The first mention of a shining light seems to be in 2 Samuel as above (at least according to the New King James Bible). The word refers to Jesus Christ, who is like the light of the morning and as clear shining after rain.

Those words are a wonderful expression of the outpouring compassion of Jesus to His called-out ones. How glorious it is to awaken to a new day and see the light; it brings hope, even in the darkest times ...

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” [Revelation 22:16 NKJV]

The freshness once the rain has ceased always inspires - the ground has been watered and life is revived. We love these long sun filled days of recent times, but the rain clears the air with new promise.

Jesus said this: “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.
The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.
If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.” [Luke 11:33-36 NKJV]

Within each of us is a shard of the light of Christ, and we should let it shine out. How interesting that Jesus should say take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. How can a light be darkness? The answer lies in what fuels your lamp.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
[2 Corinthians 11:13-14 NKJV]

There is always a need to stay spiritually alert, so that we are not drawn astray. Hold fast to the light of the morning and the clear shining after the rain. These things we know; they are the reality of Christ within us the hope of glory.

There are many references to the Terebinth tree, or the oak , or indeed other tree types. The fact is that they all come from the same word meaning a strong or mighty tree; a strong or mighty man.

And when any messenger of God appears it is usually under the covering of a strong tree. Trees have many connotations in Scripture but always refer to persons; and thus we find Jesus entering Jerusalem ...

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”
[John 12:12-13 NKJV]

In this case it is a Palm tree, because palm trees in the middle east represented kingship, so we can see that trees represent character - and a strong tree shows a strong man - strength of character.

To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
[Isaiah 61:3 NKJV]

The terebinth tree is the Lord’s strength; His righteousness and power even. Let us rejoice in His steady and unwavering hand that can be relied upon no matter what. He is the tree that can never be shaken. So when God speaks to one who is to be called into His purpose, it is only right the His message should come from the protective shade of a strong tree ... or a burning bush.

For a parting thought, It is perhaps worth noting that in our quote from Judges 6, that the Terebinth tree was in Ophrah, which means a female fawn, an animal sure-footed and living in the high places.

Lord, give us the attributes of the deer. Let us seek to live on the higher ground, knowing our way in Your kingdom and desiring to keep our minds in that better place; the place where Your Spirit rules. Let us indeed be ‘trees of righteousness’.

We listened to Teresa Conlon of Times Square Church in New York yesterday. It was a short 20 minute talk based on Judges chapter 6 (some verses of which are shown above).

She identified that Gideon was very unconvinced that he was this ‘mighty man of valour’ of which the Angel of the Lord’ spoke. In modern terms, the conversation went like this:

“The Lord is with you,” said the Angel.
“I’m not sure I believe you,” replied Gideon. “Look at all the disasters we have suffered. Why would I think The Lord is with me?”
“Have I not sent you?” is the Lord’s response, to which Gideon says he is not up to the task ahead.
The Angel of The Lord then says, “Then surely I will be with you.”

The Lord is with you - Have I not sent you? - Then surely I will be with you. Gideon never questions whether the Lord sent him or not; he only doubted if the Lord was with him.

Gideon then asks The Angel to prove Himself by performing two miracles. Only when these miracles show it is The Lord who speaks does Gideon move.

This story reveals two points to consider. Firstly, that we often doubt that it is God speaking and that He seems to respond to our doubts in a tautological way; as when asked who He was by Moses, God responds with “I am who I am.” God does not have to justify Himself, but - and this is the second point - He expects us to test Him. He knows who He is and wants us to know who He is. John says this “ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” [1John 4:1 NKJV]


Test the Spirits; there are many out there and the Lord wants us all to reject all but Him and know that He is with us; He has sent us; so He is with us.

Yesterday we saw that leaning on the arm of the Beloved is an important part of our growing faith - a submission to Jesus Christ with our whole heart. This is a fine thought, but difficult to realise in practise. We tend to want a ‘How to ...’ manual, but in this case there isn’t one.

With our current lockdown, and Gill’s broken ankle, I have been trying to do more of the cooking. Even as I write this I can hear Gill saying “More of the cooking? Let’s say ‘trying to cook’.”

