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God's pay day

Posted by: Brian Madden on Nov 16, 2009

Tagged in: Untagged

1 Samuel 26:23

"May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed."

God’s Payday

After serving for 40 years on the African mission field, Henry C. Morrison returned home by boat. On that same boat, returning from one of his big-game hunts in Africa, was Theodore Roosevelt. Upon docking in New York, President Roosevelt received a great fanfare. Bands were playing, crowds were excitedly trying to get a glimpse of the famous president, and reporters were there to take down his every word. No one, however, was there to meet Henry Morrison and his wife. As he left the docks, he felt quite dejected. After all, Morrison thought, I should get some recognition for forty years in the Lord’s service. It was then that his wife reminded him, "But Henry, you’re not home yet."

David knew that God someday will repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness. This realization prevented David from slaying Saul when he had the chance. He could have taken advantage of Saul’s helplessness, but instead he did what was right. David chose the way of righteousness and faithfulness.

You can be sure that God is no man’s debtor. When we walk in righteousness and faithfulness, we can be sure that God will repay. It may happen on earth, but most certainly our greatest rewards will be when we get to heaven. If we seek to do what is right in God’s sight and to serve Him faithfully wherever He calls us, we can safely leave the rewards to Him. God will never disappoint us.

If you are discouraged by a lack of recognition or appreciation, remember that God will repay your righteousness and faithfulness. Even if He waits until you get to heaven, you can be confident that someday will be payday. Remember, you aren’t home yet!

God will have a payday someday.

My testimony of God's amazing grace

Posted by: Brian Madden on Jun 25, 2009

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Hello all God is good my name is Brian Madden,

I was born in Tiger's Bay a loyalist area of North Belfast. Over the last 30 years of the troubles North Belfast was the centre of most murders.

My father was a memeber of the UDA a loyalist renegade army and our area was mixed between UDA and UVF members both loyalist paramilitary groupings who opposed anything Irish.

I was brought up culturally believing that Catholics were my enemy and that the PIRA were out to destroy what I deemed to be my British identity.

My mother worked in a local loyalist pub and my father had become an alcoholic who spent much of his time with Mum in the pub.

Alcohol, was therfore a constant thorn in the flesh of our family, I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

At a very early age I started drinking and taking whatever substance out there that would get me high. From drugs, tablets, glue and petrol even gas.

During my teenage years I was in regular trouble with the security forces and Loyalist paramilitary groups who policed the area.

My life at this time was spiralling out of control but my parents were very often too drunk to take notice.

I was constantly being expelled from school and had become a skin head and a member of the National Front and the Nazi party.

During this time I done some horrible things on people that I am not proud of. I had no thought of God and left school at the age of 15, either leave or I was being thrown out.

I got a job in a building site but each week the money I gained was used for more and more drink.

Twice at this stage in my life I should have been dead, on one occasion I had a gun put to my head and on another I escaped out a window of a house when confronted by Loyalist terrorists.

My life was a life of hurt and destruction, I had a girlfriend named Martine and her parents wanted rid of me, not in a bad way but they wanted me out of their daughters life.

Martine attended the local Elim church even though she was not a Christian, she had lost her leg in the troubles after being run over by the British Army driving a huge machine. At this time the local Elim church were good to both Martine and her family, therefore Martine's mother Jessie started to attend the church and eventually got saved.

One night my mother returned home with my sister and they told me that they had got saved I laughed and went to bed with a bottle of vodka.

A few weeks later my dad got saved and once again I laughed. I told them not to start preaching to me. My mother was the type of Christian who had to share her faith. And one day she started to share with me. I was so enraged that I wrecked the house and threw all of the furniture out through the window on to the street.

I had no idea at this time that God was working on me. Next my mother took cancer and I remember very clearly one morning when the police kicked in our front door and dragged me form my bed my mother knelt at the top of the stairs wrecked in pain with the cancer and called out for God to save me.

Around 6 months later I was in the car with Martine and I herd an audible voice speak to me and tell me that I was going to hell. Fear gripped me and I cried out to God for His forgiveness and asked Him to change my life.

He did, Glory to His name. Many things have happened since then, my mum died Martine's mum and dad both died all in Heaven now. I have 3 daughters one who was born with severe brain damage.

But God has been so faithful and so good. My goal in life is now to extend God's kingdom, it doesn't matter wether you were born Catholic or Protetsnat God loves you just the same.

I never believed that God could take a violent young man like me and then put me into the ministry. He did, and if He did it this for me what can He do for you? This is a short testimony. Much has been ommiited.

