IN THE DESERT...

Have you ever been in a desert?  Maybe the Namib? Or the Sahara?

I have been to the Namib a couple of times, but that was way back.... I think the last time I visited there was in 1977.

Whilst it is a very arid, dry, thirsty place to be, it has a majestic beauty all of its own. The colours and the contours of the sand dunes are really a sight to behold and to remember.

What were your emotions as you stood in the desert? Awed, fearful, excited? Perhaps you were not as blessed as me to just be visiting the desert; perhaps you had to stay there for a while or got lost in the desert....

Now in Biblical times there were a number of people living in the desert. If you remember, the Israelites, after God brought them out of Egypt, wandered the desert for 40 years! Wow! I do not envy them. To crown it all, the road they had to travel could have been done in 10 days! But God's anger flared up againt them and He took them the long way because of their disbelief and lack of faith and courage :

                    "⁹ For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they dis-
                    couraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the
                    land which the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So the Lord’s anger was aroused
                    on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ¹¹ ‘Surely none of the men who
                    came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of
                    which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly
                    followed Me, ¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and
                    Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ ¹³ So the
                    Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the
                    wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight
                    of the Lord was gone."

But, even though the Lord God was angry with them and did not relent but kept them in the desert for the full 40 years, still, during that period of time, He  was the provider in all of their needs and they saw many , many miracles take place in the desert.

Now in the New Testament, we find John the Baptist also in the desert. He apparently lived their for years as well :

                      " 3. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate
                       being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip
                       tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of
                       Abilene, ² while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests,^[a] the word of God
                       came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all
                       the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the re-
                       mission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet..."

He was not there because God was angry with him. No, it had been his natural habitat for some time, and a place where he was easily accessible to God and quiet enough to readily hear the voice and commandments that he, as a prophet of the Lord God, had been waiting for...

Amazingly God skips Tiberias Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, and all the rulers and tetrachs in the magnificent palaces and mansions, and chooses John, in his camel hair clothes and grasshopper diet to give a command to! Makes you think...!
Then, of course, we also find the Lord Jesus himself in the desert, after he had been baptised by the same John that we have just read about :

                       4. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the
                       Jordan and was led by the Spirit into^[a] the wilderness, ² being
                       tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate
                       nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  
                              ³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, com-
                      mand this stone to become bread.” ⁴ But Jesus answered him,
                      saying, ^[b] “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but
                      by every word of God.’” ^{c] 5} Then the devil, taking Him up on a
                      high mountain, showed Him^[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a
                      moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this  authority
                      I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me,
                      and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship
                      before me, all will be Yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him,
                      “Get behind Me, Satan!^[e] For^[f] it is written, ‘You shall worship the
                      Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ^{[g]   9} Then he brought
                      Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to
                      Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
                      ¹⁰ For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep
                      you,’ ¹ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your
                      foot against a stone.’”^{[h] 12} And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has
                      been said, ‘You shall  not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”^{[i] 13} Now when
                      the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an
                      opportune time. "

Again, not a pleasant place for Jesus to be for 40 days and obviously nights as well - without food, without water to sustain Him. He could  have made the wrong decisions here. But, again, God Almighty was present even in this situation and honoured His faith and His stance, so that He went from there with all the power and authority that He could possibly need to heal and save as He went along ministering and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

So, maybe you find yourself in a spiritual, financial, emotional, physical desert just at this moment. Maybe you have been there for almost 40 years, or 40 days, or whatever time....

I want to encourage you however, whatever the circumstances, understand and accept that the Lord God Almighty is also present in your arid, dry desert. Not only that, He is intimately acquainted with the circumstances, and He is mighty and able to provide in your every need. You are now in a place where, if you are quietly listening for His voice, you will hear Him talking to you in your desert; He is there to strengthen you and to guide you so that you will not make wrong choices or decisions.

Thank You, Lord, that we may trust in your power, faithfulness, mercy, grace, goodness and wisdom in all circumstances. Thank You that we may know that you are with us, in whichever desert we may find ourselves today and that You are mighty to save and instruct us in Your ways.

STORMS IN OUR LIVES

Yesterday, I received an e-mail, one of the ones I really look forward to, from Mark Visser of Prophetic Equipping Ministries, under the heading the Now Word of God. I do appreciate these e-mails and recommend them to you. Part of yesterday's e-mail dealt with the 3 storms in the lives of Christians. I found it to be insightful and I think it may also be useful to someone out there, so I have taken the liberty of posting his notes verbatim as I received them:

"THE NOTES OF THE 3 STORMS:

James 1; 2   ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials.’
  We will go through storms in life and face trials and tribultions.
  We must discern the storm and respond to each situation accordingly.
 
There are 3 storms of LIFE are:

1.     God storm - Acts 27: 15 - 26
2.     Satan storm – Luke 8: 34 - 24
3.     Self induced storm – Jonah 1: 1 - 4

The storms that I have gone through are: 

1.     God storm – My highs and lows in Life that God has led me into.
2.     Satan storm – Times when the enemy has brought direct demonic attacks into my life, family or circumstances.
3.     Self induced storm – Times when through my disobediance to the Lord, has brought consequential judgement to me.

Sometimes these storms culminate together and become a level 5 storm.
Like a hurricane, tsunami, tornado – a huge storm that invades just nocks me down.

REMEMBER THIS:  you cannot stop what comes against you, but you can control your reaction to what comes against you.

1. At all times and in every circumstance, we must excersice the Kingdom of God through us without restraint.]
2. The Kingdom of God is Love, Joy, Peace and rightousness in the Holy Spirit.

How do you ride out the storm?

1.     God storm – Worship God in the storm - Acts 27: 35 - 36
2.     Satan storm – Rebuke the storm - Luke 8: 24
3.     Self induced storm – Repent during the storm - Jonah 1: 12"

I hope that you will find it helpful in some situation in your life!
 

Thank You, Lord, that we know that You are there in every storm and that, like Peter, we may call upon You, and stretch our our hands towards You, knowing that You are able and willing to help us in our need.
 

LED BY A CHILD...

Last week a team of  friends returned from a missionary trip to Malawi and Mozambique.

The related how at one service in Malawi, in the outback, in a small village, a young boy child, approximately 5 -6 years old, sat quietly in a corner watching the preacher with such avid attention, it seemed as if he did not even blink an eye. Dave, the preacher, said he eventually thought that maybe the child suffered from a brain impediment, or some such ailment...

When they came to the point where they invited everyone to make a decision for the Lord Jesus Christ, this young chap was one of the first to respond.

Dave carried on explaining that part of inviting Jesus into your life is to repent of your sins and ask God's forgiveness for having sinned against Him. This young man immediately started doing just that, with tears and out loud, to such an extent that he moved the adults who had indicated their desire to make a decision for the Lord, to do likewise! And the tears flowed! With remorse they repented, listing their many sins and asking God for His forgiveness!

Led by a child.... whose name is Isaiah!!! Perhaps his name is prophetic? Only God knows his future!

                 "But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the
                 Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children." "
                 Matt. 19 : 14

Thank You, Lord, that we are never to old to learn from a child, and never to young to set an example and lead others to the Lord. Help us to treat children and individuals and not to think it unnecessary to lead them to You as well - especially our own children and grandchildren.