Despite having a mother who was a marvellous cook, and a wife who seems to be able to create amazing meals when to my eye there is nothing in the fridge, I become immobilised when faced with preparing anything beyond cheese on toast or a marmalade sandwich. I need a recipe - a list of ingredients, a method and have everything pre-prepared to hand - and even then it feels like I am painting the Forth Bridge. Failing this, I need to rely on Gill’s expertise.

It is the same when it comes to so many other aspects of life. You may know that Gill and I went to a retreat at Ellel Scotland near Huntly in Aberdeenshire, where I learnt that I rely too much on my own strength instead of giving it to the Lord. The result for me was anxiety.

Knowing this and believing for my deliverance in this area, has been a feeling of closer relationship with The Lord. I still have to ‘walk it out’ daily until it becomes ingrained, but He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. [1 Thessalonians 5:24 NKJV]

Obviously, today’s song has to be ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’. My favourite version is by Kenny Rogers, sung in a meditative way, but I could not find a video of that. This version, at one of Bill and Gloria Gaither’s Gatherings, is a fine traditional interpretation. May it bless you as much as it does me.

... thanks to Stan for finding what I could not. Here is the Kenny Rogers version of 'Leaning On The Everlasting Arms' ...

The song which gives the title to this meditation begins “when I look into Your Holiness". Holiness, purity, is the background to God’s love, and it is His holiness which inspires our worship of Him.

The apostle John says that true worship is done in spirit and in truth. Without those two conditions, worship can only be performance and cannot reach the Father’s heart.

In verse 2 of chapter 1 of Song of Solomon, we read, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. These words are an expression of the desire for close relationship with The Lord, but it is only towards the end of the book, after much searching and dark times, that The Shulamite maiden comes out of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of the Beloved.

At first, her desire, her need even, is for The Lord to come to her, and He does so to draw her up to a higher place. After a time He appears to leave her, but the reality is that He is ever near, ready to step in if she stumbles or falls. Finally, she comes to the full realisation that it is not about what she wants; instead her only desire is to please Him - and the relationship is sealed in Spirit and in Truth. His love for her is fully realised when she focusses on Him instead of herself.

That is true worship, and if I am in that place, then the life of my saviour is my life also. But I can see that I can only get to that place with His hand leading me there and He becomes the reason I live.

We were checking our emails, catching up on correspondence and attention was drawn to a newsletter for May from favourite author Alexander McCall Smith. It contained a story called “The Flying Psychotherapist” [click on the title here to read the complete story].

Like all of McCall Smith’s writing it is beautifully done and flows easily, holding the attention and with purpose, often philosophical or moral to be made. This tale is no exception. It begins,

“This is a story with a difference – the difference being that it is true. It happened in the Australian Outback, that vast swathe of territory that covers the area of several large countries, and that, for all its unforgiving aridity, is a place of great character and fascination. The Outback may be empty in one sense, but in another it is full of life. Not only do the most hardy and adaptable animals live there, but so too do hardy and adaptable people. And these people, with few exceptions, are remarkable characters.”

The author visits a hostelry for lunch in a small outpost near Alice Springs, where he notices that it is busier than he would have expected. The reason is that ‘Doc George’ is flying in for consultations, and the author decides to meet him. If you would prefer to read the complete story, then stop here ... or read on for the concluding part of the story that got our attention:

