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LIVELY STONES MEDITATIONS

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Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.
And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
[Genesis 24:61-67 NKJV]
A wedding is always a very special occasion, and scripture tells us it was instituted by God as a pattern for our relationship with Him through His son. He is the husband; we are His bride, and the Beloved says to us:
You who dwell in the gardens, the companions listen for your voice — Let me hear it!
[Song of Solomon 8:13 NKJV]

The Lord longs to hear from us. He seeks our response to His approach. He seeks an intimate relationship with His bride and what can be more intimate than His in-dwelling spirit?

And His purpose is that in the joining, we bear fruit — that His son is birthed in us, His many-membered bride. But His desire — His purpose, can only be realised if we are pure and spotless, and that can only happen if we give ourselves fully and completely to Him, our husband.

On Sunday evening we travelled 5000 miles to Guatemala for the wedding of a very special friend ... and what a beautiful and wonderful wedding it was too. In these lockdown times it was of necessity different from usual, but such a lovely occasion. Tears of joy all round!

We were back home in time for our evening meal — something unimaginable before the internet came upon us; so we are thankful for such a great God who makes a way where there is no way, and who draws each one that He has purposed.

Such joy! It reminded us of that wonderful song ‘The Eliezer Call’, sometimes known as ‘Camel Train’ or ‘Twas a day in early springtime’. So here it is ...
Twas a day in early springtime,
By an ancient wayside well,
Eliezer paused to rest his camel train.
He had found a bride for Isaac
Ere the evening shadows fell,
For his weary journey had not been in vain.

Oh, get ready! Evening shadows fall.
Don’t you hear the Eliezer call?
There’s going to be a wedding,
And our joy will soon begin,
In the evening when the camel train comes in.

So he took the fair Rebekah,
Dressed in jewels rich and rare,
Quickly to her waiting bridegroom far away.
Where Rebekah loved her Isaac,
And he loved Rebekah fair;
Oh, it must have been a happy wedding day.

Now the blessed Holy Spirit,
From our Father God above,
Has come down to earth to find a worthy Bride.
For our Isaac over yonder
Has prepared His tents of love,
And He wants His fair Rebekah by His side.

We have left our kinfolk gladly;
We have bade the world goodbye.
We’ve been called to be His pure and spotless Bride;
Where we’ll soon behold our Jesus
In that blest eternity--
What a happy, happy wedding that will be!
Have you never met the person whose religious life is so exact that you are terrified to come near him?
Never have an exercise of religion which blots God clean out.
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Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
[2 Timothy 2:19 NKJV]
A seal is designed to impress, and literally is often an impression in a drop of wax to deter tampering with whatever is held within a document. In times gone by it was the symbol of monarchy and a king or queen would impress a stamp with a crest or heraldic device into the wax as a mark of authority and decree.

Today, companies will still seek a “seal of approval” for their products as a guarantee of quality and trustworthiness, and is seen in regular usage still to indicate status and power. Behind every US President at television press conferences is his seal of office.

In 2 Timothy we are assured that the Lord knows those who are His, by this seal; the solid foundation of God, which is His Holy Spirit. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
[Ephesians1:13-14 NKJV]

Thus, receiving the Holy Spirit* is our God’s stamp of authority on our lives — proof positive that we have been bought at a price and are sealed into His promise.

This is His guarantee.

* John 20:22
Am I going to live a sequestered life on the mount and never come down into the demon-possessed valley, never prove that what I saw on the mount is sufficient to enable me to face what I find in the valley?
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For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.
[Hebrews 9:2-5 NKJV]
The only use of the word ‘overshadowing’ in the New King James translation is to be found in Hebrews 9, and shown in our verses above. Significantly, it is used to refer to the cherubim whose wings cover the mercy seat atop the ark of the testimony.

In Exodus 25:22 we read: And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

This place of Holy overshadowing is the precise place where The Almighty said that He would meet with Moses and converse with Him. Not only a covering and guarding, but the place of the most intimate relationship with Him. Hallelujah! May we forever be underneath the overshadowing wings of the cherubim of glory - on the mercy seat.

O spread Your wings of mercy over me
And guard my heart with true humility
No shadow of the darkness pressing in
Only the holy overshadowing
Underneath Your wings, overshadowing

No refuge will I seek but God alone
No hiding place save only at Your throne
Only the cross, the blood to wash my sin
Only the holy overshadowing
Underneath Your wings, overshadowing

You are my shield, and my glory
You are the lifter of my head
And though the storms may rage around me
I'll be safe within
Beneath the holy overshadowing

No burden on my back too hard to bear
Only the easy load You bid me wear
Until these troubles pass, my heart will sing
Praise for the holy overshadowing
Underneath Your wings, overshadowing

You are my shield, and my glory
You are the lifter of my head
And though the storms may rage around me
I'll be safe within
Beneath the holy overshadowing

