the nations heard their own language from the disciples who were praising God.
Peter explained what had happened to Jesus and that he was the Messiah the Jews were waiting for. Three thousand people believed Peter that day. Among them were Jews from all the nations. These new believers brought the gospel back home to the nations they lived in. That was the beginning of the gospel being spread to the nations.
The Father poured out thd Holy Spirit when Jews from the nations were gathered. God’s timing is perfect.
Over two thousand years since then we are waiting for Jesus return to earth. He spoke to his disciples about it. He said there will be earthquakes and wars. But only The Father knows the time of Jesus return. God’s timing again will be perfect.
It’s Sunday morning again. My neighbour Elizabeth who is eighty two years old, has just finished playing Worship music in her front room. I can listen and join with her in Spirit next door.
She played the organ for many years in a large church down town in Belfast. She lead the congregation in Worship to Our Heavenly Father every Sunday for many years till her retirement.
Her front room is her Cathedral and I am her congregation.
Back in December Elizabeth had a few setbacks. She strained her shoulders as she stretched to do some housework. The doctors diagnosed arthritis. She took prescribed medication.
Her hands and wrists were so sore she stopped playing her music. The piano fell silent. I visited her and encouraged her. She asked me to pray.
To add to her difficulties she fell when out walking. She fractured her left hand finger and was bruised all over. She had a lonely Christmas, without her usual invite out for Christmas Day.
Elizabeth is a fighter. She is an overcomer. She trusts in God who has been her companion all her days. She is healed from all pain. She is playing her piano again. Elizabeth is like the snowdrop that appears again after dark days.
Her praises to God ring out in my street in Belfast. As a Chorus goes “God’s not dead, no He is alive.” The big Churches may be closed down but Praise is still happening in Elizabeth’s front room.
Brendan and I went for a drive to the country today. We called at a friends farmhouse. He has a garden that has been tended lovingly for about one hundred years. Different generations of his family before him have worked in the garden.
In January I look out for snowdrops, the harbinger of warmer days and spring. I have noticed an odd bunch here and there.
In the garden we visited today, growing under a budding Magnolia tree is a display of snowdrops. Their white heads have pushed through the dead leaves and green grass. The display of early blossoms reminds me of the following scripture from Isaiah 35.
35 Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. 2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God. 3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. 4 Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.” 5 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. 6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
May the snowdrop blossoms cheer you. Be expectant of good days ahead. Healing will come to you. God is coming to save you.
I read about David. He suffered in exile far away from his own family and country, being chased by King Saul who was deeply jealous of him.
After some time King Saul died. The people of Israel invited David back to Israel and they made him their king. It is not easy being a ruler or leader and one doesn’t want to take that position without it being God ordained. Many will resist one’s position. But David was anointed by Samuel many years previous to be king over Israel. God brought David to be king.
When David was made King over Israel he arranged for the priests to worship and thank God with psalms and music all day every day. David knew God’s saving power on his journeys running from Saul. He learnt to fight the enemies of God’s people. He started off by killing the lion and the bear who attacked his father’s sheep. He wanted to honor God.
As worship to God was going on God prospered all David did and God delivered Israel from all her enemies.
God is in heaven where the angels and saints cry Holy, Holy Holy. Should we not do the same on the earth. There is no other God. He is worthy to be praised. Let us magnify His name. He made the heavens and the earth.
Let us not bring God down to our level. The Word of God says if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me. In the past people who attended Church wore their best clothes. They respected God and each other. It was special to go to the house of God.
As I drive around Brlfast there are many large grand churches especially on the Ormeau Rd area and the Shankill Rd. Nearby are large houses which once were full of families. Children played in the street. No more. Many of the Churches are empty or few people attending. Worship has stopped . The Lord is not lifted up in the community. The Lord’s enemies are not resisted.
We worship the same God as David. He is the same God yesterday and forever. Let us return to honouring and thanking God for his greatness with our voices and music. Let us magnify Him and not bring Him down to our level. I pray Let my people go to Worship God. If we do God will deliver us from our enemies and we can live in peace and be unafraid.
Here is the story of a man who was misunderstood and suffered much rejection. Perhaps you can identify with him.
His name is Joseph. He came from a big family, thirteen in fact. He had dreams from God . His Father favoured him and made him a beautiful coat. He was about 18 when this happened. His brothers hated him and put him down a well intending to leave him there to die. Instead they took him out of the well and sold him to passing traders who sold him as a slave in Egypt.
But God was with him and gave him favour with his master, Potiphar. Joseph was put in charge of Potiphar’s household. All his household affairs went smoothly and He didn’t have a thing to worry about.
Joseph was a handsome and well built young man. Potiphar wife desired him but He ran away and got blamed in the wrong and was put in prison. . When he was put in prison God was with him there too and he was granted favor with the jailer. He had no more worries because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him making everything run smoothly and successfully.
Despite being hated by his brothers and being far away from his father, who thought he was dead, God comforted him and blessed him whether in the palace or in jail,
Take heart anyone today who feels like Joseph, rejected and hated. Believe in Jesus. He promises to those who are open to his teaching more understanding and knowledge. Matt 12 v 12.