“I walked down the corridor. The door at the end was ajar, and I knocked and entered. The psychotherapist was sitting behind a table, and in front of him was a chair for the patient. He looked up and smiled.
“A new face.”
I introduced myself. “Look, I’m just passing through. The woman in the bar told me about you and, well, I couldn’t contain my curiosity. I just didn’t believe that there’s a flying psychotherapist.”
He did not seem at all put out by my curiosity. “Not many people know about this service,” he said. “I wish it were more widely publicised. There are a lot of people in these remote communities who would benefit from it. It’s a great pity it’s so little known.”
“So you fly in to deal with people’s …”
He completed the sentence. “With their psychological problems. Yes. I deal with all of that. Phobias. Neuroses. Confidence issues. You name it.”
“But I thought the Flying Doctor was all about saving lives – that sort of thing.”
“It is,” he said. “And my medical colleagues do a great job. They handle that side of things; I handle this.”
I wanted to explore the implications. “So if you’re on a remote cattle station and you suddenly have … have a confidence issue, you fly in?”
He nodded. “Yes. That’s more or less it.” He looked at me. “What’s the trouble, then?”
I wanted to laugh. I wanted to say, ‘The trouble is that I simply can’t believe this’. But I did not say that. Instead, I said, “I suppose I need to move on.” It was a ridiculous, clichéd thing to say; but it just came out.
He nodded. “We all need to move on. You’d be surprised at how often that issue lies underneath the problems that I have to deal with.” He looked at me and I saw his eyes. They were shrewd, understanding eyes – the eyes of one who had seen a great deal of the world’s troubles.
“Here’s my advice to you,” he said. “Don’t forget forgiveness. You have to forgive others, and you have to forgive yourself. The two go hand in hand.”
“Forgiveness?”
“Yes,” he said. “Forgiveness is healing. We forget that, especially these days, when we’re so keen to blame others for our misfortunes. We forget the imperative to forgive. Forgiveness allows us to start again. Forgiveness makes it possible for us to look forward rather than backward.”
There was silence. I had come to see this man in a spirit of incredulity; now I felt quite different. Outside, a wind had arisen – a dry, wind from the north, with heat in its breath; the gum trees moved, the sound of the wind in their leaves seeming like the sound of the sea.
“Do you understand what I’ve just told you?’” he asked.
I nodded.
“And is there anybody you haven’t forgiven?”
There was.
“There’s always somebody in our past – a parent, a friend, someone we work with; there’s always somebody we need to forgive.” He paused. “Or who may need to forgive you.”
I listened in silence.
“So,” he went on, “go and think about it. And while you’re about it …”
“Yes?”
“At this time of year, especially, think about something else. Think about the power of love. It’s remarkable, isn’t it?”
I nodded. He looked at his watch. “All right,” he said. “That’s it. I’ve got one more person to see and then I have to take off.”
“Of course.”
I watched his plane climb up into the sky forty minutes later, gleaming white, catching the sun on its wing. Then I set off again, down the track in the direction of Alice Springs. I knew what I had to do.“

“The Hurt and The Healer” - Mercy Me

Lord, as we wait to gather again in fellowship to sing Your praises and worship You, we discover a sense of wonder and joy in our relationship with You.

You have granted us a time for reflection and meditation; a time to accept Your strength by acknowledging our own weakness, and a time to feel Your power flowing in the knowledge of Your covering and protection amid the fear and anxiety to which we can so readily fall prey.

These fears are not easily dismissed when the threat is so real. The enemy is using these days to sow seeds of distraction and doubt; to pour uncertainty in our paths and fog in our minds. Lord, help us to fully know your presence and commit ourselves to trust in You as never before.

This morning on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday morning programme, a scientist and Christian, who works with Dr Anthony Fauci, the US chief medical advisor, said this, “There is one thing more infectious than a virus, and that is hope.” Our hope is in The Lord.

“Come Holy Spirit, Fall Afresh On Me” - Hillsong Worship

The lines from this Christian song have been going through my head a lot lately, and of course having sung this many times over the years, I know where it comes from, don’t I? Well, I realised straight away that I had no idea about it, and decided to search it out, using the clue that it was ‘just as the prophet spoke’. Fortunately, it seems only one prophet mentions the anointing - at least in my Bible - and that was Isaiah, in this passage in chapter 10 ...

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: "O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt.
For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction." And the LORD of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.
It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
[Isaiah 10:24-27 NKJV]

This is a beautiful promise. In that day, which since Jesus came is now this day, the Lord will remove the burden from our shoulders, take the yoke upon Himself because of the anointing oil - the Holy Spirit. Chist is ‘The Anointed One’ and on His shoulders is the government [Isaiah 9:6] and He has said ”For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

God has now set out His vision, and His visions always come to pass. Now that we have been given the blueprint, we can see where we came from, and more importantly, where we are headed.

Jacob’s family can be seen as God’s template for our walk of faith. This, as has been mentioned seems to fall into three phases, which can be described in terms of the three great feasts, although it can also be seen in other patterns.

PASSOVER (Accepted in His Family)
Reuben - Behold, a son - A place in God’s family.
Simeon - Hearing - The privilege of prayer.
Levi - Joined - Our ministry unto God.
Judah - Praising - Having a heart to praise The Lord

PENTECOST (Joined to The Holy Spirit)
Dan - Judgement - The gift of Spiritual Discernment.
Naphtali - Wrestling - Forming perseverance.
Gad - To assemble, Overcoming - Forming a many-membered son, possessing the land.
Asher - Happy, Blessed - Seeing that we are blessed in Him.