You are my shield, and my glory
You are the lifter of my head
And though the storms may rage around me
I'll be safe within
Beneath the holy overshadowing

Underneath Your wings
Overshadowing, overshadowing
written by Graham Kendrick and Ben Trigg 2018
Said Kendrick, "I wrote 'Holy Overshadowing' with my friend Ben Trigg.
"It's about taking refuge in God when you feel like running away from God or the situation you find yourself in."
Thanks to Graham Sherry - one of the singers in the video - and to Stan Holloway for passing the video link on to us. Lovely also to know that a lot of the video was recorded in our home town of Uddingston in Lanarkshire. Well done.
A man can never be the same again, I don’t care who he is, after having heard Jesus Christ preached. He may say he pays no attention to it; he may appear to have forgotten all about it, but he is never quite the same, and at any moment truths may spring up into his consciousness that will destroy all his peace and happiness.
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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters,
[Isaiah 43:2-3,19 NKJV]
What we see here in these verses from Isaiah 43, is something we may know in our hearts, or have personal experience of; but at one level, wish were not so — that when He makes a way, that way is not free from trouble or difficulty; far from it.

The turbulence and trouble are still there; you are still in the midst of the raging seas; the burning heat of the flame and furnace continues to threaten to overwhelm you; but ... He says I will be with you.

His spirit lifts you above the flood; shields you from the fire that otherwise would engulf you.

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
[Psalm 91:3-4 NKJV]
Oceans Will Part — Hillsong
God will never begin to teach me His will in other matters until I do what I know. Theoretic knowledge becomes our condemnation—“If ye know these things blessed are ye if ye do them” (RV).
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Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters, who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
[Isaiah 43:16-19 NKJV]
As we have seen when the Red Sea was parted for Moses and the Jordan River was made dry ground for Joshua, God makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters and indeed does not stop there, for He will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert if need be. This surely is another way of saying the He can do all things, perform miracles, shift heaven and earth for His people and His purpose.

But we can also see in these verses that He says “Don’t look back. Look ahead, because this is new; not something you already know.” There are echoes of Lot’s wife in this — forget what has gone before, for the only way has yet to come; and God is forever creating anew for us, even as He Himself is unchanging.

Rest assured, He makes our ways straight, but also miraculous and sure. Have faith in that miraculous future.
Way Maker — Leeland
“Labour.” It is the one thing we will not do. We will take open-air meetings, we will preach—but labour at prayer! There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man’s work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible.
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So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan.
So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
[Joshua 3:14-17 NKJV]
It is maybe an obvious thing to say that ‘still waters’ are not the same as ‘waters which are stood still’. Our song today (below) does not really express what we are talking about here, other than in its title, although it is a beautiful song nonetheless.

The difference is that ‘still waters’ represent a state of being, while ‘waters which are stood still’ show a turbulence which has been set at peace. We find ‘still waters’, but the Lord stills the unrest within us.

Our scripture today speaks of ‘the harvest’; the fulfilment of what our Lord is purposing. The Feast of Tabernacles is a place of harvest, of gathering in what has been sown and grown to fruition.

But we know from Revelation that we are priests and kings and our Lord is the Great High Priest and King of Kings; therefore He is the one to whom we must look for guidance — in Him we trust.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. [Revelation 1:5b-6 NKJV]

So, in the light of this truth, we see that in Joshua, the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant — the centre within the Holiest of All which is the dwelling place of the Spirit of the Most High God — to the edge of the overflowing Jordan River ... and the Spirit of the Living God stilled the overflowing waters as the priests stood in the midst of it.

And the people crossed over on dry land!

I am aware that I cannot do justice to the incredible and awe-inspiring truth of these words in Joshua. This picture happens within each of us whenever we allow Christ to be the centre of our being — when we allow Him to be in the midst of us and stills the raging waters, bringing peace.

We do not encounter the already still water, Jesus Christ stills the waters around us — they are in a heap very far away at Adam. Adam means ‘red earth’ — the natural man, and He consigns the turbulent waters; the unrest; the disquiet to another place far away, so that His priests — bearing His Spirit — may stand untouched, so that others may find the way!

It is just as we see in John’s Gospel chapter 20, verse 19 ... Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Whenever Jesus stands in the midst of us He stills the waters.
Still Waters — Kingdom Child
For one man who can introduce another to Jesus Christ by the way he lives and by the atmosphere of his life, there are a thousand who can only talk jargon about Him.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
[Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV]
Created for good works ...
The subject of our being ‘created ... for good works’ has caused great theological debate over the centuries, with our good works often taken as our purpose; but Paul makes it plain that we are His workmanship, and that the good works we are to walk in are His workmanship also.

