Communication with God

This is a post that I put on my blog two years ago, and I just felt that I would like to share it again as my blog was very new then and some of you may not have read my testimony on this issue.

My friend and I felt that we had been neglecting our evangelism in the streets.  We have put poetry together with scripture in the form of leaflets to hand out to people and sometimes I take my guitar and we sing songs that we believe the Lord has brought us to write.  We decided that we would go on the Friday of that week into the town centre, and also take the guitar.  By the time Thursday had arrived I was feeling apprehensive about taking the guitar out with us and singing, partly because I was just getting over a cold, and partly because I hadn't sung in the street for a while.  So I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to show me whether I should take the guitar with me or not.  I was quite happy just to give out the leaflets.

That night I had a dream that I was given a sheet of paper.  At first glance the piece of paper appeared to be blank.  Then, as I tilted it, the light seemed to catch it and reveal a hidden message, almost as if there was another layer, beneath the top blank sheet, that could only be revealed when the light caught it a certain way.  I could barely make out what it said, but the harder I looked the clearer the message became.  It was simply the number 147.
 

The next morning I forgot all about having the dream, until I was seeking th Lord again about whether I should take my guitar out and sing that afternoon.  I had my Bible in front of me and suddenly the dream returned to my mind.  I felt led to read Psalm 147.  The first line said to sing praises, for a sontg of praise is seemly.  Verse seven also spoke about singing with a musical instrument.  Verse eleven says that the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him.  I decided that I was being told by the Lord to take the guitar and sing.  When I reached my friends house, she said she had also been reading Psalm 147 and believed we were were to sing as well as handing out the leaflets.  This we did and had a very good response from people on the street.
 

The next day I was working on my computer with an image manipulation package in which I can work with layers, a facility which gives me the ability to use several layers to build up a picture.  It enables me to totally block out a layer beneath the active layer without losing the information on that lower layer, it is simply obscured from my view.  What I see on my computer screen depends on which layer I choose to place on top as the active layer.  That same morning the postman had brought a letter from my bank which told me that there was a new way of getting help other than from the help desk at my branch.  There was a phone number to ring and if I peeled back a slip on a blank sheet of paper that was in the envelope, my code number, which I must use when I call, would be revealed.  As I peeled back the slip of paper my mind was cast back to my dream, and I realized that God was showing me something.
 

The blank sheet in my dream represented my carnal mind which was not really knowing what to do concerning the singing.  The other layer which appeared when the sheet of paper was tilted in the light was the enlightened word of the Holy Spirit directing me to the rhema word of God spoken to me in Psalm 147.

This incident showed me the importance of seeking God's will not only for direction as to what the Lord has called me to do, but also for seeking His word for guidance as to how my way of thinking must change according to His word spoken to me.  As with the layers facility on my computer program, the carnal mind has the ability to blank out the spiritual mind of Christ if I do not stay in communication with the Lord.  Just like the layers facility on my computer, what I see depends on which mind I keep active.  Also, the personal code number that I must use to get help from my bank represented the enlightened word of God being revealed to me, in my own life and ministry, through prayer.

 

After I finished writing this article I picked up one of my Christian daily devotional booklets to see what the day's reading was and this is what it said.  'God revealed Himself to Samuel through His word.'

Achan (troubler)

A Christian lady confesses openly in front of a group of ladies that I am with at a house meeting that she and her Christian husband are hiding a large sum of money in their house.  It is money that belongs to a relative who is on benefits but does not want to declare it because some of the benefit will be stopped because of it.  I think to myself, as the person is speaking, 'This situation reminds me of someone in the Old Testament who hides something in his tent', but I can not think of the character's name.  Suddenly, the name of a person from the Old Testament comes on the screen of a television that is showing a Christian video in the room, it is the name 'Achan', but I can not think who he is, and because the lady has been relating what she has been doing with this money, we have not been concentrating on the video.  The person who confesses to hiding the sum of money leaves and my friend and I  start to discuss whether we should have spoken to the person about the fact that in the Lord's eyes it could be wrong, but the lady who organized the group remarks that we should not accuse one another.  I replied that I did not feel like it was accusation because the lady herself had admitted to all in the room what she and her husband were doing.

