My 'Life-Verses'
God says, 'Behold (take a very good look at this!), I have set before you an open door, and NO man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.' (Revelation 3:8)
‘Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie: behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.’ (Revelation 3:9)
or to put it more precisely, 'Look at this! I will make those who have meetings together and are your adversaries, who claim to be believers, but are liars, to come and worship in front of your feet, and understand and acknowledge that I have loved you.'
Wow! What a message is declared in these two little verses from the Word of God!
These are two of my ‘life verses' that I have held dear and close to my heart for a long, long time, just watching for God’s moment of fulfilment.
My 'Life-Verses' are particular passages from the Bible that have kept me going through all of the challenges and difficult times I have faced and experienced throughout my walk as a Believer. They have carried me through storms, tempests, disappointments and failures.
They have caused me to hope yet in God when things seemed impossible and my enemies too strong for me. Even to this very day, I am held up and strengthened by their words of assurance and destiny, and the promise of things yet to come.
The verses above speak of an open door set in front of me which nobody in the whole world can close. Now, there may be several doors in front of me, but there is one that is unlocked and waiting for me to try the handle. That is the door to new things that God has already prepared.
The second verse speaks about the opposition and its ultimate defeat, and how God is going to show my enemies how great his favour toward me is.
It speaks of those who are Jews,
those who claim to be followers of God and true believers, whether
they be Jews or Christians. There are many millions who use the name of Jesus
and claim to belong to him, yet think that they can justify themselves, no
matter how they behave or how they treat other people.
They despise those who speak out
against their unrighteous ways, and use slander and lies in an attempt to discredit
them. They use any trick in the book to eliminate them from their company and
their circle of friends.
However, there is a day soon
coming when those who have been despised and trampled upon will rise up as
diadems in the hand of God, and he will force those liars, those deceivers, to
come and bow down in front of God’s chosen ones. Then they will know who it is
that God has set his affection on and loved!
(Numbers 16:5)
I remember a story that my
amazing mentor Col. Sir Rowland Biddulph told me on several occasions. It was
not what I wanted to hear at the time as a young man, but it has grown on me of
late all these years later.
He told me of a rather radical
and unusual young preacher who opened a church in the high street of his town.
The people who came on Sundays would park their carriages and vehicles some
blocks away from the building in case they were seen to be entering.
Many years later, when he was an
old man, you could not get to park anywhere near the church for the multitude
of vehicles with people thronging to get in.
I thought to myself, ‘Oh no! Is he telling me that I will have to get to eighty years old before I earn any respect or am appreciated?’
It was a story that I kept buried inside me in the
hope that it was not in some way ‘prophetic’, and that actually I might reach a
place of acceptance sooner rather than later. Well, guess what! He was right,
and even now I have yet to get to the last part of the story.
Well, throughout all my Christian walk as a believer and minister, I have faced the opposition and challenges of
being somewhat like that young minister he told me about. I have encountered jealousies, competitiveness, prejudice, and sometimes downright anger and hatred, especially from among people who claim to be followers of Christ.
That is why the verses at the top
of this paper are so important to me. You see, my time has not yet come!
I believe that God speaks to me through the Scriptures, and over the years of reading it daily, I have learned to trust and know that he will not fail me.
I hold on to the promises and the expectation of their fulfilment.
Maybe somebody out there finds themselves in similar circumstances, so I hope that this might encourage you.
And if that is not enough, then take the time to read the following from the book of Isaiah:
'O thou afflicted (poor and needy), tossed with tempest (in the storms), and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones (building stones) with beautiful colours (glistening colours), and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows (your sun-risings) of agates (precious stones), and your gates (entrances) of carbuncles (stones of fire), and all your borders of pleasant stones. And all your children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression (cruelty, extortion); for you shall not fear: and far from terror (dismay and ruin); for it shall not come near you.' (Isaiah 54:11-17)
God is about to do something new.
JGM 2022
