The Struggle and the Crown

This is from the blog A Word in Season:

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace;
to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed”
Romans 4:16

The Struggle

 

“And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”
Genesis 25:22 – 25

Within the life of every true believer is the struggle between two natures; two ways of living, two sets of desires and two eternal consequences.  The conflict is between the first Adam and the Last Adam, the first Adam being that nature which is earthly and sensual and the second Adam being the heavenly man, the Eternal Son of Man. We see the very portrayal of this within the womb of Rebekah as she by faith brought forth the one who would become Israel in the purposes and dealings of our great God.

Esau was the firstborn, a man of passions, wild and undisciplined.  He was of the earth, earthly and devoid of any real love of spiritual things.  He was born first, bearing the likeness of the first Adam, which in the Hebrew means “red earth”.  At his birth the scriptures take great care to describe his appearance (See The Things of Esau).

“And the first came out red*(see note below),
all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau”
Genesis 25:25

Jacob, though a schemer and a conniver, had one thing that set him apart.  He had respect for the things of God.  The birthright, which was rightfully Esau’s by virtue of being the first born, meant little to Esau and he surrendered it for  a mere mess of pottage in a moment of extreme hunger.  Jacob, on the other hand, coveted this blessing.  Jacob was the son of promise, a man called to become the Israel of God, not by strength, nor by might but by the mercy and strength of our God.

These two distinct “manner of people” struggled within the womb of Rebekah, yet the promise was THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER.  Jacob’s journey of faith to become Israel was one of many dealings and breakings in the hands of a determined and merciful God.  The promise of God tarries until the man Jacob is broken.  It is in our submission to His dealings that we become the people upon whom the promise falls.

“The Lord sent a word into Jacob,
and it hath lighted upon Israel”
Isaiah 9:8

The promise to Jacob was a sure thing but the severity of the dealings of God and the determination of God is what made the promise sure.  The man Jacob must become the worm that he might indeed become strong.

“Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff”
Isaiah 41:14 – 15

We must see that the inabilities in our life to do God’s will are the result of our strengths not our weaknesses. When we speak of weakness we are speaking of all that has not been brought into submission to the Son; in whatever measure we have known the fellowship of His sufferings there is a corresponding experience of His resurrection life.

“That I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death;
If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead”
Philippians 3:10 – 11

Let us realize that the struggle within is a struggle that is to be unto life and glory; HIS LIFE and HIS GLORY.  The struggle of Rebekah is prophetic of all that we must know within ourselves.  Jacob will remain Jacob until he is broken.  We too will remain barren unless we discover the wonder and the power of HIS faith in our lives.  A faith like gold submitted to the fire is purified and fit for the master’s use.  Teachings will not produce this life; only a broken and surrendered will in the hands of the God of Jacob!  This is not a day to tarry but it is a day for us to “press toward the mark, for the PRIZE of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”.

Let our confidence be not in ourselves, our knowledge or our associations.  Rather let our confidence be in the God of Jacob who was able to bring forth a PRINCE* (see note below) from the worm and who is able to complete that which He began in us.  The beauty of Jacob’s heart was clearly revealed at Peniel as we see Jacob clinging to the ONE who wounded him for in that place we see and hear God’s declaration… 

The Crown 

“Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel:
for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men,
and hast prevailed”
Genesis 32:28

* אַדְמֹנִי ʼaḏmōniy, אַדְמוֹנִי ʼaḏmôniy: An adjective meaning red, ruddy. from the Hebrew Word ADAM
*Israel – Prince with God

Brian Troxel

Broken Bread and Poured-Out Wine
The Man Christ Jesus
Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel 

The Obama Legacy will be Stripped and Destroyed

The Obama Legacy will be Stripped and Destroyed

Obama Will Leave the White House
ObamaGate
Vladimir Putin on Barack Obama
Mark Taylor Reveals Qanon and Prophecies of Justice

It is God Himself that Nourishes the Soul

This is from the Chosen Rebel's Blog:

The poverty of evangelical reflection, the shallowness of our deepest thoughts about God is becoming the Achilles heal of our witness in the world. Our deepest thoughts about God barely skim the surface of the reality of who God is and what He has revealed about Himself in His word. 

And it is killing us.

We are so pragmatic, so filled up to our ears with “relevance” and the flood of information and entertainment at our finger tips and those BORG-like extensions of the human body called “mouses” and “smart phones”* that there is no room for any proper and sustained reflection on anything, let alone the wonder and majesty of the nature of God.

Every word I write on the subject seems alien to the pragmatic spirit of this age. The helter-skelter of activity, seemingly for activities sake, leaves no time, no space, no mental energy for the examination of the glory that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”  (2 Cor. 5:19)

Pastors, I’m begging you, as I’m preaching to myself, make time in your schedule, your overwhelmingly busy schedule, to pursue God.

