HEPHZIBAH MINISTRIES
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Isaiah 62
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Next »
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Isaiah 62
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. « Previous Next »
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Isaiah 62
And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. « Previous
July 2007
July 30, 2007
2 Peter 2:20-21
All too often we witness believers in the Lord Jesus Christ turn away from serving Him and begin to live as they were before they met Him. There is a strong resistance to the word of God and encouragement to return to the Lord. Our scripture reading says that the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ enables us to escape the pollutions of the world. This knowledge brings us into the realm of righteousness and holiness as we allow His word to penetrate our souls, separating that which is of Him and that which is of the world.
Why is it then that we get entangled with the pollutions of this world? Is it because we allow ourselves to be drawn away by the temptations of the things which we once enjoyed and which our flesh misses? We flirt with the things of the world only to realise that we are entangled by them and it seems impossible to escape. The resistance that rises up in us is really the demonic spirits doing their best to turn our souls away from repentance which we need to do to restore our fellowship with the Father. The pleasures that the demons place before us have such a pull that our fleshly desires carry us away in the anticipation of being fully satiated by them.
The scripture says that the end of such a person is worse than before they came to the Lord Jesus Christ. It goes on to say that it is better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and turn from it. We are warned that we need to keep ourselves from sin by fleeing from the very appearance of evil. We do not fully realise how much we need to keep ourselves from falling into the trap of the enemy as we may not get an opportunity to repent before we die. What a waste of a life of one who once knew the Lord Jesus Christ and has now turned away! Let us take heed today that we do not fall into the pollutions of this world that we once enjoyed because the end of it may well be a life of misery and premature death.
July 23, 2007
Jeremiah 28:9
The gift of the prophet has been given to the church for the guidance of God's people as He shares with them His secrets of what is to come. God uses the prophetic to bring correction, rebuke and encouragement to His people. But many run after the prophetic to hear what God has in store for them and when the word does not come to pass they say that the prophet is not a true prophet of God. Our scripture reading says : "when the word of the Lord comes to pass , the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent".
Today, as in the Old Testament days, we have a part to play in the fulfilment of prophecy as we need to be faithful to Him and not drift in and out of His path. While we are operating in a time of grace, we need to take the steps that will permit the fulfilment of the prophetic words. God wants us to have His best but so many times we allow the devil to draw us away with distractions which seem to be things we ought to be involved in but are not getting us into the place for the fulfilment of the prophetic word. The devil's plan is to get us to give up on the prophetic word.
God is faithful and will not do anything to cause His word not to be fulfilled. The problem is therefore on our side. Once we are convinced that the word from the prophet is indeed a word for us from God, then we ought to work with God to have His word come to pass. We ought to be careful that we do not blame the prophet when the word does not come to pass as the problem may well be ours. We can determine the accuracy of the prophet when we see things comes to pass but let us not be too quick to call the prophet false if they do not.
July 16, 2007
Matthew 6:7-8
When we are very energised in our prayer, we easily lapse into repetitions as if by our saying the same words or sentences over and over will convey to our heavenly Father the urgency or the intense feeling ( faith?) that we are expressing. We think that calling His name over and over increases our chances of our prayer being answered. It is very difficult for most of us to keep vain repetitions out of our prayer especially when we are emotional about what we are praying about.
Our scripture reading reminds us that our heavenly Father knows what are our needs. This means that we do not need to convince Him to give us what He already knows we need. All He wants is for us to come to Him, our heavenly Father, in faith and He will give it to us. We do the same as with our earthly fathers- we just approach them and ask. We usually do not go to them and keep repeating their name or the things that we need as we are sure that they have heard us. Can we put this same trust in our heavenly Father who gave His only begotten Son for us that we may have boldness to enter into His presence through the Blood that was shed on the cross?
We note that the heathen makes many repetitions in their prayer as they are not sure that they are heard and that they have to convince their god to give them what they are asking for. How can stone or wooden images hear even though ears may be attached to their form? The Bible declares that they have ears but cannot hear and they have mouths but cannot speak. We have a sure word and evidence that our God hears and speaks. We need to exercise our faith in Him and not be conformed to the mode of prayer of the heathen. His ear is ever open to our prayer and He delights to give us whatever He sees that we need. We ought to continue to wait patiently for Him as He will hear us and will answer!
July 9, 2007
Ezekiel 20: 23-24
The Lord is passing judgement on Israel because they had failed to execute His judgements, despised His statutes, profaned His Sabbaths and had their eyes fixed on their fathers' idols. We are just as guilty as they are as we have failed to execute His judgements on the various movements that are operating against His will and purpose. We have allowed the devil to affect our lives by various means through government policy, religious practices and secret societies.
