Reaching the lost, equipping the Saints
Session 7 – Secret Underground Intelligence from Worldwide Mission Fellowship on Vimeo.
Pamela Suran concludes her series, this time looking at the “Secret Underground Intelligence” at the 2015 Women of Destiny Conference. The conference theme this year is “Women, God’s Secret Weapon”
Pamela Suran continues her series, this time looking at the priesthood of all believers at the 2015 Women of Destiny Conference. The conference theme this year is “Women, God’s Secret Weapon”
Session 6 – You Are A Royal Priesthood from Worldwide Mission Fellowship on Vimeo.
Today’s Reading: Isa 33:1–34:17, Luke 11:37–12:21, Job 8:1–10
Today’s Theme: Fear God, Our King
Today’s theme is about the reverential fear we should have for God our King. We will look at the results of having or not having a healthy fear of the Lord and where even being afraid of the Lord is healthy (in particular His purpose to judge all men).
and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure. Isaiah 33:6 (ESV)
In this prayer Isaiah cries out for God to be gracious to Judah. God is exalted as the only source of salvation over against the Judean officials, Egypt and Assyria.
Here we see something wonderful, as God is exalted Isaiah declares that the fear of God is Zion’s treasure. There is also a sense in the Hebrew where the fear of the Lord is God’s treasure held for those He would restore.
We also should cherish the fear of the Lord as our treasure. We should guard it because it is precious, it is the pathway to life and wisdom and those who lose it lose themselves. The fear of God will be the ultimate determinative for the way we live (conduct and behaviour) as God’s people.
When we speak about fearing the Lord here we are not talking about terror as though we lived under an enemy dictator. Rather, we are speaking about the response of adoration and reverence from those who are grateful to, acknowledge and love their benevolent king.
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. (Isaiah 33:11, ESV)
The original context here is God blasting the futile pride of the enemy (Sennacherib).
God alone is exalted. When we attempt to live our lives without fearing Him we will give birth to rubbish. What we do may seem valuable now but it will all be consumed when it passes through God’s judgement. Even the words of our own mouths will become like a fire that consumes us without God.
Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 3:12–13 “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.”
We don’t want to build rubbish and be burnt out building things in our own way. No, we should fear the Lord, make our plans and do our work in union with Him.
Jesus taught us in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. (Isaiah 33:13, ESV)
God calls the whole world to acknowledge His might, He alone is God almighty. This is why naturalism and atheism is such an awful offence before God as they do not acknowledge God for the wonderful creation He has made let alone the work He has done to redeem us.
Cry out today that your nation will acknowledge God’s might and fear Him in the way He deserves.
Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar. (Isaiah 33:17, ESV)
This is the climax and summary of the Bible’s overarching narrative of the King and his Kingdom.
This is the day we look forward to when we will see the king in all His glory reigning in His kingdom here on the earth He has made.
Even today we can see and savour Christ as our King. We should look and see the beauty of our king and turn our eyes from evil as the previous verses mention.
Here is a quick breakdown of the King and His Kingdom. The story of the Bible (taken from the God’s Narrative message I shared in 2014).
For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us. (Isaiah 33:22, ESV)
God is the one who gives the law, the judge who enforces the law and is the king. We show we fear the Lord by obeying the law He has given. As we will read in the New Testament today, we should fear God because He is the judge who can condemn us for our sin (also see James 4:12).
We Rejoice that the lawgiver is the one who saves us.
And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. (Luke 11:39, ESV)
Jesus takes time to deal with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “yeah thats right bad Pharisees” be sure to listen to these woes and rebukes from Jesus and seek how they might be applied to YOUR own life.
The word hypocrite comes from the same word we get the word actor from. If we do not have the fear of the Lord then we are left with dead religion and the traditions of men. If that is all we have we will be actors by definition, claiming to be something we can’t possibly be without the fear of God. So we should be clean and serve God from the inside out.
But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:5, ESV)
Jesus tells His disciples and by extension us to not fear those who can and in some cases will kill us physically because their power is limited they cannot kill our souls and cannot cast us into hell…. only God can.
God is the judge and He is the one all mankind should fear because He is the only one with the power to put anyone into hell for all eternity.
We should not let the threats of mere men change our stand for God. Our awe and reverence for our God should keep us faithful to Him under trial knowing He has the power over our destiny and even in suffering and death we are in His hands.
The fact that Jesus calls this a warning should highlight the importance of this point for all men, be warned God will send sinners to hell.
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, (Luke 12:8, ESV)
Very much connected to the last point, we should not be afraid of what people will say about us or think of us. We must boldly acknowledge and honour Jesus before the world. Don’t fear man, fear God.
for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:12, ESV)
Fear and anxiety would be understandable if we only had ourselves to rely on in times of trial and persecution but the reality is that we have God the Holy Spirit with us to empower and teach us what to say under trial. So do not fear because God is with you.
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21, ESV)
To be rich towards God means that God is our treasure. Don’t get caught up in the materialism of the age, instead turn your eyes to God and store your treasure in heaven by focusing your life on honouring and serving God in the fear of the Lord.
“For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. (Job 8:8, ESV)
This is a good principle, we should look to the church fathers, reformers, puritans etc of old so we can learn lessons from them. A mistake is to think we are the first ones to read and interpret the Bible. However, when looking to what the men of old have said we must do so in the fear of God, not of a particular tradition or viewpoint.
Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.
Session 5: Women’s Dinner Message from Worldwide Mission Fellowship on Vimeo.
Randi Johansen And Kjersti Wroldsen take the 5th session at the 2015 Women of Destiny Conference. The conference theme this year is “Women, God’s Secret Weapon”
Today’s Reading: Isa 30:18–32:20, Luke 11:1–36, Job 7:11–21
Today’s Theme: God, Our Gracious Deliverer
Today’s theme is about God our great and gracious deliverer. God is so gracious to His people. If it were not for His grace, we would be without hope. God seeks to deliver us from evil and bondage, for His glory and our joy.
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18 (ESV)
God declares to Judah, in light of their faithlessness in running to Egypt for deliverance, and in response to their cry of how long oh Lord – “I am waiting right here where you left me, whenever you are ready receive the grace and deliverance I’m holding out to you”.
Like Judah, we need to realise that God stands and offers grace to us but He will not follow us and so compromise His holy stand. He stands in His place and offers grace on His terms, we need to put ourselves in the place to receive His grace.
We should wait for the God who waits for us. The sense, when the verse says ‘wait’, is “to tarry, delaying an action, longing or hoping for something to happen”.
So, long and hope for God’s grace and mercy and you will receive it because He longs to show it to you but holds it back until you are in a place to receive it.
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21 (ESV)
God’s guidance will gently lead us from bondage to deliverance, but we must have soft hearts, sensitive to the voice of the Spirit, to hear God say this is the way to go.
Ask God to help you to be quiet and hear His voice guide you. God will guide our feet to freedom in Christ.
Jesus told us in John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. Isaiah 30:26 (ESV)
If this verse were taken literally, a sun seven times brighter than normal would blind and scorch the people, so there is something deeper being pointed at here.
God is light, in Him is no darkness at all. The light of the sun speaks of God Himself, He is the one who brings healing to His people. 1 John 1:5
Light and healing are associated in the natural world and in the spiritual world, as darkness and disease are. We can literally draw health and strength from the sun.
Enter the warmth and brightness of God today and be healed from the brokenness and wounds you have, even if they were inflicted by the Lord in discipline.
God’s light is seen practically in the truth of His word. Soak in the scriptures today, to bring healing and deliverance to your soul.
Like the bright moon, allow the light of God to be reflected from your life today, to bring healing to others.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD! Isaiah 31:1 (ESV)
What is Egypt for you? Do not trust in anyone or thing other than God, for your deliverance. Take this as a personal prayer point today.
We can sometimes drift into depending on our jobs, money, certain people etc. Realign your trust in the Lord today, as your help and deliverer.
Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention. The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly. The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable. Isaiah 32:3–5 (ESV)
In these verses we read about the restoration of Israel and see a glimpse of the kingdom Jesus will rule over in the end, when fools will no longer rule.
We also see God’s heart to reverse the slumber on those who hear and see, but do not understand.
God seeks to restore and heal His people, the deaf, blind, hasty and stammerers will know the truth.
All of this gives us prayer fuel for Israel and our own lives and nations today.
Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. Isaiah 32:9 (ESV)
Complacency will lead to bondage, so don’t be complacent, stay alert and keep moving, listen to God and live, live as He has called you to and be led by His Spirit.
And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. Isaiah 32:17 (ESV)
God brings us to a place of peace and blessed quiet, when we walk in righteousness before Him.
Our soul can be still, we can experience peace in the middle of storms and adversity and quiet in the middle of busyness and stress.
Our world has so many voices competing for our attention, it seems hard to find a time of quiet, but with God we can find the quietness our souls need.
Make it a practise to find quiet times each day (for me the morning is always best), when you can just listen to God and be still, find times of quiet before God.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Luke 11:10 (ESV)
Jesus taught us to be bold, because our God is a good father. We address Him as Father when we pray, He gives us our needs and delivers us from evil.
We should ask, seek and knock (Pastor Dennis has a great teaching on the three levels of prayer in regard to this), in prayer before God, tell Him your need today, He rejoices over you to do you good.
Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy, open your mouth and speak to God. Tell God all about it, make clear requests in faith and God will answer. Jesus said those who ask, seek and knock, will receive, find and have the door opened to them.
Stop now and ask God about it in prayer, seek Him about it in His word and intimately knock on the door in the Spirit.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ Luke 11:24 (ESV)
Jesus taught about the reality of unclean spirits and demons, deliverance is always available from God, but to take God’s grace for granted and continually giving place to the enemy, will lead to even deeper bondage.
God wants us to be free from the power of unclean spirits, so as we read earlier, ask God for the Holy Spirit which He will give abundantly, be filled with the Spirit and there will be no room for any other spirit.
Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. Luke 11:35 (ESV)
What we let into our souls through our eyes, can bring us into bondage. Be careful what you watch.
There is a lot of the dark light Jesus spoke about, coming through our eyes in the media rich day that we live in. So guard your eyes and your soul from the bondage of darkness.
As Jesus said in verse 27, blessed are those who hear and keep His word. Be filled with the word of God which is pure light.
What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? Job 7:17–18 (ESV)
The reason God takes any concern with man is because of His love. God wants to see us healed and delivered, that is why He makes much of us for His glory and our Joy. Be encouraged that God has your best interest at heart today.
Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.
The Gospel Coalition on Luke 11