I wake up in the early hours of the next morning and suddenly realize that the name that came on the screen, 'Achan', is the name of the character in the Old Testament that I was reminded of when the lady was telling us about hiding the money.  I go downstairs and look in the Bible and see that Achan was hiding things devoted for destruction.  I think to myself that with a believer the things 'devoted for destruction' are our old ways and wonder if the Lord is trying to reveal something through this situation.

 

I go to church on the following Sunday and am walking down the steps where two children ask my friend and myself if we have seen their friend, Arian.  They say they are playing a game of hiding.  'What! you are hiding out here in full view of everyone?' I ask.  'No, Arian is hiding from us' the children say.  'There she is' they say, as she appears at the side of the church.  I feel that the conversation is reminding me of something.  My friend says 'Arian is the Welsh word for money', and I see a strange connection with the children's game, the story of Achan, and the Christian lady's open confession to hiding money in order to help someone cheat the benefit system.   Yet again I wonder if the Lord is trying to reveal something, and is it that we can not hide what we do from Him?  Also, if what we do is knowingly wrong to us, is there a penalty paid?  Because Achan had put things devoted to destruction amongst his own things, he too had become a thing devoted for destruction.

We are told in Hebrews ch. 10 vs. 24 - 27  ^'And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,  but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.'  Where then is our responsibility when someone professing to be Christian confesses openly to other Christians to doing something that is wrong, without being accused by anyone?  What is the implication and responsibility of a person experiencing what I experienced over several days?  Should I have spoken up about the way I felt as the series of events were happening, or gone back to the person involved privately later on?  Is it for me, as part of the body of Christ, to share that experience at an appropriate time, and can that experience be counted as prophesy?  Ezekiel ch. 33 v. 8 warns that it is a responsibility to warn one another from wicked ways when it is revealed, or we will have that person's blood on our hands.

Proverbs ch.29 v. 18 says that where there is no prophesy the people cast off restraint.  If we do not share what we believe the Lord is revealing to us in order to build one another up in the faith, then are we guilty of quenching the Holy Spirit's work amongst us, and having that person's blood on our hands, according to that rule of prophesy in Ezekiel ch. 33?  Was it coincidence on the Sunday morning, when the sin of Achan was again brought to my mind through the hiding game of the children, that the pastor was speaking on Ephesians ch. 4 and ch. 6, which speak of the unity of the Spirit and exhortations to righteous living?  Ephesians ch.4 vs.17-19 says  ' So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.'

Shortly after this incident my husband related to me a story he had heard on the radio of Nazadene, a Muller turned smuggler, who repeatedly took a donkey laden with hay across the border and a border guard who could not detect what Nazradene was smuggling, which turned out to be donkeys.  Sin, just like those donkeys, can become acceptable to us as the norm, thereby becoming unrecognisable to us in our daily lives.  Likewise, sin can become unrecognisable to us, thereby becoming acceptable to us as the norm.

Achan's sin also caused the whole of Israel to be unable to stand against their enemies.  If we do not encourage one another to do what is right, for we can all be tempted to do what is wrong as was implied by Paul when he wrote to the church of the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians ch.3 v.5 saying  'For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labour would be in vain', (and all scripture can be profitable for encouragement and correction. 2 Timothy ch.3 v.16 ), will not the church be allowed to become contaminated by the things of the world?

To be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, Ephesians ch.6 v.11 tells us to put on the whole armour of God.  We are told in Ephesians ch. 4 vs.22-24  ' You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.'  There are two beautiful verses of scripture in Psalm 81 vs.13 and 14 to encourage us in this area, where God is saying 'O that my people would listen to me , that Israel would walk in my ways!  I would soon turn my hand against their foes.'