We are guilty of not using the weapons God has made available for His people to use against the plans of the enemy of our soul. We are deluded into the mindset that if those plans do not affect our lives, they can be allowed. If the devil stays clear of us, we tolerate whatever he does. Are we not the ones that God depends on the raise the wall of righteousness that guards the land? If we fail to execute His judgements on practices that are against righteousness, then we will have failed to carry out His mandate to us.
If the church does not raise a banner of righteousness, who else is capable of doing so? Our God has called us to walk in righteousness and holiness. If we keep our eyes on other so called gods, we will compromise with the work of the anti Christ and God may well have to chastise us to get us to walk in paths of righteousness and holiness. He has called us His sons and that automatically means that we have to execute His judgements in the world today, ensure that we keep His Word, rest in Him and fix out eyes on Him.
July 2, 2007
Acts 10: 34-35
Peter, a Jew, was sent by Holy Spirit to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. This was not normal as the Jews had no dealings with Gentiles. God had to move in this situation to break generations of separation between the Jews and Gentiles and open the way of salvation to the Gentiles for whom He died on the Cross. While Jesus appeared to the Jews when He resurrected from the dead, He did this to confirm His word to them which He spoke when He was with them prior to His crucifixation. Now that they were filled with the promised Holy Spirit, He was ready to send them to the Gentiles.
God showed Peter that what He had called clean, he (Peter) could not call unclean. How many times do we discriminate against others for some of the most frivolous reasons? We put up barriers which interfere with the flow of Holy Spirit and the spiritual growth of others for no good reason. In fact our reasons will not stand before God. Peter found himself in a very similar situation as God dealt with him in a vision. He tried to resist God but in the end he submitted and saw Gentiles experience what the Jewish disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost and subsequent to it.
We need to recognise that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has a part to play in the work of the kingdom of God. Some are called to front line ministries while others are called to the less visible ministries. There is no one ministry that is greater than the other. All play a part in the establishment of the Kingdom of God and God expects us to be available to Him to be used as required. Are we unreservedly available to Him who saved us and called us to work in His Kingdom? To do any less will be to deny that He died for us and called us to participate with Him in establishing His Kingdom.
2 Peter 2:20-21All too often we witness believers in the Lord Jesus Christ turn away from serving Him and begin to live as they were before they met Him. There is a strong resistance to the word of God and encouragement to return to the Lord. Our scripture reading says that the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ enables us to escape the pollutions of the world. This knowledge brings us into the realm of righteousness and holiness as we allow His word to penetrate our souls, separating that which is of Him and that which is of the world.
Why is it then that we get entangled with the pollutions of this world? Is it because we allow ourselves to be drawn away by the temptations of the things which we once enjoyed and which our flesh misses? We flirt with the things of the world only to realise that we are entangled by them and it seems impossible to escape. The resistance that rises up in us is really the demonic spirits doing their best to turn our souls away from repentance which we need to do to restore our fellowship with the Father. The pleasures that the demons place before us have such a pull that our fleshly desires carry us away in the anticipation of being fully satiated by them.
The scripture says that the end of such a person is worse than before they came to the Lord Jesus Christ. It goes on to say that it is better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and turn from it. We are warned that we need to keep ourselves from sin by fleeing from the very appearance of evil. We do not fully realise how much we need to keep ourselves from falling into the trap of the enemy as we may not get an opportunity to repent before we die. What a waste of a life of one who once knew the Lord Jesus Christ and has now turned away! Let us take heed today that we do not fall into the pollutions of this world that we once enjoyed because the end of it may well be a life of misery and premature death.
July 23, 2007
Jeremiah 28:9The gift of the prophet has been given to the church for the guidance of God's people as He shares with them His secrets of what is to come. God uses the prophetic to bring correction, rebuke and encouragement to His people. But many run after the prophetic to hear what God has in store for them and when the word does not come to pass they say that the prophet is not a true prophet of God. Our scripture reading says : "when the word of the Lord comes to pass , the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent".
Today, as in the Old Testament days, we have a part to play in the fulfilment of prophecy as we need to be faithful to Him and not drift in and out of His path. While we are operating in a time of grace, we need to take the steps that will permit the fulfilment of the prophetic words. God wants us to have His best but so many times we allow the devil to draw us away with distractions which seem to be things we ought to be involved in but are not getting us into the place for the fulfilment of the prophetic word. The devil's plan is to get us to give up on the prophetic word.
