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
October 2007
October 29, 2007
Luke 13:15-16
In verse 15, Jesus was showing how we take His laws and make them into what they were never meant to be. The Sabbath was a day of rest and concentrating on God. But the devil brought us into bondage to it in that we did not see that we were free to serve God and to rest in Him. So God's intention for the Sabbath became bondage to men by the devil distorting the intent. In Jesus' day, they did not think that someone should be healed from the bondage of sickness and enter into the rest of perfect health.
Are we being deceived by the devil to think that sickness comes on us only through natural means? Most sickness comes about because the devil has found doorways to enter into our lives and bring us into bondage. Many believers do not see it this way and either pray for healing or take medicine for their sicknesses. While we should pray for our healing, we need to prepare our bodies for that healing by repenting from our sins and closing doorways which may have allowed those sicknesses to enter. We have been conditioned to think that it is only outside forces we should be focussing on and do not know that we need to take care of the condition of our soul which, in very many instances, is the source of our problems.
Jesus saw the problem as being a spiritual one which manifested itself in the natural. While both believers and non believers in the Lord Jesus Christ get sick, we are often consoled by others that we are not alone in this condition and that we should cheer up and believe God. I wish to say here that we should not be deceived by the devil into accepting comfort in the fact that we are not alone in this condition. We should rest in Jesus knowing that by His stripes we are healed and that once our soul prospers, we shall be in good health. So we need to ensure that our soul is right before Him first and then we can expect His healing grace to break the bondage of the enemy in our bodies.
October 22, 2007
1 Chronicles 16:11-12
We are being encouraged to seek the Lord and His strength. Most of us are so conditioned that when we hear the words "seek the Lord", we usually associate them with having God do something for us. We usually do not seek God for fellowship and building a relationship. But this is the uppermost thing in God's heart - that we may know Him as truly our Father and we in turn know how to be His sons. How can we be sons to a Father whom we do not know?
In seeking His strength, we often think of the strength of His hand and we again have no major problem seeking His hand as He gives us things with His hand. We encourage ourselves to seek His strength as we believe that we will receive of His hand. The next part of the verse says - seek His face evermore. This says that it is more important than anything else that we seek His face. In seeking His face we are building relationship, we can kiss the Son and show our adoration and love to Him. We are not out to get something but to give. We need to do this everyday rather than focus on bringing before Him all our wants. He did promise that if we seek first the kingdom, all these things shall be added unto us. Kingdom is not sought by focussing on His hand but by focussing on His face so that He can tell us His heart.
Vs 12 tells us to remember His marvellous works which He has done, His wonders and the judgements of His mouth. As we survey what He has done, we cannot but fear Him. As we remember His judgements, we know what He has declared as being under our feet, we know that we are victorious and we can bring to bear His judgements in the various situations which confront us. He wants us to know Him, not just for what He can give but for who He is.
October 15, 2007
Luke 17:33, Luke 18:29-30
Jesus uses these verses to clear up our doubts as to our service to Him. If we are more concerned with the things of this life than those of the Kingdom of God, Jesus said that we will lose those things and end up with nothing. But if we put the things of His Kingdom first, then we will have all the things pertaining to this life. It comes down to where our heart is. Is our heart linked to His so that we feel the things that He feels or are we living life thinking that His heart is linked to ours so that His heart feels what we feel.
When we called Jesus Lord of our lives, we may not have really understood what we said. When we call Jesus our Lord, we have no more ownership of our lives. He bought us with His blood so we are no longer our own. There is now a fight between the flesh and the spirit for the right to rule in our lives. We need to submit to Holy Spirit if we are to be sons of the living God. This means that we may have to leave our loved ones to answer the call. Many have turned back when they see the price they have to pay for following Jesus.
Jesus said however that we shall receive many times more than we gave up in this present time and in the age to come. That is His promise to us! Do we believe that He is coming back for us? If the answer is yes, then we must believe that we shall not be the loser if we give up things to serve Him. He is faithful to keep His promises and we must be faithful to believe His promises and serve Him no matter the cost. The world will call us foolish but He calls us mighty as we become mighty weapons in His hand against the enemy. Are we willing to lose our identity for His sake or save our identity and lose everything in the end?
October 8, 2007
Jeremiah 5: 22
God is asking this very same question today to His church- "Do you not fear me?" It is apparent that the fear of God has gone out of His church. The false teaching that goes out from the leaders and their loose lifestyles say much. The standards that the church is supposed to uphold are no higher than those of the world and the church cannot show the world what God expects. Our God Jehovah is all loving, longsuffering and merciful. He is pleading with His people to live righteously and in holiness. He has not dealt with us after our sins as yet and this lulls us into a false sense that He accepts our current lifestyles.