The Lord is the living word of God by which we are judged, and just like any other judge, that word has the authority to examine and, if necessary, pass sentence. 1 Corinthians ch.11 vs.29-32 states   'For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.  That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.  Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.'  We must allow that word to be an active cleanser in our lives to be able to change us gradually.  We have a loving, longsuffering, forgiving God who understands our weakness in the flesh, but He is also a consuming fire.  He has sent the Holy Spirit as our teacher to lead us into all truth, and should we not do our best to act on that truth?  In 2 Chronicles, ch.2 vs.13 and 14, the Lord is telling Solomon that when there are troubles come upon His people, if His people will humble themselves and pray and seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, then He will gear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  There is a repentance in these instructions, a turning from our wicked ways, which is also a requirement for believers insomuch as we are asked to 'repent', and to be 'doers of the word and not just hearers'.

One day my husband connected the battery to his motorbike to try to get it to start, but there was no spark.  Without a spark, the engine would not start and the bike was lifeless.  Without the Holy Spirit actively being allowed to change us through our obedience to its teaching, we as individuals and as a church will be spiritually lifeless because we shall be still carnal, thereby being dead in our sins.

I believe the whole of what I experienced on this occasion was not to point out what was going on in one person's life at all, for we are all prone to temptation, and sometimes we are not even sure what is right or wrong in God's eyes, but I believe it is a message to all of us to be alert to the teachings of the Holy Spirit, and to allow Him to work through all the members of the body in order to change us collectively into the image of God's Son.  God is building His church, and unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labour in vain.  (Psalm 127 v.1)   Colossians ch.2 v.8 tells us to 'beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.'  We must allow God to  build according to the format that He has laid out in the scriptures, and not attempt to alter it.

 

On my bedside cabinet there is a small wooden giraffe.  I accidentally knocked it over one day and its head fell off.  My husband repaired it.  I can not tell you how many repair jobs my husband has done on ornaments around the house, and this is exactly what salvation is

 - a repair job.

 

 

 

 

 

While all of this was happening, it was the time of the fortieth anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, when 116 children were killed while in their school by a man built mountain of coal slurry.  God forbid that His spiritual children should be 'killed' by a man-made mountain of worldly doctrine and church tradition that could be making the word of God void in the church.

I end this post with a short poem of encouragement

The Path
Follow the path of righteousness
the road to the Father's heart
Follow His Son as He leads you on
from His ways do not depart
Follow the path that leads to life
the way that we all must take
Yes, follow the ways of Jesus
the Saviour who died for our sake

  

Reflections on a puzzle

One Sunday, as I was walking home from church, I came across a lot of jigsaw pieces scattered on the pavement.  It had been raining and they were wet.  The pastor at the church had been speaking about disunity amongst God's people, and while I was walking through the town I was reflecting on this and wondering why it was so.  These jigsaw pieces, separated one from another and scattered all over the ground, seemed to be echoing what the pastor had been saying, and I felt the Lord was trying to tell me something.  I gathered all the pieces up and placed them in my bag. 

 

When I arrived home I proceeded to piece them together to see what the picture might be, but each piece began to separate into two parts because the rain had neutralized the glue that was sticking the picture to the backing card.  I started to have understanding of what the Lord was trying to reveal to me.

If I pieced the backing card together I
would have no picture

If I pieced some of the backing card together
with some of the picture pieces they would
join together because they were the same
shapes but I would only have part of the
picture. 

If, on the other hand, I pieced all the upper
pieces together, I would have the whole
picture.

                         
















I could see a parallel in these jigsaw pieces with God's people.  The blank backing card represented the old creation of the flesh which was dead in sins, while the top layer with the picture on represented the new creation in Christ, all the pieces together forming the body of Christ on Earth.  Old and new mixed together could only bring disunity, a partial picture of the whole body.