The situation we find ourselves in is not new. It is part of a long declension seen long ago by such men as A.W. Tozer and others who saw the eclipse of God in the culture in the 50’s and 60’s and wondered aloud and in print about where it would lead. Tozer in particular saw what was happening and gave, many years ago, the antidote.

To great sections of the Church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the “program.”

. . . it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

The Pursuit of God
A.W. Tozer, p. 10

That’s it. We have got to get back to nourishing our souls with God Himself.

• Not success. 

• Not power. 

• Not political influence. 

• Not likes and thumbs up in social media. 

• Not bigger budgets. 

• Not bigger buildings. 

• Not better music. 

• Not conferences attended or spoken at. 

• Not “cutting edge” programs. 

• Not ___________________________________. (Fill in the blank with anything that isn’t Jesus and Him crucified dead and buried, gloriously raised from the dead and coming again for His bride.)

Read the Tozer quote above again. Read it again, slowly. Ask yourself if this isn’t a major problem in your own heart and therefore and inevitably, a problem in your congregation.

Then do something about it.

• Shut your mouth.

• Close your door. 

• Take your Bible in hand.

• Pray.

• And seek the living God.

Your congregation, your community, your neighbors, your culture, your nation, your family, need you to be a man who pursues the living God. You and they need that more than anything you can preach this week.

* The irony of “smart phones” making us dumber is a painful but inescapable truth.

President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson

Trump and Johnson

This is from the blog Richard's Watch:

Thank you to Tim Shey in the USA for drawing my attention to this short video of Tomi Arayomi, an associate of Revd Dr Sharon Stone, which he opens with a video clip from two years ago, 14th July 2017. Therein, Tomi describes seeing two doors, one marked ‘Brexit’ and another ‘Exit’, with the UK going through the Brexit door but Prime Minister May heading for the other exit. He felt God was saying she will put in place a Brexit strategy but will also prepare a strategy for her own exit – and this afternoon she has retired!

Tomi Arayomi Prophecy

Tomi reviews this in retrospect for the simple fact that we often feel God is doing nothing because no one’s around to point out when a prophetic word gets fulfilled,

“Just like the ‘dopermine rush’ to the brain you get from ticking off something on a to-do list, so there’s the joy of the Lord ‘dopermine rush’ we get as prophetic people every time we see God fulfill one of His prophetic words. Jesus often referred to them…

“We’re in another one of those crucial calendar moments in God, and I often say the most powerful Christians in the world are the Christians who can find themselves on God’s prophetic calendar, but what is God saying for Britain at this time?”

Exactly so Tomi, which is why I try keeping readers of this blog informed as much as possible about prophecies that come to pass, or are on course for fulfillment. In view of the vast number of them it’s become difficult to keep abreast, let alone recall the content of them all. Also, it’s important to keep tack as a means of checking whether particular prophecies are proven true or false. [See Prophecies – Fulfilled for details.]

Tomi then refers to what the Lord told him on 13th December 2018 about Brexit being similar to Exodus. The coming fulfillment of this word was indicated by Boris Johnson echoing Moses’ word on 25th March 2019:

Watch and listen to this video carefully as Tomi brings a very powerful word about Boris being akin to Donald Trump, like two lions dealing with the hyena-like media pack, and much more…

Warning: a sequence of graphical clips near the end of the video is rather unsettling but serves to illustrate the corrective nature of the main word for 2020 on God’s Justice.

Lest we forget, the Wendy Alec 2005 Vision of Great Britain refers to a ‘Lionheart’ and ‘Wilberforce’. Theresa May regarded the latter’s work as an inspiration for her personal mission to tackle modern slavery.

Roger Jervois offers this about recent Churchill-Johnson references:

‘A word popped into my heart today (24th July). Clearly, the mantle of Churchill is on Boris. The Whirlwind of Wilberforce though, is going to be a Christian businessman, operating in the ministry of finance (almsgiving) on a spectacular scale, using the profits of his enterprises to set people free from debt and modern-day slavery in low-income work. He will subsidise entry-level housing and public transport and through innovative schemes set the captives of student loans free. He will be known as the doyenne of disruptors and a madman. This craziness is an honour of Me, says the Lord.

Roger senses that, ‘God will unite Boris’ heart and this guy. They will be the closest of friends, like Churchill had Jan Smuts as his closest friend.’

Fifty Cubits High
Prophetic Photographs:  Patton and Trump
D-Day, 2017:  British and American Christianity
New PM Boris brings Biblical blessing to Britain

Peace with God means Conflict with the World

Jurgen Moltmann, German Reformed Theologian

This is from the blog A Word in Season:

“That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”
 
― Jürgen Moltmann

The World is the Battleground