Month: May 2018

Speak to me, Yah!

Speak to me Yah!

Your words that are refreshing,

transforming my heart into a well

watered garden.

Speak to me Yah!

Your words that are precious,

more precious than gold and

able to render the greatest honour.

Speak to me Yah!

Your words that are sweet,

sweeter than the honeycomb

giving a flavour of life like no other.

©️27-May2018 Deborah Nyamekye

Inspired by Psa.19:10

Pictures below of Ashburnham Place (Retreat Centre), Battle (near Hastings) UK 🇬🇧; beautiful grounds with lakes, prayer centre (beige building), guest houses etc…

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Snapshots of Glory – Word Focus 2 Day: Delay is not Denial – Part 1 Glory maximisation: The Birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah

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God did not allow Abraham and Sarah’s old age to serve as an obstacle to prevent Him from fulfilling His promise that He would give them a son. If He had, then it would mean that He would be confining Himself within the boundaries that the natural or carnal man lives by. This type of person does not live by faith in God and so the things (ways and acts) of God which are spiritually discerned are foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Perceiving things from a carnal “natural man” mind set results in the conclusion that a woman of ninety years old, which is an age well past menopause, can conceive is impossible. As the angel Gabriel told Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, concerning Elizabeth who was also past child bearing age “with God nothing shall be impossible”(Luke 1:37 KJV).

Our God is the great I Am, the Almighty God also called El Elyon, the Most High God, creator and possessor of the whole universe!! He is a “mountain mover”; no obstacle whatever its size is insurmountable by Him in the pathway of fulfilling His plans and purposes to the glory of His Name and Kingdom.

Therefore we serve a God who is as controller of the universe does what He chooses to do and when He chooses to do it. This is why if we choose to be as the Spiritual man of 1 Corinthians 2:15-16, walking in and judging by the Spirit as ones with the minds of Christ, we are guaranteed an understanding of God’s ways. True worshippers who worship God in Spirit and truth in these last days are the type of people God calls His children (John 4:24).

DELAY IS NOT DENIAL, BUT TO REAP MAXIMUM GLORY
It is worth noting that it took 25 years before the promise by God to give Abraham a child came to fruition. Abraham was called out of Haran and from among his relatives by God at the age of 75 (Gen 12:1-3) and God promised to make him a father of many nations. He was 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was 90 years old (Gen.17:15-21/Gen 21:1-3). Through this incident we are given an insight into one of God’s ways rooted in His nature or thoughts which is how He strategises a number of times in scripture to prolong the waiting time for the manifestation of His promises or miracles so as to reap the maximum glory out of them.

In the case of Abraham waiting for 25 years before the son of promise was born, this meant that the extent of awe of having Sarah give birth at an even older age than when Abraham received the promise and the extent of Satan’s defeat and the shame rendered to doubters and mockers was far greater than if God had performed the miracle the year the promise was given or earlier than when it was fulfilled.
We serve a multi-tasking God who while reaping the maximum glory out of a situation through a chosen strategy will simultaneously be applying another strategy within the first also for His glory.

For instance, God also strategised that Abraham and Sarah would benefit during the waiting period for their child. They benefitted in that their faith, patience and perseverance in relation to God, His ways and acts were strengthened. God will use every opportunity to transform our hearts and minds so that we become more like Him through Christ Jesus.
By the time Isaac was born, Abraham’s faith and trust in God was such that he did not hesitate to commence the sacrificial process of Isaac, his much sought after son when God told him to do so. When he was about to kill Isaac, God provided a ram as a substitute. God’s command to Abraham was a test (Genesis 22:1) and he revealed to Abraham that he had passed the test in this manner: “And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I…Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.” (Gen 22:11-12 KJV).

God also foreknew that Ishmael would be conceived by Abraham with Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian maid due to impatience while they Abraham and Sarah waited on God to fulfill His promise. Therefore while to the natural mind Ishmael’s birth was an accident, in God’s supernatural plan it was not. Ishmael’s birth and therefore destiny as a means through whom nations would be born (Abrahamic inheritance, although different to that of Isaac) was God’s will otherwise He would not, in His sovereignty have allowed it to happen.