We can be carnal or we can be spiritual.  Those who live according to the  carnal mind can never have unity with those who walk according to the Spirit because  'the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' Romans ch. 8 v.7, and the things of God are foolishness to it, having to be discerned spiritually.

The element that had separated the two parts of the jigsaw pieces was water, and only the spiritual water that comes down from Heaven, the word of God, can separate the old man from the new creation which God is forming in us through Christ Jesus, as confirmed in Ephesians ch. 5 vs. 25b - 27, ' just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her   to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. '  As each of us allows the Holy Spirit to work in us we will grow up into the united body of Christ.  The first book of Corinthians ch. 15 v.22 says that 'as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' 

God had shown me through the pastor's words that there was disunity in the church, but it was only through the jigsaw pieces and the revelation to me through them could I have understanding of why there was disunity.  This incident taught me how vital it is to be alert to the ways in which God is able to reveal something to us, and how it is for our benefit that we act on that revelation so that we might be changed into our Saviour's image to be able to soar with Him in the Spirit. 

The enemy has many ways of trying to tempt us to forsake the Lord's ways and return to our old carnal ways, but we must resist Him and carry on down the road to eternal life with our Saviour, even if we suffer rejection and taunting from others.

The following is a poem that I have put in an earlier post, which I wrote at the time of this revelation to me.

New man for old

Lord when I’m being taunted and mocked for loving You
Cause me to remember that You were taunted too
When I’m being laughed at for calling on Your name
Let me see You standing there and taking all that shame
And if I’m being tempted to draw back into sin
Tell me ‘Turn away child, don’t let the devil win’

Lord sometimes it’s difficult to die to sinful man
When the Spirit says ‘You can’t’ and the flesh says ‘Yes you can’
I’m so afraid I’ll fail You, the old man can be strong
Sometimes it’s hard to tell Lord what’s right and what is wrong
The old man says ‘Retaliate!’ To every harsh word said
The new says ‘You’ve been born again, the old man is now dead’

So Lord teach me to listen, when I hear You speak
Create in me a spirit that is lowly and meek
Take away the old man of anger, greed and lust
Form a new creation inside this outer crust
Help me to forgive them , when the world abuses me
Teach me how to show Your love, that I know can set them free

Lord help me go all the way to that rugged cross
Show me that to lose this life is gain and not a loss
And then just like the chrysalis that hangs upon it’s thread
I’ll become a butterfly - and You’ll have raised the dead 

The River of Life

One day last week I was looking at something I wrote some time ago called 'The river of life' and thought that I might share it in a post on my blog.   I had put it in a little booklet that I had put together called 'And by the word of their testimony' which contains testimonies of experiences I have had over the years after coming to know the Lord.  Then, the following morning, I was reading chapter twenty five of the book of Job.   I have felt led to read a chapter of the book of Job each day because I feel that I have been in a 'Job' situation, having the enemy inflict more sickness and pain on me since I believe the Lord has told me that He will heal me from something I have had for over twenty five years.

As I came to verse 6 of Job twenty five I noticed that it read 'how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!'.  The version of the Bible that I have is The New Oxford Annotated Bible.

I thought 'How strange, the article that I thought to put up as a post on my blog contains an incident concerning maggots and worms.'  So it has prompted me to share that article.

The River of Life

Jesus said 'If anyone thirst let him come to me and drink.  He who believes in me, as the scripture has said 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'  We are told that He spoke this of the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive after He was glorified.  We are also told in Ezekiel ch..47 that the river that flows from the temple brings life to every living thing where it goes and that there will be many fish in the waters that shall live because of it.  This indicates that the river of life is both in us and we in it.

I was on a photography course, and one of the women there had on a pink fleecy top with a zip up the front.  There was a tag on the zip shaped like a fish, it reminded me of the symbol that many people wear to identify themselves as Christian, and my first thought was 'Oh, I wonder if she is a  Christian?'  Then I noticed that the image was not really a fish but was actually the skeleton of a fish.  