My favourite verse:

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Watch our church services on-line: htltp://www.ustream.tv/channe/elim-christian-centre-belfast-northern-ireland
God bless

The Voice of God

Posted by: on Jun 17, 2009

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Is it possible do you think to silence the voice of God in your life to a place where God will never speak to you again?

Consider Herod… Mark 6:20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. We learn some things about Herod’s relationship to John according to this verse…

1.He knew he was a just man and a holy man…
2.He observed him or he paid attention to him…
3.He heard him gladly…

Mark 6:18-19 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not…

What was it that John and Herod talked about?

They must have been talking about the kingdom of God but at some point John told Herod that what he was doing taking his brother’s wife was wrong. Herod still wanted to hear John but Herodias wanted him out of the way, she must have seen John as a threat because if Herod listened to John she would lose her position… So she determined to kill him.

We know the rest of the story Herodias daughter danced for Herod and his friends and he told her he would give him anything she wanted… Hedodias seized her oportunity and had John beheaded… (v21-28)

Look at verse 26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake… Herod did not want to kill John but he wanted to save face in front of his guests… Herod effictively cut off the voice of God in his life, he liked John, he liked his message, he wanted to hear more from John but because of pride he cut of the voice of God in his life.

We pick up the story again in Luke 9:7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him (Jesus) and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead…

Herod was sorry he had John killed but then he heard about Jesus, he inquired about him, who is this Jesus and he desired to see him…

Luke 9:9 And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.

Herod desired to see Jesus for a long time but it didn’t happen until Jesus was arrested and brought to trial… Pilate sent him to Herod…

Luke 23:8-9 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.

Herod desired to see him for a long season, I wonder if he secretly hoped it had been John raised from the dead but however he was standing before Jesus, he had heard many things about him including his miracles…

But I want you to notice that Jesus answered him nothing or he didn’t answer him, not a word…

God wasn’t on speaking terms with Herod… God had given him a chance to repent, God sent him his best messengeer but Herod silenced his voice by cutting off the head of John the baptist and now here Herod stood before the master, Jesus himself, but Jesus refused to talk to him…

This is a sad story about a man who had heard the gospel, who responded after a manner, he loved to heard John speak, but when the cruch came his own pride was more important and his own pride lead to his downfall…

Can we learn anything from this in our generation, I don’t believe that we as christians will ever get to that place but I wonder if we can still silence the word of God in our lives by our attitudes towards them that God has given a voice in our lives?

I know christians that have spoken out against or taken offence at their pastor and now they are no where in the move of God, I know ministers that were sent out and somewhere along the line they began to be offended against the one that God put as a voice in their lives and now they are no where, I know of one man who was a pastor sent out and now he doesn’t even go to church anymore…

We need to guard the relationships that God has placed in our lives, we need to guard them and not get offended, make a decision not to get offended or not to allow pride to get us to despise the voice of God in our lives.

What happened to Uzzah

Posted by: on Jun 13, 2009

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When we read the story of Uzzah in the scriptures we are often puzzled by how God dealt with him, surely God was unjust to punish Uzzah in this manner, to strike him dead as he tried to prevent the ark of God or the testimony of God from falling in the dirt…

Let’s look at the passage for a minute and try and discover what actually happened…

2 Samuel 6:1-4 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.

When we read this pass age there seems to nothing much wrong with this picture but if we look a little deeper we will see some underlying things…

Firstly they put the ark of God on a cart, this was not God’s prescribed way to transport the ark look at… Exodus 25:13-16 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark, the Testimony, which I will give you.

The ark was to be carried by poles that were made especially for it and the poles were not to be removed. How was the ark to be carried and by whom. Let’s look at… Numbers 1:51
Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death.

We discover here that the God had said that the Levites were to prepare and move everything from the Tabernacle. No one else was to touch it or even go near it. Now it is presumed that these family were Levites because the Ark had been entrusted to them and they had cared for it for 20 years and they had not died…

Numbers 4:15 After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting.

We do not know if this family were Kohathites and if they even should have been transporting the Ark at all…

So at this point it was all presumption on their part, they assumed that it was ok to transport the ark this way even though had had said in the Law of Moses that the Ark was to be transported by Levites on poles…

Let’s look a little deeper… 2 Samuel 6:4 Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.

When the Ark was to be transported it was to be borne on the shoulders of men and the Ark was supposed to lead the people but here it was being carried by Oxen and men were leading the Ark…

Let’s just stop here and talk about the glory of God for a minute… A.W. Tozer wrote a book called “Man, the Dwelling Place of God” God had ordained from the start that he would dwell in the hearts of men and men would be the ones who carried the glory of God but they would be lead and guided by Him…

Here men had entrusted animals to carry the glory of God and they (the men) were leading God, this was a recipe for disaster right from the start… Where did they get the idea to put the Ark on a cart anyway?

