I awakened very early in the dawn of this rainy morning and I knew the Spirit was urging me to get downstairs to my "Secret Place" and listen for His Voice. I knew He had something to tell me. I believe it was not just for me, but for all of us who are in dismay at the depravity, hatred and perversion of this world; all of us who tremble at the mounting tensions and violence in the Land of Israel.  Here is what the Lord spoke to me this morning:
"Take your focus off earthly rulers. I bring princes to naught and reduce the rulers of this world to NOTHING. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, then I blow on them and they wither and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff!" (Isa. 40:23-24). 

It really is a re-focusing that we need. The news plunges us into discouragement and hopelessness. Those of us who stand with Israel watch the ancient battle between Jacob and Esau flare up again toward the threat of a devastating war and though we know it is written, we grieve for the people.  There is NOT an earthly ruler whom we can trust; but there is One coming who will turn this world right-side up and make all things new!  We can continue to bring good tidings to Jerusalem! The Spirit took me to these passages also this morning, and it was as if He was giving me urgent, impassioned instruction: Lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, 'Here is your God! See the Sovereign LORD comes with power and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him and His recompense accompanies Him!" (Isaiah 40:6-10)

Lift up your voices with a shout, brothers and sisters in Messiah!  Bring good tidings to Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth! His recompense accompanies Him - HE will rule in justice and righteousness! (Yes, justice will be restored, even though it does not exist in this present world).  Our coming King will also be our Chief Justice! He will reduce the rulers of this world to nothing! He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth! (Isa. 42:3-4)

The LORD says to Israel, "You, Israel are My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, My friend. Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I AM your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; and those who strive with you shall perish. Those who war against you shall be as nothing. For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you!'  (Isa. 41:8-10).

My friends, the message from the LORD this morning is clear.  It's time for us to re-focus and to establish our hearts upon all these wondrous promises in His Word.  

A small post script:
Encouraged by the Lord, I have revamped and updated my old youtube channel and hope that perhaps you will take the time to visit there, and to pass on the link to others in your life.  It is filled with many audio and video teachings from the past, which are still as fresh manna because they were all given to me by the Spirit!  There are also several Power Point slides of my songs with lyrics for congregations and there is no charge for any of this!  Click on this link or go to youtube and search for Doorkeeper Ministries.  ​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqhSYsSOHNWiHyN1UCmeBzg
As always, my friends, you can donate to our work at this link:
 ​www.doorkeeperministries.com/donate.html
We will see that your donations go to our ongoing support of St. Stephen's orphans in Kenya, the children's home in Netanya, Israel, several messianic congregations in Israel who are actively sharing the Gospel, as well as many needs here at home.  May your generosity reap great blessings for you!

 My goodness! I just looked at the date of my last blog and it has been a full month since I have written! I am sorry, friends. Life is rather unusual for all of us right now.  In mid-April I came down with an awful flu that kept me in bed for a little over two weeks. All praise to our Mighty God, I am fully recovered and John was kept under His divine protection and stayed well!  


In my time of reflection, I came to understand that this plague of sickness is not going away any time soon. Though there IS a remnant in America who have "not bowed the knee to Baal" (as in 1 Kings 19:18), I do believe God has allowed this plague because of the gross magnitude of sin that has overtaken our nation. Ecclesiastes 3:15 tells us that "What is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God calls back the past."  So, when we look in His Word to find out "what has been before," we find a long history of a Righteous Judge who uses whatever is necessary to reach the hearts of His people and turn them from their wickedness, that they might come back to His pure and loving ways and be blessed again. In Hosea 14:1-2 the LORD says, "Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.'"

What is God looking for, then, when He pleads with His people to "offer the fruit of their lips?"  I just spent some time in 2 Samuel 24:1-25 to get the answer.  The answer is important, so stay with me.  These passages describe a time in history when David was king over all Israel and he became absorbed in his own "greatness" and authority. In those days, the sheer numbers of people who pledged allegiance to the king showed how great the king was; so David decided to have a census and count the fighting men. His servant Joab tried to correct him when he said, "May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over and may the lord my king see it. But why would the king want to do such a thing?"  (2 Samuel 24:3). Joab gets it. He acknowledges that it is the God of Israel who brings the increase, whether of people or crops. He confronts David to get him to think about what the motive of his heart is in taking this census; but it doesn't get through to David and he sends his commanders to "enroll the fighting men."

Now, this scenario pales in comparison with the sinful, despicable laws being enacted in our nation - but the principle is the same. And the remedy for the ensuing plague is exactly the same.  After doing this thing that displeased God, "David was conscience-stricken and he said to the LORD, 'I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, LORD, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing." (2 Samuel 2:10)

The leader has exalted himself and gone against God - and despite his confession, there is still a consequence of his sin. God speaks to Gad the prophet and tells him to go to David and give him three options, allowing him to choose the consequence of his sin. As a result, a terrible plague overtakes the land of Israel and many die from the sickness.  However, because God loves David's repentant heart, He intervenes at some point and commands the angel who is striking the people to stop. In verse 24 it says, "When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel, 'Enough! Withdraw your hand. ' When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, 'I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.'" (2 Samuel 24:15-17). 

Right at this point of the story, my heart swells with the compassion of our God and the humility of King David, who accepts all the blame and is willing to pay the price for it.  The prophet Gad instructs him to go to Araunah the Jebusite and build an altar to the LORD on his threshing floor. Araunah wants to give David the threshing floor for free, but David will not allow it!  As R. Loren Sanford said recently, "David doesn't buy into cheap grace. He will not accept an easy way out that costs him nothing! "

I pause and wonder what would happen if our current politicians and leaders came to this place of personal repentance, their hearts broken before a Holy God?  What if there were men and women of God who would boldly confront the wickedness in America's government, as Joab confronted David? What if a great wave of repentance swept across this nation and the people's hearts cried out, "We have sinned greatly in killing sixty million unborn children; Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.'"

God calls back the past. What He has done before He would do again. He would stop the plague.  If the leaders and the people of America and Israel would take themselves off the throne and "build an altar" to God in their hearts, overturning wicked laws in deep repentance and then offering the FRUIT OF THEIR LIPS - THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE - the plague would be stopped.  2 Samuel 2:25: "David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. THEN the LORD ANSWERED PRAYER on behalf of the land, and THE PLAGUE ON ISRAEL WAS STOPPED."

Psalm 43:2: For You are the God of my strength. Send Your light and Your truth. Then I will go out to the Altar of God and there I will bring my [sacrifice of] praise!