Despite challenges, impatience with God and testing along the way, Abraham prevailed and was imputed with the righteousness of God as well as an all time recognition as a world renowned man of faith. Abraham must have been filled with awe and thankfulness (although scripture does not state this) when he contemplated not only what God had done for him and Sarah but how He had done it; God reaped more glory before multitudes out of Abraham and Sarah’s prolonged wait for the promise than if God had done it another way and it included increasing this couple’s knowledge of the thoughts and strategies of the God they worshipped.

As children of God, we ought to be encouraged by this as we live our Christian lives because at any given time, God has our destinies perfectly mapped out. In addition as long as we continue to partner with Him, He will fulfil His promises to us no matter how long it takes while removing every obstacle and reaping as much glory out of the process as possible.

NOTE:  God’s Ways: Maximising His Glory – “Delay is not Denial” Part 1 (this week) & 2 (next week Part 2 Glory Maximisation: The Resurrection of Lazarus); These articles are from Chapter 2 of my book God’s ways are Higher (Light of the World-John8.12 Publishing).
In this book, I expound on case studies from scriptures that reveal God’s Ways that are often not easily understood by people and at times may appear foolish to the human mind. However His sovereignty, wisdom and might are greatly revealed in the process as well as the outcome. This book also helps us to know and understand the God we serve and hopefully encourages the reader to search the scriptures more and to cultivate an intimate lifestyle with God even more.

©2018 Deborah E. Nyamekye

Visit our online stores with t-shirts, bags, mugs, swimsuits etc… with beautiful designs, brightly coloured, some with inspirational text, poetry and bible verses.
http://www.love2inspire.boutique
http://www.creations-shop.com

 

📸Snapshots of Glory – Word Focus 2 Day:

God’s Ways, Thoughts and Our Obedience Part 3: Obedience is partnering with God by faith for His will to be done on earth.

The prophet or intercessor when revealed the will of God partners with Him to ensure His will in heaven is made manifest on earth. Their prayers and actions in obedience to their call affirm that they are perpetually engaging in acts which are aligned to how the greatest prophet and intercessor Christ Jesus  taught His disciples to pray “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Thus they are confident of the outcome of events to the glory of God.

As believers in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us who is also the Spirit of prophecy/Testimony of Jesus (Rev. 19:10). The Holy Spirit knows the mind of God and reveals His will to us and makes intercession for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26/1 Corinthians 2:9-12) each of us therefore has the ability to know the will of God and to intercede for His will to be made manifest on earth. This is our inheritance as children of God.

In the account of Elisha raising the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead (2 Kings 4:8-37), we see that he was inclined to use a method which to the natural eyes looked unusual; Elisha performed the miracle of resurrection by the following process (2 Kings 4:33-35):
He prayed to God, then he
-lay on the woman’s son,
-took a moment to walk up and down the house for a while, then
-went back into the boy’s room and lay on the boy again. This time the boy resurrected from the dead.

Partnering with God in confidence and even in what appears to be peculiar ways for the ultimate fulfillment of His will by Elisha reminds us of Christ. There is a long list of examples in the life of Christ, however we will focus on resurrection miracles of Jesus; He said the Synagogue official, Jarius’ daughter was not dead but sleeping (Mark 5:39) and was laughed at by the crowd. When Jesus was told by Lazarus’ sisters that he was sick, he said that the sickness would not end in death but it was for the glory of God, and so that he, Christ would be glorified (John 11:1-4). However Lazarus died. Jesus also referred to Lazarus death as “sleeping” to his disciples.

By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary told Jesus that if he had come earlier their brother would still be alive. Christ knew that there would be the manifestation of a greater miracle and therefore greater glory to God in the resurrection of Lazarus than in his healing, “so when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days…” (John 11:6). In both resurrection incidents, Jesus demonstrated himself as the giver of physical life as he is also the giver of spiritual life. (John 11:25KJV).

The attitude Elisha and Jesus had and the actions they undertook in the resurrection process are not easily understandable to the natural human mind. This is because the ways and thoughts of God are higher than those of men (Isa. 55:8-9) “and because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinth.1:25 KJV).”