When we went to lunch this lady bought some chocolate which, when she opened it, was found to have maggots in it.  When we returned to our lesson room, she told us of two fish she had bought which, when cut open, had tiny worms in them.  At the time we were also discussing Christianity and when I pointed out that it was strange that she had on her top a fish skeleton and she was experiencing finding worms and maggots in fish and chocolate, she said 'Maybe that's where I am going, down where the worms will get me.'



This incident made me think of how, as a Christian, I must be careful what I 'eat'.   I thought about how I could be robbed of spiritual growth, represented by the fish skeleton on the zip. The chocolate with the maggots in maybe representing allowing myself to just carry on 'eating' the goodies of this world, and what my carnal mind desires, and the two fish with the worms in them representing worldly doctrines within the Christian church (the fish being a symbol of Christianity).

However, it was not until I read the 6th verse from Job ch.25, relating man to maggots and worms that I could fully understand what the Lord was trying to show me through this incident, that I could wear the name of 'Christian', but still be 'carnal' depending on what I choose to feed upon.

When Daniel was taken to Babylon he refused to defile himself with the rich food and wine offered to him,  it was not permitted for the Jew to eat other than their own diet.  The word Babylon in the Hebrew language includes the word that means confusion, so Babylon in spiritual understanding can represent a place of confusion.  Babylon was particularly noted for being a place of pride and idolatry.   The church, as God's Israel, has its own spiritual diet in the form of God's word, and just as Daniel shone with physical health as a result of not eating what the Babylonian king offered, so too the church will shine in spiritual health as a result of eating Gods word revealed to us through Jesus, and not through doctrines fashioned to please the carnal mind.


If we try to be doers of the word spoken to us as individuals in Christ, then we can be likened spiritually to those fish that live in the sea where the river of life has gone.  They eat, drink and breathe the substance of that water in order to continue living.

Shortly after being on my photography course I was at a writers' meeting that I attended monthly, and I felt very strongly that I was to leave early to watch a television program on 'Time'.  One thing stood out to me in it.  Scientists have discovered, through research into the genes in our bodies, that there is no program for death in us.  There is a program in us for life and for maturity, but no program for death.  Right from creation we were meant to have eternal life with our creator.  It was only Adam's sin that induced a God given curse, which was fulfilled outside of the unique garden of blessing in which he had been placed after being formed from the dust of the ground.

The following is the poem that I wrote at the time.

River of Life

Oh river of life restore to me
the glory that was meant to be

Flow through this doubting, troubled heart
refreshing each and every part
that fails to recognize the name
of Holy Lamb that once was slain
for all I do to cause Him pain

Wash every evil carnal thought
with grace and love that Jesus bought

In waters of eternity
cause spirit lost to struggle free
to cast aside the filth and shame
that clings so tight to mortal frame
once more to wear the Father's name

Oh river of life restore to me
the glory that was meant to be

We are told that once he had sinned and felt convicted, Adam found himself 'naked'.    I believe this 'nakedness' also stands for the loss of eternal life and the being clothed with mortality.  In 2 Corinthians ch.5 v.4 we are told by Paul that 'we wait not to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.'  For two thousand years, because of our Lords wonderful sacrifice, the river of life in the form of the Holy Spirit has been flowing from the temple, enabling us to be no longer under that curse, and to be reconciled back to God.  If we swim in those waters of life, eating and drinking only what is provided in those waters, we shall truly live as we were meant to.

Second nature

The tree had appeared to be dying and was almost completely brown on one side.  It was a conifer, originally bright green in colour, which I had planted in front of the window not long after we had moved into our last house and I liked it very much.    'Cut it down' my husband had said when it first began to turn brown late in Summer 2004, but I had not wanted to and had left it alone over the Winter months. 

Now it was February 2005 and I noticed tiny green shoots sprouting from both trunk and dry brown branches and I was overjoyed, not only because the tree was not going to die, but because I was being taught something by the Lord through the tree just when I desperately needed it.