1Sam. 6:1-2 And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.

The Ark had been captured by the Philistines but while it was there God brought many judgements on the Philistines so they were anxious to get rid of it, but they didn’t know what to do with it or where to send it…

1Sam. 6:7-9 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.

The Philistines devised a plan, we are not sure if it is the Ark that is causing us this trouble so we will take the Ark and put it on a new cart and it returns to Israel we will know that it was God who afflicted us but if it just wanders aimlessly then we will know it was just by chance that these plagues came…

They put the Ark on a new cart, they were unbelievers they had no clue but they didn’t try to lead the ark, they let the Ark lead the way and the Ark returned to Israel and was placed in the house of Abinidab and this is where our story begins… So the priests of Israel and even King David were taking their lead from the Philistines who were unbelievers, they put it on a cart and got away with it so God mustn’t mid riding on a cart, the problem was David and the Priests of Israel had the Law of Moses, they should have known better and in effect were treating the glory of God no differently that the unbelievers…

So the glory of God was being borne by animals and was being led instead of followed, this was not good, it was only a matter of time before something happened…

2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

David and all Israel were very excited to be bringing the ark to the city of David. However, in their excitement, they had forgotten to do what God had already told them to do in Law. Excitement and zeal for the Lord can never replace simple obedience.

2 Samuel 6:6 When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.

2 Samuel 6:7 The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

Notice what Uzzah did God called an irreverent act; he had become too familiar with holy things. He took the ultimate sovereignty of God too lightly.
I want to draw your attention to something here, it was at the threshing floor that the Ark stumbled, the threshing floor in the word of God always speaks of judgment, it is where the grain is rolled out and the grain is separated from the chaff, Jesus tells us in Matt 25 that it represents the coming judgment of the nations…

So as they transported the glory of God in a way that was irreverent to God they came to a place of judgment and God judged them, unfortunately for Uzzah he was the one who reached out and touched the Ark, another sign of disobedience for the word of God because they had broken every law about transporting the Ark he presumed God would overlook this one too because they were after all taking the Ark to the Holy City…

This is a sad story about Uzzah but one that warrants our attention, sometimes we think when we have excitement or zeal for the things of God we can do whatever we want, but there is a prescribed way to carry the glory of God and God will not hold us guiltless if we do not do it his way…

David and Saul

Posted by: on Jun 13, 2009

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Why was Saul rejected as King, what exactly did he do that caused him to be rejected?

David on the other hand was involved in adultery and murder and yet he was not only not rejected but was acclaimed as a man after God's own heart.
Sam. 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

Saul's sin was he feared the people more than God, he would rather do what the people wanted than what God wanted...
Prov. 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
Well I believe that Saul was man's king, Israel wanted a king and God had a man in mind but Israel were a generation too early...

Saul was man's king, he had everything going for him, he was tall, well built, handsome, exactly what man wants in a king... God told Samuel to take a flask of oil and anoint him king... a flask is a man made container, a man made container for a man made king, as we look at Saul's life, he spent most of his time concerned with people because he was the peoples king and in the end he obeyed the people rather than God.

David on the other hand was a God appointed king, God told Samuel to take a horn of oil and anoint David king, the horn was from a Ram which firstly is a male lamb which speaks of sacrifice and them a ram speaks of a king, but something had to be sacrificed to make David king, a God given container for a God given king. David on the other hand never cared too much what the people thought but was a man after God's own heart.
In fact when Samuel went to Jesse's house to anoint a new king he looked at Eliab and because he was similar to Saul, (handsome, strong, tall etc) Samuel said"surely the Lord's anointed is before me..."

Samuel wanted to anoint someone who was appealing to man... It is said of David that he was "ruddy" ruddy can mean red haired or stocky, so he was probably small and squat, not man's idea of a king at all...
When Saul was to be appointed King they couldn't find him, he was hiding in his baggage, David on the other hand when he went to fight Goliath left his baggage with the baggage handlers...
When Saul tried to put his armour on David, David said I cannot use these for I have not proved them, when you go to battle fight with the weapons you are used to and with the ones you trained with...

So many times we try to use other peoples weapons but we need to use the ones that we have proven in the past and not what someone else has proven...

You have to see it!

Posted by: on Jun 13, 2009

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Josh. 6:1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. When God showed the city of Jericho to Joshua, before any battle had taken place God said to him...

Josh. 6:2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. Before you go up you need to see it...

See I have given it into your hand

How could Joshua "see it" before any battle had even taken place?

By faith!

the world says "show me and I will believe..."
God says "believe me and I will show you..."

You have to see it first, you have to believe it first, consider it done and according to your faith it will be done unto you...

Mike.