Our purpose is to live as the joy of His creation, looking to Him as the author and finisher of our faith, and growing in our relationship with Him, to express inwardly and outwardly His perfect nature. It sounds great — and indeed it is — but, as we know, it is far from the easiest thing for us. We are flighty and our focus so easily alights on pretty distractions that are put in our paths.

But that not of yourselves ...
It is important to remember that we were chosen before the beginning of the world. This is not that we should say “It’s not my fault, Lord. You chose me!” In a sense, we would be justified in thinking this only if we weren’t chosen by Him in the first place. Ultimately, we are not our own; we are His. We have each been bought at a price ... and such a price too!

And you He made alive, who were dead ...
... and He does it still. It is both a completed work and an unfinished ever-creative one. That is the beauty — and the mystery — of God’s workmanship. His is the finished work, our part is to see His growing unfinished work in us.
God’s Workmanship
If there is to be another revival, it will be through the readjustment of those of us on the inside who call ourselves Christians.
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In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
[Ephesians 1:7-10 NKJV]
The picture above is a copy of my notes taken while listening to an inspiring man of God speak at a meeting about 15 or 20 years ago. I do not know how coherently it reads, and I see that I have missed bits out here and there, but to me it represents an important piece in the jigsaw that is my maturing walk with The Lord.

Thinking of this man of God reminded me that he often referenced Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, so I felt to re-read through Ephesians — and of course found some verses which have been an immense inspiration for me, as well as millions of others, I am sure. These words speak eloquently for themselves; a wonderful exposition of redemption, and marvellous words to dwell in.
In Him We Have Redemption - David Fellingham
If I am a Christian, to whom is my appeal? To none but to those God sends you to. You can’t get men to come; nobody could get you to come till you came. “The wind bloweth where it listeth: . . . so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
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I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
[Psalm 9:1-2 NKJV]
We can forget that our praises are sacrificial offerings — the sacrifice of praise. In praise, we are giving everything of ourselves; we are lifted into a different sphere, because I am focussed on He that is greater than I. It is part of what is described as death to self; a message that seems unpalatable, and yet it is so uplifting and easy when we throw ourselves fully into praise, because we are transported to a greater reality; the reality of Jesus Christ.

But we must be careful in this. Praise can become an end in itself; almost a drug; for we enjoy the lifting up, the exhilaration of the moment. This can be a trap, when we are merely enjoying ourselves — our eyes diverted away from who we should be worshipping. Not that there should not be enjoyment; perhaps joy would be a better description? Praise is not there to serve us, but to glorify The Lord.

Psalm 9:1-2 shows us the sure heart of our praise. Sing praise to your name, O Most High!
Sing Praises Unto God, Sing Praises
It is the most natural thing to be like the person you live with most, therefore live most with Jesus Christ; be absorbingly taken up with Him.
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And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
[Matthew 24:31 NKJV]
I am writing on this subject because on Saturday evening I was sitting and talking with Milady, and I heard inwardly a sound unlike no other; a deep resonant sound which I could not at first identify. Then I remembered an album I had on cassette many years ago of music from the Middle East, which featured the many and varied instruments of that region. One of those instruments was the Shofar - a rams horn, made into a trumpet. However, the trumpet is actually another instrument altogether*. The Shofar, or horn has a very distinctive sound and was used in a variety of ways, but primarily as a call to commence battle, or as an alert to signify something momentous. In each case this signifies a beginning.

There is a significance too, in the fact of it being made for preference from ram’s horn** (although often from a wild goat horn) — a connection with the ‘ram in the thicket’ sacrificed in place of Isaac perhaps, I do not know. What I do know is that such a sound in your head is quite a thing. A wake-up call, indeed!

From that moment, I have been especially aware of The Lord moving; of a change in the spiritual atmosphere. This, so far, is unquantifiable to me beyond a handful of small events signifying a shift in the way things are, and this is the essence of the sound of a trumpet — change.
Listen brother to the trumpet sound
We are free, we’re no longer bound
When the Son has set you free
Rise up and proclaim your liberty

Don’t you settle for the prison floor
When the Lord has offered you so much more
Shed your shackles of sin and doubt
Let faith arise, walk on out

When the enemy seeks to bind
Plays captivity on your mind
Telling you that can’t be free
And there’s no such thing as Jubilee

Don’t you settle for the prison floor
When the Lord has offered you so much more
Shed your shackles of sin and doubt
Let faith arise, walk on out
* see Numbers 10:2 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.
** the larger ones (as in the illustration above) are made from the horn of the Greater Kudu, a type of antelope.
Shofar (Ram's Horn Trumpet) Blowing
Never try to explain God until you have obeyed Him. The only bit of God we understand is the bit we have obeyed.

MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS…

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
PHILIPPIANS 4:8-9

Authors

GEORGE and GILL STEWART
for Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, Kilmartin
(unless post shows otherwise)