Sometimes it can be extremely hard to focus on the Spiritual when the carnal mind will constantly focus on the flesh, and many times we will look negatively on ourselves and one another because of this, dwelling more on the old sinful nature instead of the new creation which is forming within us.

Eagerness to learn comes as 'second nature' to me but God has a principle when teaching us and it is 'line upon line, precept on precept'.  'It would be like throwing the whole of the Oxford dictionary at you at once' said my digital imaging course tutor when I had wanted to know something that I was not ready to learn.

There had been many areas in my life, and still are, where I felt I had failed in my Christian walk and most of the self condemnation had grown out of dwelling on what needed to be changed instead of what the Lord had already done in me.  I had not actually realized this until the incident with the tree brought it to my attention.

I was being reminded not to fix my gaze on the old me and my human capabilities, but to look at the new spiritual creature that God was creating through Jesus and all the benefits that came with being a child of God.  As far as God was concerned, that old creature was dead.  Verse 16 of 2 Corinthians ch.5 tells us not to regard anyone from a human point of view, and verse 13 of Colossians ch.2 tells us that though we were once dead in trespasses, we have been made alive with Christ.  Human mind and eyes will limit what is possible both in personal salvation and prayer by focusing on the old creation instead of the new.  

As a new creation in Christ Jesus all things are possible to him who believes. Mark ch.9 v.23  Just as it says in Genesis chapter 25 v.5 'Abraham left everything he owned to his son Isaac', in Jesus I inherit all things given to Him by God.  My part is to put on my new nature by allowing God to renew my mind in His Son Jesus so that I have the mind of Christ.

Colossians ch. 3 describes both natures as follows:-

Old nature

Fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander and foul talk.   

New nature

Compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience, forbearing one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.  And above all these put on love.  

We are encouraged in Ephesians ch.4 v.22 - 24 to 'Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the Spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.'

Just as with my tree the new green shoots were gradually replacing the old dead wood, so too am I gradually being conformed to the image of my creator.

The following is a poem that I wrote at that time, reflecting my self condemnation and the Lord's encouragement to me to concentrate on my 'second nature' rather than my first.  

Look and see

All that look - that look on me
see only here a dying tree
In brittle branch and withered wood
they find no beauty - see no good
perceiving just what would have been
if You had not come on my scene

But shoots of green they do not see
new budding leaves that struggle free
from lifeless form that once was me
For carnal mind and human eyes
both dwell and gaze on all that dies
and in this chrysalis of tree
will fail to see eternity

Oh all that look - look again at me
look now through eyes of faith and see
the hand of Jesus Christ - God's Son
gaze on the work that's being done
See miracle of power to save
a soul once destined for the grave

This Saviour whom my heart does love
has come from God on wings of dove
to change my destiny of strife
and bring to me eternal life
So look again upon this tree
see everywhere new greenery
Don't look upon the dying wood
See my Saviour's beauty - see my Saviour's good

'Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.'  2 Corinthians ch.4 v.16'

Lukewarm

A few days ago I was looking through some papers of mine and I came across an article I had written of an experience I had quite a few years back.  It was entitled 'Lukewarm'.  Many of my writings were written on an older computer with some packages that will not work on the Windows I have on my new computer, and I could not find this testimony in my files.  I noticed that there were lots of other writings and testimonies that were missing also so I investigated a little and found  many of them on a memory stick that could be used on my new computer.  I thought maybe I would share some of them on my blog. Today I thought I would put 'Lukewarm' on. 

Lukewarm

(Written in November 2004 - an edited version)
On Tuesday, when I was looking on some old floppy disks for photographs I came across a file entitled 'Judgement begins with the house of God', something I had written some time back, so I printed it out and read it.

Wednesday evening on my digital imaging course I was given some homework by my tutor.  It was to take photographs on the theme 'Shadow and substance'.

