OUR FATHER WHOSE REIGN WILL BRING TRUE PEACE ON EARTH

The book of Isaiah chapter 11 verse 7 says this;

The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together,  and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

This verse, part of a passage that speaks of the Messiah's second arrival on earth to save the remnant of his people and establish His reign on the earth, illustrates the effect that His reign will  have on the natural world.

It discusses how the animal kingdom will be altered so that it no longer operates on the tooth-and-claw (prey and predator) principle but rather on a model of coexistence and cooperation.

The devourers of the realm are rendered harmless and this can be extended to be an illustration of how the devourers of the spiritual realm will being neutralized as threats.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO KEEPS MEMORIALS

The book of Hebrews chapter 9 verse 4, discussing the things that were inside the most holy place of the temple, says this;

 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 

There were two primary items in the sacred space behind the second curtain. These were the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant.

The ark of the covenant which was like a chest and it contained a number of sacred articles; the golden jar of manna from the time the children of Israel survived in the wilderness on angel's food provided daily by God.

The ark also contained the rod of Aaron (Israel's first high priest) which was a branch from an almond tree, which, though dried up, grew new leaves, grew flowers and even had almonds ready..

The last inventoried items were the two stone tablets that the Lord had instructed the ten commandments be written on back on Mount Sinai.

These articles are a witness  to the history of the Lord's miraculous walk with Israel.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO LIFTS US WHEN WE FALL

Psalm chapter 13 verse 4 says this;

and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

After suffering a defeat and succumbing to attacks that came against him, the psalmist cries out to the Lord to help.

He is full of sorrow and regret and he asks the Lord not to give up on him.

The psalmists reasons with the Lord that if he completely falls away and dies, the enemy of his soul would have the opportunity to exult over the fact that he fell.

In the end, he puts his trust in the unfailing love of God and the gratitude for the salvation that the Lord has provided evokes songs of praise. As Psalm 13 verses 5 - 6 says, 

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO MARKS A REMNANT FOR PRESERVATION

The book of Ezekiel chapter 9 verse 4, recording the words of the Lord directed at a man who came from heaven with a writing impliment at his side,  says this;

and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

The man from heaven had been summoned with a loud voice to report to the temple in Jerusalem.

He was given the instruction to go to every part of the city and use the writing tool  to mark the foreheads of the people who were grieved by the things being done there.

This mark on their foreheads excluded them from the judgement of death that was coming to the city.

Six other men were summoned with weapons to bring judgement on the whole of Jerusalem but if they came across a person who had been marked on the forehead, they were to spare that person.

When the prophet Ezekiel lamented to the Lord about the judgement that was falling upon the people who were already but a remnant of the people of Israel, the Lord told Ezekiel that the judgement was brought upon the people because they had cultivated injustice and bloodshed.

The few of those in the city who were aghast over the injustice and bloodshed were the ones left as a remnant of a remnant.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENDS US PROPHETS TO WARN US OF WHERE OUR CONDUCT WILL TAKE US

The book of Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 11 says this;

Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”

This verse is the instruction that the Lord gave to the prophet Ezekiel to speak to the children of Israel and to warn them about their rebellion.

The Lord commanded Ezekiel to speak  to the people the word of the Lord whether they listened or not.

This the almost the  same admonition that Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2 which says;

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO STRENGTHENS US

The book of Isaiah chapter 59 verse 10 says this;

Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes.

At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.

This verse is part of a description by the prophet Isaiah of our desperate human condition without God.

Without the light of the Lord, we are like sightless people groping our way through life trying to feel our way along any solid structure to  find an opening.

Even when there is bright illumination in the middle of the day, we remain unseeing and stagger as though we were in darkness.  

Our spiritual senses are inoperative and we are unable percieve the spiritual realities that we are immersed in.

It is also in this context that we are weak and helpless in the arena of the spirit where were are almost powerless against influences from the spiritual realm.

It is only  through our regeneration through Jesus Christ who redeemed us that we gain sensory awareness of the things of the spirit and we get stronger by the Lord who, as the book of Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 says;

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO UPHOLDS US AS WE MOVE FROM DEATH TO LIFE

The book of Ezra chapter 4 verses 9 - 10 says this;

9 - Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

10 -  and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.

These verses are the introduction portion of a letter that Rahum and Shimshai wrote to Arterxerxes, king of Persia.

Rahum and Shimshai were administrative officers overseeing the Samarian and areas west of the Euphrates river that were regions of the Persian conquests.

At the time of the letter, Jerusalem was being rebuilt  under the authorization of Cyrus king of Persia.

Rahum and Shimshai were concerned that the rebuilding of Jerusalem would create a problem because of the history of sedition and  rebellion against rulers.

They felt that once Jerusalem was completed, the people therein would cease paying tribute and establish a platform for resistance.

In their letter to king Arterxerxes, they urged him to halt the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Artaxeres concurred which them and issued an order to have the construction efforts stopped.

The rebuilding of Jerusalem was thus halted until the time of the reign of the king Darius of Persia.

When we are saved, our souls and minds need to be rebuilt but sometimes, letters are drawn up by the enemies of our souls to delay the reconstruction project in our lives citing our history of rebellion.

We then find ourselves stalled in the process and unable to gain traction in the furtherance of our Christian walk.

It was only until the prophets Haggai and Zacharaiah gave word to start work again that the reconstruction of Jerusalem resumed under the leaders Zerrubabel and Joshua.

The question of the legitimacy of the rebuilding project arose again among the Persian administrators of that region and they approached the leaders of the project to ask them under whose authority they were undertaking the project.

As the work continued, a letter was sent to King Darius of Persia to get verification that the rebuilding of Jerusalem was lawful.

The letter refferenced the original decree issued by King Cyrus that released men and resources to return to Israel to rebuild the temple.

When we find our reconstruction project held up by spiritual resistance, we can wait upon the Lord to hear a word that galvanizes us to resume our rebuilding process. We can get this from prophetic voices in our midst and upon getting our impetus to continue pressing forward, we can reference the original authorization of our salvation that set us free and gave us the resources to rebuild our souls through the finished works of the Lord Jesus.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE GLORY IS DECLARED BY THE HEAVENS 

Psalm 19 verse 3 (Amplified version) says this;

There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars]; Their voice is not heard.

In describing how the heavens continuously declare the glory of the Lord and how the skies proclaim the works of God's hands, this verse states that the broadcasts of such knowledge are silent and occur without audible words.

This counterintuitively silent mode of the transmission of knowledge from the heavens to the earth suggests the existence of a discreet spiritual channel that is spiritually discerned and spiritually decoded.

Amen.

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