The Lord Has Made Room For Us

Genesis 26
19 Now Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water.
20 And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him.
21 Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity].
22 And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

•⁠ ⁠Room (Rest, peace, provision, space) won by fleshly contention will not last. It will soon be contended against again. There will be no peace or safety. It will be a fleshy existence.
•⁠ ⁠Room provided to us by The Lord is unchallenged. It is a space with time to grow, mature and bear fruit. It is joy and peace, praise and worship and a testimony unto The Lord’s glory!
•⁠ ⁠There was no contention for Rehoboth. There was no strife or frustration. The place had been prepared ahead of time by The Lord and Isaac’s rest and trust in His Lord allowed Him to discover Rehoboth. How many times have we fought when we should have moved on? Are we living in frustration or are we living in joyful rest knowing that The Lord has made room for us? “that where I am you may be also” John 14:3
•⁠ ⁠May our faith be at rest in The Lord and ever trusting/looking for His Rehoboths. May we learn not to fight, strive, contend for our own understanding. He, The God of all the earth, has gone before us. He is the Author of our faith and He has written beautiful and wonderful plans for us which He will lead us into as we trust and rest in Him. He has already won every victory and He has already provided every need. Hallelujah! May we be found abiding in Him.

2 Peter 1
3 …His divine power has given to us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue:

But I Will Sing

Psalm 59

“let them”

  • Let them doubt, reject, hate and offend. Allow them to do and be what they will. Let the enemy threaten. Let the world party. Let the restless and wicked scheme and plot.
  • Understand/remember that the wicked are slaves to their master. All they know is their service to self, disunity, fear and hate. 
  • Do not retaliate, defend your self or take matters into your own hands. Do not let your heart be troubled. Do not give place to your own flesh.
  • Let them strive but you Be Still… Dwell in the secret place of The Most High, for no evil can affect you there. Abide in Christ, for there is nothing but peace that passes understanding and joy unspeakable in Him! 

“But I will”

  • Sing God’s praises! Open your mouth and sing! Let HIS everlasting joy flow out of you! Let HIS life-giving streams flow from your belly! Sing of His goodness, sing of His testimonies, sing of His promises!! Allow your heart to truly dwell in gratitude, count your blessings and rejoice for He is doing exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or imagine, He is doing all things well, He is making all things beautiful in His time and making all things work together for good! Hallelujah!! 
  • Surrender and sing!! We can sing because He hears and answers prayer, we can sing for He has given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness. He has already won every victory, He is providing every need. Surrender your fears, needs and desires to Him and then sing in the freedom and liberty that He gives when you do.
  • God’s people have so much to sing about?! Bring a sacrifice of praise! Our Heavenly Father is worthy, and when you give Him the little praise that you have you will always leave full! The Lord inhabits the praises of His people! He delights in their praises! He has placed His glory in it! Think about that! His glory is in the praise and worship of redeemed man!
  • Let us be found singing praises from our innermost being! May we be a people of praise and joy in The Lord in a world of striving, impatience and self! Let them… But I will sing!! Hallelujah!! 

Abraham Rose Early

Genesis 21
12 God said to Abraham…
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning…

Genesis 22
2  [God] said…
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning,

  • Abraham did not “confer with flesh and blood” (Galations 1:16), He did not lean on his own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-8). He didn’t fast and pray for a week, doubting what he had heard and pleading with God for confirmation. He did not stay up all night in confusion and frustration. He didn’t argue with God or petition Him to change His mind. He didn’t hesitate at all!! Consider what this implies and we will start to understand in a practical sense the relationship that Abraham had with The Lord.
  • Abraham knew The Lord’s voice so clearly that there was no doubt that He had spoken and no question of what The Lord had asked. Abraham trusted and feared The Lord so completely that He did not fear to carry out His instruction/leading. Abraham was so utterly dependent upon The Lord for life that nothing was too much for The Lord to require of him. This is why He heard The Lord so clearly and this is why The Lord spoke to Him.
  • So consider, with all that Christ has secured for you, with all that is available to you by the power of The Holy Spirit… Do you know God so intimately? Would you consider yourself to have the same reverence of, trust in and dependence on God? Abraham had this intimacy with The Lord without the indwelling of The Holy Ghost, without all that Christ has won for us at Calvary, before the tearing of the veil… Abraham’s knowledge of God was intimate and it is blasphemous against all that Jesus Christ is and all that He has done to think that we cannot walk this earth with the same intimacy and testimony. Having such intimacy with The Lord is not dispensational, it is relational!! 

