Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

Isaiah 54 – the word from the Lord to His church.

Today as we reflect on the first two verses from Isaiah 54, let us hear what the lord is saying to us, His church.

In verse 1 we are informed that the children of the desolate will be more than those of the Lord’s bride. Clearly this is telling us that those who are married to the Lord. i.e. His Bride the church, are in the minority. And so in 2016 this is the case. Those who stand up for truth and righteousness and endeavour to life according to scriptural imperatives are being marginalised, labelled as bigots and demonised in the UK, while every effort is made not to offend those of other faiths and to accommodate them. Today 5/1/2016, Pastor James McConnell will hear the decision from the courts in Ireland for preaching that Islam is an instrument of the devil.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUJFIMciQA8 for full message on YouTube. Whilst in Christendom, leading clergymen and clergywomen are embracing same sex marriages and the LGBT agenda to display inclusiveness. The children of the desolate woman is indeed becoming more than those who are married to the Lord!!

All is not lost. We are encouraged to sing, burst out into songs of praise and worship to our God and get ready for revival, as those who don’t know our God (the children of the desolate woman) will experience his love and the peace that comes from embracing him as Lord of all. We are encouraged to love those who persecute us, pray for those who despitefully use us (Matt 5:43ff) and to demonstrate the covenant of peace that our God has established. His kingdom is here and Jesus is the king of this kingdom. Earlier in his pronouncements, Isaiah tells us that he will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace, his kingdom will be established on the pillars of Justice and Righteousness and will last forever (Isa 9:6&7).

As we start this New Year, let us revive the need for continued intercession and consistent bible study, rather like the first Christians did. As Clifford Hill points out in his ‘Outlook for 2016’[1], there is a great need for the people of God and followers of Jesus to understand what is happening across the globe. The political and religious leaders are blind and are misleading people, hence Jesus laid this charge against them, when he said, “This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Thought seeing, they do not see; though hearing they do not hear or understand’. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understand; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving’” (Matt 13:13-14). That same charge is pertinent for our political and spiritual leaders today, as the same spiritual blindness affects them. They do not understand the purposes of God neither do they know how to enter the council of the Lord to hear from Him.

If we understand the purposes of God which are clearly revealed in the Bible, the Holy Spirit then enables us to discern what God is doing today. When we only look and listen to the news with our human understanding we fail to realise what God is doing. In recent years God has been exposing the corruption in Western society by turning the searchlight of his Truth upon the greed and corruption in the banking industry, among our politicians and business leaders, and exposing the moral corruption of celebrities. The focus of his penetrating Truth has now swung onto Islam and the atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria which are exposing the very heart of Islam. Saudi Arabia executed more people last year by beheadings and stoning than ISIS; and all this violence is committed in the name of Allah, the god of Islam in fulfilment of instructions in the Koran.

Finally, we are encouraged by the prophet Isaiah, to enlarge the site of our tents, that is, we are to make preparation for the harvest that is coming. As we prepare spiritually by fasting and prayer, let us get our own houses in order and ask God to save our families and those whom we have influence over. Then let us cry out for our towns and cities and finally for our country and those who are facing persecution across the globe.

Let us embrace this year as the year of multiplication.

HDR-Ministries – Alton Bell

[1] See Issachar ministries UK, Issachar Comments Papers, ‘Outlook for 2016’. www.issicharministries.co.uk