God asks a second question-"Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?" Is it because we do not believe that God is among us when we gather together or that He is not with us at all times that we do not fear Him? The Bible tells us that every man who met with God or an angel could not stand in the presence. If God manifests His presence we will all fear Him. So whether we see His manifest presence or not we should fear Him just by knowing who He is.
He is the one who made a perpetual decree and the water stays bound by the sand. The elements are kept in check by the word of His power. We have been offered fellowship with the true and living God by His Son Jesus Christ. If we knew Him, we will fear Him. So our lack of fear speaks loudly that we do not know Him. We need to repent from not fearing Him and seek to know Him in a new way. In seeking Him, we will find Him and will begin to fear Him for He is a God that ought to be feared.
October 1, 2007
Ezekiel 22:30
Here is God saying that He has to look for a man to make up the wall and to stand in the gap before Him so that He will not have to destroy the land. In spite of all the godly people around, God still has to look for a man who will do what is necessary to protect the land. It is unfortunately still so today. The church is filled with sinners who have come for salvation. The church is the place where the sinner can come and meet with the true and living God. In the church, there are people at different degrees of surrender to God. In receiving Jesus as Saviour, we also asked Him to become Lord of our life. Lord means that we surrender our lives to Him so He is now in control of us. If He is truly Lord then we will obey Him and do what is pleasing to Him.
God does not want to destroy any land but when the land is full of sin He considers judgement to bring the land back on the correct track. He looks for His people who will be able to make up the wall that will protect the land as they are righteous. He also looks for them to be able to stand in gaps in the wall so that the enemy will not have easy access to the land and cause more wicked living. When God has to look for a man to do this job and found none , it says that even His people are not living righteously. If the church which is supposed to be the righteous standard in the land cannot keep the standard, then we are in danger of God's judgement.
God's love and mercy towards His creation is summed up by the fact that God is looking for one man. He will accept the standard of one man to change things in the land and save it from His judgement. Are we willing to be that man? I believe that God is looking in every nation of the earth for one man to stem the march to wickedness in the earth today. Do we recognise that God will save us not by our numbers but by our faith and obedience to Him? Our God is Almighty and He can do anything on earth once there is a man available to Him. Will we take up that challenge today and be that man who will stand with God and for God and see Him change things around in our land?
Luke 13:15-16In verse 15, Jesus was showing how we take His laws and make them into what they were never meant to be. The Sabbath was a day of rest and concentrating on God. But the devil brought us into bondage to it in that we did not see that we were free to serve God and to rest in Him. So God's intention for the Sabbath became bondage to men by the devil distorting the intent. In Jesus' day, they did not think that someone should be healed from the bondage of sickness and enter into the rest of perfect health.
Are we being deceived by the devil to think that sickness comes on us only through natural means? Most sickness comes about because the devil has found doorways to enter into our lives and bring us into bondage. Many believers do not see it this way and either pray for healing or take medicine for their sicknesses. While we should pray for our healing, we need to prepare our bodies for that healing by repenting from our sins and closing doorways which may have allowed those sicknesses to enter. We have been conditioned to think that it is only outside forces we should be focussing on and do not know that we need to take care of the condition of our soul which, in very many instances, is the source of our problems.
Jesus saw the problem as being a spiritual one which manifested itself in the natural. While both believers and non believers in the Lord Jesus Christ get sick, we are often consoled by others that we are not alone in this condition and that we should cheer up and believe God. I wish to say here that we should not be deceived by the devil into accepting comfort in the fact that we are not alone in this condition. We should rest in Jesus knowing that by His stripes we are healed and that once our soul prospers, we shall be in good health. So we need to ensure that our soul is right before Him first and then we can expect His healing grace to break the bondage of the enemy in our bodies.
October 22, 2007
1 Chronicles 16:11-12We are being encouraged to seek the Lord and His strength. Most of us are so conditioned that when we hear the words "seek the Lord", we usually associate them with having God do something for us. We usually do not seek God for fellowship and building a relationship. But this is the uppermost thing in God's heart - that we may know Him as truly our Father and we in turn know how to be His sons. How can we be sons to a Father whom we do not know?
In seeking His strength, we often think of the strength of His hand and we again have no major problem seeking His hand as He gives us things with His hand. We encourage ourselves to seek His strength as we believe that we will receive of His hand. The next part of the verse says - seek His face evermore. This says that it is more important than anything else that we seek His face. In seeking His face we are building relationship, we can kiss the Son and show our adoration and love to Him. We are not out to get something but to give. We need to do this everyday rather than focus on bringing before Him all our wants. He did promise that if we seek first the kingdom, all these things shall be added unto us. Kingdom is not sought by focussing on His hand but by focussing on His face so that He can tell us His heart.