John 14
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power).
…
20 At that time [when that day comes] you will know [for yourselves] that I am in My Father, and you [are] in Me, and I [am] in you.
21 The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]
…
23 Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.
…
27 Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

  • May we seek to know our Heavenly Father as Abraham did, as Jesus did; to know and recognise His voice; to walk with the same early obedience and dependence, without hesitation. May we be careful to keep pace with our Shepherd and not run ahead or backslide. 
  • May we be identified with our Lord Jesus Christ and be identified by Him. May others look on and take note that we have been with Jesus! (Acts 4:13) May we lay hold of the precious promises and all that Jesus has secured for us! Hallelujah! What a precious hope! Let us press on, looking unto Jesus! May He increase and may we decrease more and more!
  • May we learn to rise early and be about our Father’s business, without hesitation. He is worthy. He is Sovereign. He is faithful. Oh that we might know HIM!

Where Is The Blessing?

Matthew 1
19 And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.

  • We can only imagine the pain, confusion and disappointment before the angel came. We can assume that others noticed too. Her family, her friends, her neighbours, her town… How many would believe her story? A virgin birth?? She was doing the will of The Father, she was being faithful to the call… Where was the blessing?

Luke 2
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5 To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused (married) wife, who was about to become a mother.

  • Not only had she to endure almost losing her betrothed and the judgement and disdain of others but now a heavily pregnant Mary must make the 4 day journey by foot or donkey to Bethlehem!! How uncomfortable this must have been! Could not The Lord have provided a camel and a cart? Why didn’t God postpone the census? Where was the blessing?

Luke 2
7 And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.

  • There was no warm room, no warm blankets, no hot water, no nurses… There was no bed!! There was no room!! A new born child, laid in a cold, barren manger ((with no mention of a stable))!! Where was the blessing??!

 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

  • Our flesh will always look to its own earthly experience and possessions for blessing, justification and comfort.

  • Mary never asked where the blessing was. She was in possession of the greatest blessing that anyone could ever know!! She had the promised Messiah living within her and no earthly “need” or desire compared to such a precious honour and privilege!! Nothing else mattered! She carried The Lord Jesus Christ and He was so much more than enough! She could trust implicitly that she was the handmaiden of The Lord and that Jehovah was seeing to her every need to fulfil His will in her life. 

  • And where was the fruit of that testimony brought out? In a place where every earthly support was removed. Only when every fleshly comfort and provision was taken away was the life/testimony/glory of The Lord Jesus brought forth. The flesh will look on and see great hardship, poverty and shame but faith sees the precious presence and blessing of Almighty God! Hallelujah! The flesh would have made a temple out of the Inn, but praise The Lord we read of only Jesus and nothing else!

  • The Born Again believer possesses the greatest blessing that could ever be asked for! The source of all life has come and dwells within us!! Emmanuel!! Hallelujah!! The Lord Jesus Christ living within our hearts!! Nothing else matters! Nothing else compares to the wonder of it all!! The Father is seeing to our every need and He will bring to fruition the life and glory of His Son in our lives as we walk faithfully and obediently in the way, as Mary did, removing all dependence on earthly/fleshly means. Hallelujah we have Christ within! The source of all life, joy, hope, victory and glory!! Let us carry HIS life unto fruition to the place that we are lead to. It is HIS life! And HIS life LIVES!!

1 Corinthians 6
19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,
20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

Faith Rejoices Evermore

Psalm 27
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

  • Faith does not rise from petitioning and crying out before The Lord with teeth still clenched and desperation. Faith rises with joyful, restful assurance that God is indeed already doing exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or think.
  • Faith does not dig in and fight in prayerful frustration trying to force through its own desires. Faith fervently casts and commits the trials, cares and burdens of life to the Almighty God knowing soundly that this is the day that He has made and that He, The Lord, is truly making all things beautiful in His time. That He is Sovereign, Good and working out His will in our lives. At times we must toil and persist and follow our Shepherd into the valley or into the presence of our enemies but faith is always resting in the presence of the Shepherd.
  • Faith does not strive, work harder and increase self effort to achieve. Faith surrenders to The Lord and casts itself upon His loving kindnesses, tender mercies and compassions and rejoices in being submitted to God and remaining as the apple of Jehovah Jireh’s eye.
  • Faith rejoices evermore, in all things, in sacrifice and blessing because faith knows, remembers, hopes in and walks before The Lord God Almighty, The Ruler of Heaven & Earth, The Redeemer and Saviour! Faith is rightly related to Jesus and rightly identified with His death and resurrected life! Identified with Him and by Him!

Luke 18
8 … When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?