As Elisha knew it was God’s will to resurrect the Shunammite woman’s son, so too Jesus knew it was God’s will to resurrect Lazarus. Therefore when Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping and took what seemed like a long time to arrive, he was speaking and acting as one who already knew the outcome, which has already been decreed by God in heaven being one with God (John 10:30).

As children of God, we must remember our identity as heirs with Christ which means we are exceedingly abundantly blessed and therefore with a great capacity by the dwelling Holy Spirit to be used for His sake. This includes seeing things the way Jesus did and therefore making ourselves available to be used by God for miraculous works. Jesus even said that those who believe in him will not only do his works but greater works than he did (John 14:12 KJV).

As we live a life abiding in God and He in us through Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, nothing should stop us from exercising our faith as Christ did. This includes declaring those things that we know are His will by faith, preaching the Gospel and other works of the ministry (Matthew 28:18-20) and taking authority against Satan and his demons (Luke 10:18-19).

My prayer is that we would know our God intimately through daily bible reading and meditation while in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. This way we will become more like God, speaking of those things that be not as though they were, (Romans 4:17). We will also walk in His wisdom, knowledge and understanding, always strengthened by the power of His might to do exploits for Him.
“…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits] (Daniel 11:32).”

NOTE: This article ( and last week’s Parts 1 & 2) are from my book:

“God’s ways are Higher”.

In this book, I expound on case studies from scriptures that reveal God’s Ways that are often not easily understood by people and at times may appear foolish to the human mind. However His sovereignty, wisdom and might are greatly revealed in the process as well as the outcome. This book also helps us to know and understand the God we serve and hopefully encourages the reader to search the scriptures more and to cultivate an intimate lifestyle with God even more.

©2018 Deborah E. Nyamekye

📸 Snapshots of Glory –  Word Focus 2 Day: 

God’s Ways, Thoughts and Our Obedience;
Part 1: Baffled by His Ways? God always has Reasons
Part 2: Our God May Choose to go against the status quo.

Part 1 Baffled by His Ways? God always has Reasons.

Key Scriptures: 2 Kings 4:8-37, John 14:21-23In 2 Kings 4.

Elisha’s servant Gehazi obeyed when Elisha told him to go to the Shunammite woman’s home and to lay his staff upon her son who was dead. I noted that Elisha told him to be focused and not to be distracted on his journey, a detail which adds to the reader’s confidence that the servant’s mission would certainly result in the woman’s son rising from the dead.

However it did not happen.One might ask “Why is it that the man of God’s staff was unable to produce the intended miracle?”We realise later on in this account that when Elisha and the Shunammite woman arrived at her home after the servant had, Elisha performed the miracle of resurrection by praying, then laying on the woman’s son.
Again one might ask “what was the point in Elisha sending his servant ahead in the first place if God intended the miracle of resurrection to happen in a different way?”.

At times as Elisha’s servant we may know without reasonable doubt that The LORD has told us to do something and He has given us specific instructions on how to do it as Elisha did his servant. However having obeyed God, we do not see any change or godly fruit as expected.

The Lord wants to encourage us by reminding us that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isa 55:8-9).
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33 KJV).

There are several reasons why we may not experience or see the fruit or outcome we expect from obeying God, here are two:

1. What we do for The LORD is at times part of a chain of events and there is someone or other individuals who will fulfill their part in that chain at different times.

In the 2 Kings account, Elisha the prophet’s actions were the final stages to the boy’s resurrection. We should be encouraged that what The LORD has asked us to do however fruitless or trivial it may appear to the natural eye or human understanding may be an important part of a process leading to a glorious outcome.

2. What The LORD told us to do may have achieved the outcome to the glory of God, however it was not evident as yet to the natural eye.God could choose to open our spiritual eyes to it at a later date or not at all. For instance many intercessors have prayed about issues God has placed on their hearts and engaged in prophetic intercessory acts by the leading of the LORD but have not seen or heard evident changes to the glory of God as a direct result of their intercession.

Our part is to be as Elisha’s servant, undistracted and focused in our obedience to God and our pursuit of godliness, trusting him all the way.