TABERNACLES (Growing into a full relationship)
Issachar - There is a reward - Working (travailling in the Holy Spirit) for creation.
Zebulun - Dwelling, God’s habitation - To be single-minded and in God’s habitation.
Joseph - Let God add - God’s promise.
Benjamin - Son of the Right Hand - Our destiny, to be eternally with Jesus at the right hand of the Father.

What a glorious path He has set out for us. And the beauty of His way is that it is undergirded by His lovingkindness and mercy. Hallelujah!

A question that arises from the birth of Benjamin is why Rachel died at this particular moment? All the indications from Scripture before and after the event leave a strong impression that the arrival of Benjamin was a time of conclusion, in the sense of a bringing everything together.

We see this in the journey to Bethel, the house of God; Ephrath, the place of fruitfulness; Jacob building a watchtower called The Tower of the Sheep, (or the Shepherd’s Tower), where the shepherd of the sheep would watch over the flock; the list of the sons and the mention of Padan Aram, meaning the field; and finally the death of Isaac, with Jacob by his side at Mamre, the place of fulness. All these suggest an ending, a line drawn under a special work of God ... ready for the next revelation, a new beginning to come forth.

The time had come for God to take Rachel to live with Him in His eternal house. She had reached the end of her journey (Rachel = a ewe, from ‘to journey’), and had remained faithful, fulfilling the part God had for her.

We hear about eleven of Jacob’s twelve sons in Genesis 29 and 30, yet we must wait until we are I nto Chapter 35 to hear about Benjamin. It seems that The Lord has to see a lot happening before He could complete His plan, not the least of which was Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel ...

Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. [Genesis 32:24 NKJV]

The Lord’s purpose always takes precedence over the affairs of men, and certain things had to be in place before He revealed Benjamin. And we have to see that Benjamin represents the culmination of what God has for us. Even now, we have yet to realise the amazing extent of the fulfilment of His promises.

Benjamin is the son of the right hand and yet, counter-intuitively, many of the tribe of Benjamin were noted for their left-handedness. However, if you were standing beside Father God at His right hand (i.e. rightly related to Him), what else would you do but to hold His right hand with your left!

We also see that Benjamin had two names. The name his mother gave him, and the new name to which his father changed it. Benjamin could have remained ‘Son of my sorrow’, but instead he was elevated to his father’s right hand.

We too have been given a new name by our Heavenly Father. We have our name in the natural, but Father God sees us as His sons and daughters.

PRAYER: Lord, draw us more and more to Yourself, that we may enter Your kingdom and sit at Your banqueting table and partake of the feast You lay before us. Father, we are in Your hand.

“The Lord’s Prayer” - Andre Bocelli

God always fulfils His promises, but He does so in His timing not ours. That is why we must have patience and wait on Him. This is something we can see right through this series of meditations. The story is not clearly divided into one step then the next, neatly parcelled for our edification. It is all a process from our viewpoint; and a perfectly orchestrated plan from God’s.

Rachel’s true purpose in all this is now coming to fruition and God’s answer to her prayer, which she thought had been answered when Dan was born, suddenly blossoms into an amazing more-than-she-thought-possible abundant blessing. Rachel could not bear children herself, and now God has changed all that, and Joseph is born.

We know from Joseph’s story that he is a foreshadowing of the life of Jesus, who was born of a virgin. Rachel had not borne any children herself until this moment, so that God could reveal His son, The Messiah, prophetically to His people.

Joseph means to add, exceed or increase, to give moreover, and surely we know that God does not fail us. When He answers our prayers, He gives so much more than we could ever hope for. When we are down, He raises us up and to a higher place than we have known. Pray, trusting in The Lord, and He will answer bounteously ...

“You Raise Me Up” - Selah

We tend to forget in the Bible stories the part that women played. Some names are very familiar - Esther, Ruth, Mary, Mary Magdalene - but generally the male line is the most noticeable. But consider this ...