Vs 12 tells us to remember His marvellous works which He has done, His wonders and the judgements of His mouth. As we survey what He has done, we cannot but fear Him. As we remember His judgements, we know what He has declared as being under our feet, we know that we are victorious and we can bring to bear His judgements in the various situations which confront us. He wants us to know Him, not just for what He can give but for who He is.
October 15, 2007
Luke 17:33, Luke 18:29-30Jesus uses these verses to clear up our doubts as to our service to Him. If we are more concerned with the things of this life than those of the Kingdom of God, Jesus said that we will lose those things and end up with nothing. But if we put the things of His Kingdom first, then we will have all the things pertaining to this life. It comes down to where our heart is. Is our heart linked to His so that we feel the things that He feels or are we living life thinking that His heart is linked to ours so that His heart feels what we feel.
When we called Jesus Lord of our lives, we may not have really understood what we said. When we call Jesus our Lord, we have no more ownership of our lives. He bought us with His blood so we are no longer our own. There is now a fight between the flesh and the spirit for the right to rule in our lives. We need to submit to Holy Spirit if we are to be sons of the living God. This means that we may have to leave our loved ones to answer the call. Many have turned back when they see the price they have to pay for following Jesus.
Jesus said however that we shall receive many times more than we gave up in this present time and in the age to come. That is His promise to us! Do we believe that He is coming back for us? If the answer is yes, then we must believe that we shall not be the loser if we give up things to serve Him. He is faithful to keep His promises and we must be faithful to believe His promises and serve Him no matter the cost. The world will call us foolish but He calls us mighty as we become mighty weapons in His hand against the enemy. Are we willing to lose our identity for His sake or save our identity and lose everything in the end?
October 8, 2007
Jeremiah 5: 22God is asking this very same question today to His church- "Do you not fear me?" It is apparent that the fear of God has gone out of His church. The false teaching that goes out from the leaders and their loose lifestyles say much. The standards that the church is supposed to uphold are no higher than those of the world and the church cannot show the world what God expects. Our God Jehovah is all loving, longsuffering and merciful. He is pleading with His people to live righteously and in holiness. He has not dealt with us after our sins as yet and this lulls us into a false sense that He accepts our current lifestyles.
God asks a second question-"Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?" Is it because we do not believe that God is among us when we gather together or that He is not with us at all times that we do not fear Him? The Bible tells us that every man who met with God or an angel could not stand in the presence. If God manifests His presence we will all fear Him. So whether we see His manifest presence or not we should fear Him just by knowing who He is.
He is the one who made a perpetual decree and the water stays bound by the sand. The elements are kept in check by the word of His power. We have been offered fellowship with the true and living God by His Son Jesus Christ. If we knew Him, we will fear Him. So our lack of fear speaks loudly that we do not know Him. We need to repent from not fearing Him and seek to know Him in a new way. In seeking Him, we will find Him and will begin to fear Him for He is a God that ought to be feared.
October 1, 2007
Ezekiel 22:30Here is God saying that He has to look for a man to make up the wall and to stand in the gap before Him so that He will not have to destroy the land. In spite of all the godly people around, God still has to look for a man who will do what is necessary to protect the land. It is unfortunately still so today. The church is filled with sinners who have come for salvation. The church is the place where the sinner can come and meet with the true and living God. In the church, there are people at different degrees of surrender to God. In receiving Jesus as Saviour, we also asked Him to become Lord of our life. Lord means that we surrender our lives to Him so He is now in control of us. If He is truly Lord then we will obey Him and do what is pleasing to Him.
God does not want to destroy any land but when the land is full of sin He considers judgement to bring the land back on the correct track. He looks for His people who will be able to make up the wall that will protect the land as they are righteous. He also looks for them to be able to stand in gaps in the wall so that the enemy will not have easy access to the land and cause more wicked living. When God has to look for a man to do this job and found none , it says that even His people are not living righteously. If the church which is supposed to be the righteous standard in the land cannot keep the standard, then we are in danger of God's judgement.
God's love and mercy towards His creation is summed up by the fact that God is looking for one man. He will accept the standard of one man to change things in the land and save it from His judgement. Are we willing to be that man? I believe that God is looking in every nation of the earth for one man to stem the march to wickedness in the earth today. Do we recognise that God will save us not by our numbers but by our faith and obedience to Him? Our God is Almighty and He can do anything on earth once there is a man available to Him. Will we take up that challenge today and be that man who will stand with God and for God and see Him change things around in our land?