God is faithful and will not do anything to cause His word not to be fulfilled. The problem is therefore on our side. Once we are convinced that the word from the prophet is indeed a word for us from God, then we ought to work with God to have His word come to pass. We ought to be careful that we do not blame the prophet when the word does not come to pass as the problem may well be ours. We can determine the accuracy of the prophet when we see things comes to pass but let us not be too quick to call the prophet false if they do not.
July 16, 2007
Matthew 6:7-8When we are very energised in our prayer, we easily lapse into repetitions as if by our saying the same words or sentences over and over will convey to our heavenly Father the urgency or the intense feeling ( faith?) that we are expressing. We think that calling His name over and over increases our chances of our prayer being answered. It is very difficult for most of us to keep vain repetitions out of our prayer especially when we are emotional about what we are praying about.
Our scripture reading reminds us that our heavenly Father knows what are our needs. This means that we do not need to convince Him to give us what He already knows we need. All He wants is for us to come to Him, our heavenly Father, in faith and He will give it to us. We do the same as with our earthly fathers- we just approach them and ask. We usually do not go to them and keep repeating their name or the things that we need as we are sure that they have heard us. Can we put this same trust in our heavenly Father who gave His only begotten Son for us that we may have boldness to enter into His presence through the Blood that was shed on the cross?
We note that the heathen makes many repetitions in their prayer as they are not sure that they are heard and that they have to convince their god to give them what they are asking for. How can stone or wooden images hear even though ears may be attached to their form? The Bible declares that they have ears but cannot hear and they have mouths but cannot speak. We have a sure word and evidence that our God hears and speaks. We need to exercise our faith in Him and not be conformed to the mode of prayer of the heathen. His ear is ever open to our prayer and He delights to give us whatever He sees that we need. We ought to continue to wait patiently for Him as He will hear us and will answer!
July 9, 2007
Ezekiel 20: 23-24The Lord is passing judgement on Israel because they had failed to execute His judgements, despised His statutes, profaned His Sabbaths and had their eyes fixed on their fathers' idols. We are just as guilty as they are as we have failed to execute His judgements on the various movements that are operating against His will and purpose. We have allowed the devil to affect our lives by various means through government policy, religious practices and secret societies.
We are guilty of not using the weapons God has made available for His people to use against the plans of the enemy of our soul. We are deluded into the mindset that if those plans do not affect our lives, they can be allowed. If the devil stays clear of us, we tolerate whatever he does. Are we not the ones that God depends on the raise the wall of righteousness that guards the land? If we fail to execute His judgements on practices that are against righteousness, then we will have failed to carry out His mandate to us.
If the church does not raise a banner of righteousness, who else is capable of doing so? Our God has called us to walk in righteousness and holiness. If we keep our eyes on other so called gods, we will compromise with the work of the anti Christ and God may well have to chastise us to get us to walk in paths of righteousness and holiness. He has called us His sons and that automatically means that we have to execute His judgements in the world today, ensure that we keep His Word, rest in Him and fix out eyes on Him.
July 2, 2007
Acts 10: 34-35Peter, a Jew, was sent by Holy Spirit to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. This was not normal as the Jews had no dealings with Gentiles. God had to move in this situation to break generations of separation between the Jews and Gentiles and open the way of salvation to the Gentiles for whom He died on the Cross. While Jesus appeared to the Jews when He resurrected from the dead, He did this to confirm His word to them which He spoke when He was with them prior to His crucifixation. Now that they were filled with the promised Holy Spirit, He was ready to send them to the Gentiles.
God showed Peter that what He had called clean, he (Peter) could not call unclean. How many times do we discriminate against others for some of the most frivolous reasons? We put up barriers which interfere with the flow of Holy Spirit and the spiritual growth of others for no good reason. In fact our reasons will not stand before God. Peter found himself in a very similar situation as God dealt with him in a vision. He tried to resist God but in the end he submitted and saw Gentiles experience what the Jewish disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost and subsequent to it.
We need to recognise that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has a part to play in the work of the kingdom of God. Some are called to front line ministries while others are called to the less visible ministries. There is no one ministry that is greater than the other. All play a part in the establishment of the Kingdom of God and God expects us to be available to Him to be used as required. Are we unreservedly available to Him who saved us and called us to work in His Kingdom? To do any less will be to deny that He died for us and called us to participate with Him in establishing His Kingdom.