Just before I made the bed on Thursday morning I noticed the shadows falling across the crumpled sheets and pillow cases. 

The saying  'You make your bed and lie on it' came into my mind and I thought 'What a perfect title and photograph for a project, either as a fact or a suggestion, I could do something with this'.  The sheets were covered in roses and I thought 'We can either make life a bed of roses or something else'. So I took two photographs, one with the sheets crumpled and one with the bed made.(not very well I have to admit)

                                                                 

Then I remembered that within the piece 'Judgement begins with the house of God' there was a poem I had written, called 'Lukewarm' ,which contained a line or two referring to a bed. 

 I thought maybe this was not coincidence, that the Lord may be showing me something here.

Lukewarmness is spoken of in one of the seven churches in the book of Revelations, in the Laodicean church. All the churches except one were tolerating something that is ungodly within its bounds, the difference with the Philadelphian church being shown in Ch. 3 v.8 'For you have a little strength and have kept my Word and have not denied my name'. 'Philadelphia' means 'brotherly love'.  The Laodiceans were a group of people who claimed to be followers of Christ but who relied on their wealth and worldly goods rather than Jesus Christ's teachings, and people's principles rather than God's.  'Laodicea' means 'people's opinions'.  

Just as in Isaiah's day the Lord's judgement had come upon His people because of their unfaithfulness, 'for Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying His glorious presence.' Isaiah ch. 3 v. 8 so too it acts as a warning to us today.  Isaiah ch. 4 v.1 says 'In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say 'We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name, take away our reproach.'   As His word is the same yesterday, today and forever, is this a spiritual message to God's Spiritual Israel (His church) today not to bear the name of Jesus Christ and at the same time eat their own food (a doctrine other than that of the doctrine of Christ),and wear their own clothes, the clothes of a spiritual prostitute, Isaiah ch. 3 vs. 18-23  instead of their robes of righteousness.  

Verse 2 of 1 Peter ch. 1 says that it is for obedience to Jesus Christ that we are chosen and destined by God and sanctified by the Spirit.  We are not exempt from God's judgement because we wear the name of Christ.  Judgement begins at the house of God as spoken of in 1 Peter ch.4  v.17, and here 'the house of God' refers to Christians, verse 18 saying that the righteous man is scarcely saved.  

In 2 Peter ch.2 vs.1 and 2  Peter foretells that there will be false teachers in the church just as there were false prophets also among the people of Israel.  'But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.' 

We can see this happening today with strange doctrines popping up in different places that are not in line with God's word.  It has become fashionable to please man rather than to please God.  We have to be very careful who we regard as 'rulers' in the church and test what they teach as doctrine against the word of God, taking heed that they are not preaching another Jesus, for there are many 'knock on' effects.  Proverbs 29 v.12 says  'If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.'  

Lukewarm

Some people say 'Don't speak about your King 
don't speak about this Jesus to me
don't tell me I must follow Him down the road to Calvary'
They say 'We'll just be called by His holy name but leave us to eat our own bread
and we'll wear our own apparel' then they labour to make their own bed
but the covering on it is narrow and the bed itself is too short
both getting smaller and smaller as they're judged by each ungodly thought
They're building mighty castles Lord they don't have Your foundation
building castles for themselves strongholds big and wide
With hewn out stones and polished beams they've built their own creation
and now they put their images inside
Everyone right in their own eyes abiding in vanity
spinning ever faster Lord towards total insanity
Not hearing the voice of the Master but listening to a lie
outside they appear to be living yet inside they slowly die
They're seeking to worldly 'physicians' to bring about their release
looking to man for deliverance yet never finding peace
Not willing to take Your chastening 'Too grievous for me' they say
forgetting that at the end of each night is always the light of day
And all the time Lord You are trying to take away their shame
visiting each one in turn calling out each name
saying 'Return unto me child seek the face of your Lord above
For it is he who keeps my commandments that shall abide in my love.