God is with you and will give you favor in whatever situation you are in; home, school, prison, or workplace. You will get promotion and you will prosper.
Whether in the town or country I always hear a bird singing in the early morning while it is still dark.
It’s a new day and a new year. I learn from the little children they awake and expect they will get breakfast. They play and look for something they enjoy doing. Until mum calls them to get washed and dressed.
Isn’t it easier to start if we have something to ease us into the new day and the work ahead of us. For someone it is that hot cup of coffee and sitting by the heat to wake us up. Or listening to the radio, checking one’s Facebook or a chat to a friend.
Whether you are happy or sad there is someone who is with you whom you can’t see but He is there. His name is Jesus. He sticks closer than a brother. You have a guardian angel with you all the time. He watches over you. Take time to welcome Jesus presence. Just like that little bird singing outside, I can’t see him but I can hear him.
I was blessed this week by the little children. On New Year’s morning we went along to a friend’s gathering. There was a little girl there. She was about six years old. She skipped and danced the whole time. When the worship music started she twirled and did head springs. Her mum gave her a bag of sweets to share. She had no fear and approached everyone to offer him a sweet.
When I visit with my son’s family his daughter greets me and wants to show me how she can dance and pirroet. Next time I will pay more attention and share in her joy.
My son’s children are free like little birds that jump about near the mothers nest till they can fly. When we visit they run, leap and dive from the chair into the settee. I would have been correcting them in the past and wanting them to behave. But no. Let them be free.
Happy New Year to all my readers. Everyone wants to win the lottery. Everyone would not refuse money. I am offering you today something that is better than fine gold and it is free.
I’ve started reading from my daily Bible again. A little bit of scripture every day. Why not start the New Year with reading from the scripture. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
I have studied at university but I didn’t find out the truth about how to live on the earth with others. I studied about history, nature and gained much knowledge. My first essay was on the Origin of Man. My teachers were denying the truth that God created man and woman and that they were created in God’s image. They tried to tell me we evolved from apes!
I am on day five of reading the Bible. There is so much basic truth for life on the first chapters of the bible. God spoke to me when I read Genises 1 forty six years ago. I learnt that God who created the heavens and the earth made me in his image and told me to increase and multiply. God blessed me with fourteen children and twenty five grandchildren since I read that word. I received faith when I read those words.
I can assure you that if you pick up a bible and start reading it God will speak to you through the words you read. You can start anywhere. Your mind will be renewed.
Our countries in the west are proud of their universities. They are sources of knowledge. Poorer countries are envious and would love the opportunity to go there. But our centres of learning fill us with more knowledge. God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of good and evil. They disobeyed. We are descendants of Adam and Eve. We are full of the knowledge of good and evil. We are gods in our own mind. We feel we don’t need to submit to anyone. We know what is good and evil.
When I open Facebook I see advertisements for how to live better, loose weight, look younger, heal yourself, eat this, don’t eat that. The best way to live is by doing it according to God’s will and not our own. Not by might, not by power but by His Holy Spirit.
One can live on the earth but if we don’t submit to the One who is God of gods and Lord of lords we will not have eternal life. Read the Bible and you will get to know the truth.
Study the Bible. From the mother at home, the factory worker, the prisoner to the lorry driver you can listen or read the Bible as you work. There are so many ways of accessing the bible, radio, cds, pod casts etc.
I found much of the truth I know about child rearing and healing from reading the Bible, a little every day. Start your new career today by reading the Bible for yourself in this New Year. I’m giving you a gift that is better than fine gold.
There is a chorus that goes “All over the world the Spirit is moving”. I say Amen to that.
Brendan and I are just back from a mission to Slovakia. We were well received in the Conference and other small groups we were invited to.
Brendan majored on teaching on how to receive the Holy Spirit with speaking in the language God gives. He says if it was good enough for Mary, Jesus mother and Peter and the other apostles why not receive like they did. It’s a big shock for some to know that Mary spoke in tongues. I majored on deliverance and healing.
The Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost to give the disciples Power to be witnesses for Jesus. The church was born.
The devil has power. He said to Jesus in the wilderness when he took Jesus to a high place “If you bow down and worship me I will give you all these kingdoms. ” Jesus replied you must worship God alone so get out of here.
When Jesus was crucified on the cross and died He defeated Satan. He broke the power of death and hell and sin to save the whole world from the power of Satan. People don’t know they are under the power of Satan if they don’t believe and obey Jesus.
Jesus told his mother, family and his disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive power from on high. The Holy Spirit came and gave them power to cast out demons, heal the sick and raise the dead.
The Holy Spirit is described in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22 as the river that flows from the temple. Wherever the water flows everything shall live. There will be no curse. Salty water becomes fresh with fish living in it. Trees grow on each side of the river bearing fruit. The leaves do not wither but are for healing the nations.
If you want to live, be healed, bear fruit and catch fish get planted beside the river of God and let your roots grow deep. Pray in the Spirit at all times and you will not sin or get sick and you can do the work Jesus gave you to do.
Your work may be being a father, a mother, a schoolgirl or boy, farmer, pensioner, doctor, lawyer, servant etc. You will have power to do it well.
Healed of Cancer. Angela McCauley 