PRAYER FOR THE CHILDREN (Matthew 18:10)

by Tessa Harvey

As darkness is falling over the lands

the children are rising with Light in their hands

                                                           -Jesus.

They are looking to Truth, Who is calling them on

 They march past with sharp swords flashing bright in the Son,

  The calling of God is bright in their minds

                             and the enemy is

                                                        falling.....

They will march with the Light

            of the Star in their eyes

Their banner is Truth

Their weapons, His Might

And the sound of their footsteps a Song in the night.

Reach your life to them, that all may be One

  Stand fast in wisdom that they may be strong.

Look to the children is the cry of God's Heart

Leave none alone crying, lost in the dark,

Shine forth His Love looking straight to the Son

For in them our future will be lost or won

For in them our future has already begun.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair........." so commences the book "A Tale of Two Cities"by Charles Dickens.

With every passing day, it seems that the battle lines are being drawn and increasingly, as Christians, we are being faced with choices which not only affect our own lives, but those of our families, and the wider communities in which we live and beyond that, the nation and nations.

If Dickens was writing today, would he not say the same about our world and society, which brings us back to the passage in Isaiah in my previous blog:
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3

It is not a time for us to be having a spiritual slumber party.We need to take a clear stand for the Lord in our lives, even if it goes against popular society attitudes that are clearly in opposition to the non-negotiable teaching of the Word of God in the Bible.

The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 5: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord...........(my emphasis)
Therefore, He says: "Awake, you who sleep,
                                     Arise from the dead,
                                     And Christ will give you light".(Verses 8-10,14)          

I am always deeply challenged by the words of the song "Asleep in the Light" written by Keith Green, where he says in one of the verses The world is sleeping in the dark
                                           That the church just can't fight
                                            'Cause it's asleep in the light.
                                             How can you be so dead
                                             When you've been so well fed?
                                             Jesus rose from the grave,
                                             And you, you can't even get out of bed. OUCH!!!!(My comment)

Jesus said of Himself in John 8:12... I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
He also said of His disciples, then and now, in Matthew 5:14  You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

We are admonished by Paul to redeem the time because the days are evil. Eph.5:16
He again pleads with those who claim to be followers of Jesus in Romans 13:

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Rom 13:11,12

A fairly recent Christian song expressing some of the above thoughts is "We Are" by Kari Jobe, which, if you have not heard it, can be heard on You Tube. Google the song and take a listen. Incidentally, Kari Jobe will be one of the featured guest singers at this year's Hillsong Conference in Sydney.

Can we hear the anguished heart cries of Isaiah, Paul the Apostle, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to each one of us in the Church to ARISE, to SHINE THE LIGHT, TO AWAKE FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBER.....and in so doing to help bring an eternal difference to individuals, to communities, and to nations as we glorify Him with our lives.

To be continued................................

Peter Harvey's Blog: A number of years ago, I remember listening to a m...

Peter Harvey's Blog: A number of years ago, I remember listening to a m...: A number of years ago, I remember listening to a message by highly respected Bible teacher and author, Dr Derek Prince, his text for the mes...

A number of years ago, I remember listening to a message by highly respected Bible teacher and author, Dr Derek Prince, his text for the message being Isaiah 59:19-60:5. This has remained one of my favourite Bible passages over the succeeding years. When he first delivered the message so many years ago, the prophetic nature of the passage was being clearly worked out in the life of the Church. As at this writing in 2013, the prophetic fulfillment of these verses for the Church and the world in general is even more so amazing and relevant to our times.
I would encourage you to read all eight verses from the King James of New King James versions of the Bible.

Isaiah 59:19 states:
 So shall they fear 
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood, 
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

Derek Prince presented such a wonderful word picture of the significance of the second part of the above verse historically, which in turn has great significance to us today in the church as this and following verses from Isaiah are being fulfilled prophetically today on the Earth, and in the Church of Jesus Christ, the worldwide Body of Christ.

When the enemy comes in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

In an ancient army, Derek Prince stated, the particular army would have a flag or banner, or STANDARD which, when preparing to face battle with an opposing army, would be raised or lifted up by the STANDARD BEARER. When the standard was lifted up, this was a signal for all those in the army to gather to the STANDARD in order to march out together in unity under that particular STANDARD.

Prophetically speaking of the Church, the STANDARD today is the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and the Standard Bearer is the Holy Spirit.

As members of the Church, each one of us  has to make a decision. Either YES, that's my Standard, or No, that is not my Standard. Although the Church, the Body of Christ is made up of so many different denominations and different doctrinal emphases, all who agree with the universally accepted Biblical tenets of the faith, and who proclaim that Jesus is Saviour and Lord, are rallying to the Standard.

It should be the aim of every one of us who desires to please the Lord and to honour Him with our lives to always be "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".  Hebrews 12:2 I admit that I often fall short of this aim, but I am determined to, with God's grace and some discipline on my part, get closer to Jesus, so that I may hear His voice more clearly.

To be continued............................................

Welcome To My New Blog

I am excited about this new addition to my online experience, and look forward to posting some thought provoking and challenging blogs for reflecting on by my/our online readers. I also look forward to hosting some blogs from other sites for your consideration. Thank you for taking the time to read this very first online blog of mine, and we would value any thoughts you may have in response to upcoming posts.

As you can see, I have not actually included any content in this Post other than introductory remarks pertaining to the commencement of this feature.

Over the next couple of days, I plan to write and Post my first Blog article on the aspect broadly of Faith. WATCH THIS SPACE!! God Bless.

Peter.