Back to the present time.
                                                                  

Although my digital imaging course homework all those years ago prompted me to write the article 'Lukewarm', the photograph I took into my class on the subject 'shadow and substance' was one called 'Light revealing all that I do', which also spoke to me spiritually.

Two things happened this morning which made me feel that God wanted me to share this post.  

As I lay in bed I was thinking about the fact that I would put the section on false teachers and those who rule in the post, my husband said (and I noticed he was looking at the red sky through the window)  'Red sky in the morning - shepherds warning.'   I realized straight away that it went together with God warning those who are shepherds over His people who may not be building on His foundation, Jesus Christ.

Later on in the morning my husband pointed up into the sky from the lounge window at a Red Kite bird of prey, and said 'Look at how they ride on the wind.'  It made me think of how the Lord wants His church to be sustained by, and rely upon, the teachings of His Holy Spirit, as were those in the Philadelphia church doing two thousand years ago, not upon their worldly wealth and man's doctrines.

Hold fast that which is good

As I wrote the title of this post 'Hold fast that which is good' the sentence 'Hold fast that which is God' came straight into my mind, for that which is truly 'good' is that which is God.

When our son bought his first cottage with his first wife, who has since fallen asleep in the Lord, there was an old picture on one of the walls in the lounge of that cottage with the words 'Hold fast that which is good'.   I feel that I had been brought to see these words as encouragement to me to put my trust in Gods word, whether it be for guidance or for a promise.

I have been tested in many areas in my life regarding putting my trust in the Lord and I would like to encourage any other person who might be going through a hard trial that, if you believe the Lord has spoken to you, then hold fast to that which has been spoken.  Trials are quite often tests to strengthen us in the Lord, and help us to mature in Him.

I love these verses from 1 Thessalonians ch. 5 vs 15 - 24, which I believe speak of our maturing in the Lord, the last sentence encouraging us to trust in His faithfulness. 'See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.  Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks:  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.   Quench not the Spirit.  Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Faithful is He that calls you, who will also do it.'


Sometimes we think the Lord has not answered our prayers because they do not get answered fast enough but there is a time for everything, even for healing. (Ecclesiastes ch.3 v.3).   If we are told in the previous verses from 1 Thessalonians ch.5 that Faithful is He that calls you, then we must trust also that He will also do what He has promised, not looking at the situation, but looking at the promise of God, just as Abraham did when he went to offer his son Isaac, but knew that God would provide a sacrifice because of the promise of descendants through Isaac. (Genesis ch. 22)  Right at the beginning of this chapter it says that God was testing Abraham and I believe we too can be tested to see if we believe a promise God has made to us, and within these tests we can maintain the peace of God which passes all understanding. 

A few weeks ago I was walking around a car boot sale and I found a brass key hanger with the word 'Shalom', both in English and Hebrew on it.  I love this word and I was so pleased that I could buy this item.  I placed it on a candle holder in which was a rose that I cut from a bush about five years ago and dried.  It still has much of its colour and quite a strong perfume.  I placed it there as a reminder to me of the life that we can have as a new creation in our Lord when we are cut off from that which is earthly( the old man).

'Shalom' has a much deeper meaning in the Hebrew language than the 'peace' that we associate it with in the English translation.  According to Strong's Concordance it 's full meaning is  completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety,soundness, tranquillity, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Jesus says in John ch. 16 v.33 'These things I have spoken to you that IN ME you may have PEACE.  In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'

So all the things listed in Strong's Concordance regarding the meaning of 'shalom'are what we are promised if we are IN THE LORD, and hold fast to the word that He has spoken to us.

The following is a poem that I wrote some years ago which I suppose sum up my feelings on what I have written.

Hold fast that which is good 

I cannot know with yesterday's mind
what tomorrow's heart may feel
and the scenes I get in my head today
in the future may not be real
So I'm taking no thought for tomorrow
and yesterday's already past
but today I am standing on God's precious word
it's the one thing to which I hold fast