We must rest assured that whatever we do for God through Christ Jesus is never in vain whether we see the outcome one day, never do or the end result is not as we expected it to be. We serve a sovereign God who is in absolute control.“Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] his counsellor hath taught him?”(Isa. 40:13 KJV).We who love God are reminded of the rewards of obedience:
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23 KJV).

Abiding in God’s presence or glory, as a reward of obedience to Him, should be our priority above all else. It is the key to attaining all that He has for us and being fruitful for His sake every day of our lives.

Part 2 God may choose to go against the Status Quo

“He (Elisha) went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.” (2 Kings 4:33-35).

When we think of the unconventional manner in which Elisha was used by God to resurrect the son of the Shunammite woman, (2 Kings 4:33-35) we cannot help but conclude as with other incidents that the Most High God is master of every circumstance and therefore He may choose to act differently in situations which may be the same or similar and produce the same glorious outcome. With this in mind, we think of how some healings are straight forward in that someone lays hands on the sick and they are instantly healed whereas other healings may take time.

The way the Lord would choose to heal someone may be unusual or unconventional but the result manifests as would a “normal” healing process; a glorious testimony of the healing of God.
Some examples in scripture include whenI. Jesus spat on clay and placed it on the eyes of a blind man and he regained his sight (John 9:5-6).II. Naaman had expected Elisha (2 Kings 5:1-12) to heal him in the way he approved of and felt was appropriate. As a man well esteemed in Aram, he was used to being elevated and had a great measure of self pride.

THE “NATURAL” MAN RESISTS OBEDIENCE

Naaman was offended that Elisha did not come to heal him by waving his hand on the spot where he had leprosy and calling on the name of the LORD, instead Elisha sent a messenger to tell him to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan. Naaman was also offended by the choice of the river which was Jordan in Israelite territory. He initially refused to wash in the Jordan for he deemed it an inferior river in comparison to the rivers of Damascus until his servant persuaded him to obey the prophet.

Naaman’s resistance was due to the fact that he judged by his natural mind; because of the debased value he attached to the river Jordan compared to the rivers of Damascus, he automatically concluded that God could not or should not use it to heal him.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinth. 2:14-16).

This account shows us the dangers of resisting what God wants to do in our lives. Resistance occurs because people do not discern that He is at work as events taking place do not appear normal or they go against the status quo.

“Father we pray that you would grant us the gift of discerning of spirits, your wisdom and knowledge so that we would know when you are at work and also see things the way that you see them, in Jesus’ name, Amen”.

FAITH, PATIENCE AND TRUST IN A GOD WHO IS IN ABSOLUTE CONTROL.

When the Shunammite woman and Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-37) arrived at her house after the servant, she discovered that despite the servant obediently laying Elisha’s staff on her son, he did not rise from the dead.

However she did not complain, she was a woman of faith and therefore had confidence in Elisha; after all did not the LORD give her a son through the prophetic word spoken by Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-16)?

She also believed that God would revival her son through this same prophet which is why she hastily went to see him when he died.

The woman had faith in the man of God and served him as a result God gave her a son.  Likewise as we have faith in the LORD and serve Him, we are guaranteed to bear lasting fruit (John 15).

As the Shunammite woman, we too must exercise our faith and be patient, trusting that the Lord will fulfill that which He has promised however long it takes.

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.” (Isa.55:10-11).

We praise God that He is a God of second chances who breathes life into all the “dead” areas of the life of His children.“ Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:25-26 KJV).

©2018 DENyamekye

Next, Snapshots of Glory-Word Focus 2 Day: Part 3: Obedience is partnering with God by faith for His will to be done on earth.

NOTE: These articles are from Chapter 1 from my book God’s ways are Higher (Light of the World-John8.12 Publishing).
In this book, I discuss case studies from scripture that reveal God’s Ways that are often not easily understood by people and at times may appear foolish to the human mind. However His sovereignty, wisdom  and might are greatly revealed in the process as well as the outcome. This book also helps us to know and understand the God we serve and gives the ready a greater thirst to search the scriptures more and to cultivate an intimate lifestyle with God even more. This book as my other books are available on Amazon Books online (put my name/title in the search).