These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three. [Genesis 46:15 NKJV]

We are considering the twelve sons of Jacob, progenitors of the twelve tribes, but we now see that Jacob had thirty-three children including his daughters. Yet of these, only Dinah is mentioned. Why, you ask? On the basic premise that all in scripture is there for a reason, we have to look deeper, and starting with her name, linked as it is to the birth of Zebulun, we can expect that God’s purpose is in this connection. Dinah means judgement, (it has the same root as Dan), and Zebulun (as we see from the context) means dwelling or habitation (of God).

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? [1 Peter 4:17 NKJV]

There is a lot to pick out from all this, but essentially, ‘judgement begins at the house of God’, whose house we are, as the people of God; if indeed our aim is to be a people in whom The Lord dwells.

In this final grouping of four sons, we see the outworking of ‘a higher calling’ emerging, where we willingly submit ourselves to His judgement now, so that we may live with Him now. And let us be clear, there is nothing to fear in that submission; it is the acknowledgement that He is Lord of All, and is something greatly to be desired.

Incidentally, is it significant that Jacob’s children numbered thirty-three, the age Jesus was at the time of the crucifixion? Or put another way, Jacob completed his family at thirty-three individuals, and Jesus completed His purpose after thirty years and three more, after which He was the gospel of God, and dwelt in the house of God forever ...

“Lord I Have Loved The Habitation Of Thy House” - Choir of Wakefield Cathedral

Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?"
And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."
When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.
And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar.
[Genesis 30:14-18 NKJV]

Our story today is one of those that we find throughout the Bible that seem to make little or no sense to our modern ear. The fog begins to clear when we discover that what is described as a mandrake, was also known as ‘the love-apple’, thought to be an aphrodisiac. Reuben finding this treasure brings out the jealousy between Rachel and Leah, with Leah accusing Rachel of stealing her husband. So Leah keeps the mandrakes that her son has found and uses them to have another child by Jacob.

The child is named Issachar because he was seen as Leah’s reward for using Zilpah to give Jacob more children. Issachar is usually translated as ‘an hire’, properly ‘there are wages, a reward’. There is a background sense of meaning ‘lifted up, forgiven, sustained’ from the Hebrew words nasa and sychar, meaning ‘to lift’ and ‘to compensate’ respectively. So far, so complicated; but if we go to 1 Chronicles 12:32 we discover this ...

of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

We find that the true reward is an understanding of the times; discernment of when we are and what The Lord is doing in this hour. Understanding our God is a real measure of the growing closeness of our relationship with Jesus Christ; an amazing gift. It is worth the wait.

Psalm 78 in referring to the Bread of Heaven is speaking of the Lord’s provision for the Israelites in the wilderness, which was the manna that fell from heaven. That manna is still with us to this day in the form of our Lord Jesus Christ - the Hidden Manna.

A portion of the manna was to be placed in the Ark of the Testimony and thus hidden from view to all except those who can enter the Holy of Holies.

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
[Hebrews 9:3-4 NKJV]

We realise that the manna hidden in the ark is Jesus, ‘the true bread of heaven in the Book of John, chapter 6, verses 32-36 ...

Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. [NKJV]

One of the best known hymns is “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”, also known as “Bread of Heaven” ...

"Happy is the man who makes The Lord his choice" is a line from a favourite song, and with the birth of young Asher, Leah expresses her happiness and follows the pattern of naming the child after her condition. It could be said that Leah and Rachel were hearing from God in their choice of names, but what we can be sure of is that God was in charge of this whole process.

The name Asher is usually considered to mean my happiness and blessed, but in fact it goes deeper than that, taking in the idea of making progress, going straight on and setting right. Following in a line that includes Dan, Naphtali and Gad, it becomes plain that in this quartet of brothers, the Lord is revealing His Holy Spirit as the next leap forward in His heavenly purpose. This is very much confirmed in this verse from Deuteronomy ...

And of Asher he said: “Asher is most blessed of sons; Let him be favoured by his brothers, And let him dip his foot in oil." [Deuteronomy 33:24 NKJV]

Let him dip his foot in oil speaks of an anointed walk; the feet representing how we live out our lives in Christ, and the oil representing the anointing oil, which we read of in John’s Gospel ...

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. [John 12:3 NKJV]


Christ means the anointed one, and the understanding here is that we too need the blessing of an anointed walk through our embracing of the Holy Spirit alive in our hearts and minds.