To wait upon The Lord demonstrates patience; something in short supply nowadays it seems. We want to get where we are going fasterThe KJV Bible calls patience ‘long suffering’.

Isaiah says [40:13] “but those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength”. That renewal only comes through patiently waiting. Why you might ask does The Lord need us to wait; probably because He know what we are like - He knows the stuff we are made of and thus the surest way to get us to be the best.

Jesus never rushed things because He was constantly directed by Father God, who takes deliberate time with us, and we can only appreciate God’s point-of-view by a long discipline. The Army never gives a trainee an assault rifle until the trainee is fully prepared, so God does not ‘let us loose’ until we understand what He has placed in our hands, so to speak.

Many have wondered why, throughout the Gospels, the disciples seemed to miss what Jesus was saying. They were in training, and their mid-steps are ours also. Peter famously was always running ahead of himself. It was only when he learned to ‘wait upon the Lord’ that he was ready to fulfil what Jesus knew was his part; ‘upon this rock I will build My Church’.

When God brings a blank space, see that you do not fill it in, but wait. The blank space may come in order to teach you what sanctification means; or it may come after sanctification to teach you what service means. Never run before God's guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt – don't. [Oswald Chambers “My Utmost For His Highest”]

Today we are reproducing a recent word from Ellel Ministries. We had felt to bring a meditation on giving thanks, but this seemed to express it so well, that it seemed the best thing to do was to pass it on ...

Jesus promised that He would send a helper, a ‘comforter’, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who would abide with us ... and will be in us!

‘Abide’ is an amazing word with an amazing number of synonyms. It describes a state of being with The Lord which none of these other words begin to express adequately. It is inclusive and intimate, and transcends time and place (see Strong’s definition below). It is an unconditionally unlimited way to live ... or abide.

One of the greatest of the Psalms, Psalm 91 is a favourite for many and beautifully and poetically captures what it means to ‘be one with Christ’.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
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.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, not of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
[Psalm91:1-6 NKJV]

Our Father gives and gives and gives selflessly and we are deeply comforted; but behind the words is the father’s heart, which gently reminds us that ‘abiding’ is not just about us. The focus of our abiding is Him; the selflessness is a two-presence relationship. Unless we concern ourselves fully on Him, we are not “he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High”

Abide is menō (μένω; a primary verb) and means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): — abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), to remain.
Abide in reference to place: to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue, to be present, to be held, kept, continually.
Abide in reference to time: to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure of persons, to survive, live.
Abide in reference to state or condition: to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for, await one

“Abide With Me” — Hayley Westenra

Philippians 3:10 NKJV — that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

The other day I mentioned how great it was to see some of our family and the grandchildren again after so many months, and the joy of meeting Zoe, the new baby, who is an absolute delight. (See Let Us Draw Near). If ever there was a reason to give thanks to The Lord, that was it, and such a wonderful answer to prayer.

The Psalms are full of exhortations to do just that, but not just when our prayers are answered. Delight yourself also in The Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. So it is not just performing a duty of prayer, but of taking a continuing joy in communicating with our heavenly Father, not only expressing our deepest desires to Him, but hearing from Him — expressing His love for us and feeding us with His way and His truth and filling us with His life. As with so many things in our relationship with Him, this rejoicing in Him brings His evergreen response to us to our attention which builds our delight in Him. An upward spiral of delight, springing from our trust in His hand upon us.

Such delight in Him is in more need in these dramatic times than ever before. There seems to be a growing realisation that the coronavirus Covid-19 is now part of our lives. It is not going away and can only be kept under control by a universal change in our past behaviour when in the company of others. We need the never-ceasing love and tender care of The Lord at all times. Only He will get us through the fiery trial of our faith. Take delight in Him today, for He delights in us.

The Nethinim sound like a people from the imagination of J R R Tolkien, but they were temple workers (some sources say slaves) assigned to the Levites and priests for service in the sanctuary. They seem to have been a low caste of person, but here in Nehemiah they are included with “the rest of the people”.

To understand this better, we need to see the context. The previous 27 verses give a list of over 80 names of priests, Levites and leaders (including Nehemiah), who sealed the covenant. This group of “high heid yins” were known as “The Great Synagogue”, which in time became the Sanhedrin.

The others “took a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law”. In this number were the Nethinim, who were the lowest level of ministry in the temple, despite — if the story is accurate — being descended from “the Kedeshot”, or sacred prostitutes.

They were given the honour of service in the temple as told in Joshua, at which time The Nethinim were known as Gibeonites, although this may be inaccurate. Nonetheless their role in the temple fits that of the duties given to the Gibeonites ...

This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.”
[Joshua 9:20-21 NKJV]

All very interesting, but what, you might ask, can this show us? Simply this; that as a result of a promise, these people were saved and taken into the House of God to be servants with essential duties there. No matter what your background or sinful nature might be, The Lord always has a place for you in His house. That is His promise.

Incidentally, a meaning of “Nethinim” is “one given to God”.

I can honestly say that I am constantly amazed by things that the Bible says. This statement that by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God is incredible. Do I understand such a fantastic assertion?

Hebrews 11 is the great paean to faith, building to an incontrovertible testimony of the value and need for faith by relating some of the great examples of faithful men and women.

That expression the worlds were framed could be restated as eternity was made perfect by the word of God. Another way would be to say that God created all things in all times - that He is our All in All. That surely is our understanding.

For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
[Psalm 95:3-5 NKJV]

Now I understand and can state unequivocally I know whom I have believed ...

We have redemption through His blood. Jesus gave His life for me; He died so that I might live. And not just I, but every 'I' who chooses Him, so that 'I' is no longer 'I', but only Him. “‘Tis no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me”, in the words of the song.

Redemption is deliverance from sin, salvation and atonement for guilt; it is buying back something that was mis-sold in the first place and Jesus made that purchase by His death on the cross. We have been bought at a price. He makes that purchase today in a constant renewal and refreshing.

I remember being told of the ‘death to self’ message and thinking that it seemed like a total elimination of what I thought of as the essence of me — and thus becoming a non-person. But that is in no way what is meant; The Lord intends a completely new creation of the self we are, with the life of Christ working within. I am still me, but being ‘regenerated’; washed clean by the blood of the lamb. What He is doing is building holy character, burning off the dross to reveal the gold within. Gold tried in the fire.