Light from the Word

The Price YAHSHUA Paid Positioned Us of no More Condemnation

That means that we are no longer debtors to the flesh, with its demands. We are now children of God and heir with His Son, YAHSHUA, chosen before the foundation of the world to be molded according to the pleasures of His will, to be like Him. So, All things work together for good, so God will accomplish His will of molding us into the image of His Son. It is a permanent thing from the time we were born again until eternity when we see Him face to face and as it, we will be as He Is. It is progressive from glory to glory; with unveiled face continued to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another from the Lord (II Cor. 3:18). Our salvation is a continuous work of sanctification, we must submit ourselves daily, moment by moment. Not only on Sunday while in church. We have been raised with Christ; our aim is to seek that which are above, where our Savior is seated at the right hand of God; our mind must be set and kept set on heavenly things. Because as far as the world is concerned, we have died for the world and our new life is hidden with Christ in God. And the beautiful promise is that when Christ appear, we will appear with Him. (Col 3: I-4) If you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul was made a minister (Col.1:23)

Now, if we were chosen before the foundation of the world unto salvation and sanctification, why do we think that leaving the path of sanctification will we be saved? What does Romans 8:28 says? That all things are working together for God’s purpose of our salvation and molding unto the image of His Son in a continuous plan until eternity, when all will be consummated in His time. That means We are in a new covenant- the covenant of blood with Him. YAHSHUA did His part of redemption and we are to do ours of agreement to its requirements.

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God’s Final Judgment to Come on the Earth

It started with our forefathers Adam and Eve, when they transgressed God’s law and fell into disobedience. God’s judgment in the form of a curse fell on the entire world as a result. Generation to generations to come have experienced and seeing the misery sin brought to all of us, even before we were born! Condemned, we were! It was a judgment that only YAHSHUA, God’s Son could ransom us from eternal condemnation. With that, His image was restored with the presence of His Holy Spirit given to us. The world, however has rejected this gift and remains under God’s condemnation. In the days of Noah, the people also rejected Noah’s message. They were swept away under the fury of God’s judgment. Noah witnessed the severity of the wrath of God while safe in the ark. Nature revolted against the sin of the people and responded with force against them, until they were gone, as God directed it. In another time, when the sins of men reached God, He brought judgment to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the days of Lot. Only he and his family were saved. In this case, God’s judgment was isolated to those cities, not to the entire world. But God showed mercy to the righteous Lot and his family.

The Apostle Peter has warned us that this present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people. It is a fact, we must consider, for it will happen against the ungodly people. Peter left a warning for us to take: to be found by YAHSHUA without spot and blemish and at peace (II Pet. 3). The book of Isaiah chapter 24 is a mini book of Revelation without seals and bowls: The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently; the earth shall stagger like a drunken man and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; its transgression shall lie heavily upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again… said, Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you are carried away by the error of lawless and wicked and fall from your own firm condition (II Pet. 3). Come my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath is past. For Then the moon will be confounded and the sun shamed, when the Lord of hosts, Who will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders, will show forth His glory (Isa.24). It will be days of divine vengeance. No one will escape. Behold, the Lord is coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain and conceal her guilt (Isa. 26:20-21). This perhaps seems too far away from you in your frame of time. However, a thousand years in God’s sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night (Ps,90:4). Peter confirmed Moses words and warned us saying, Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (II Peter3:8). So, where does it leave us as we are waiting for our Lord? We must be prepared all the time. Scoffers are asking, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the forefathers fell asleep, all things have continued exactly the as they did from the beginning of creation (II Peter 3:44). This is a position of disbelief in the Word of God. Therefore, if we remain in this position, we will be left behind to suffer all the consequences of our disbelief. When the disciple Thomas doubted the resurrection of our Lord, He told him, Reach out your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side, Do not be faithless and incredulous, but believe! Then Thomas answered Him, My Lord and my God! (John 20:27-28). Thomas repented and was saved. If you do not repent of your incredulities, you will be found condemned to eternity out of the presence of God. For it is a fearful thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God! (Heb.10:31).

When God’s judgment comes it will be merciless. We all know how patient He is, but He is also holy; when our sins reach His holiness, He will stand to defend it by destroying the earth and its inhabitants. Chapter 6 of Revelation starts with the opening of the seals of judgment. When the Lamb broke open the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth of hair, the moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky dropped to the earth like a fig tree shedding its unripe fruit out of season when shaken by a strong wind and the sky rolled up like a scroll and vanished, and every mountain and island was dislodged from its place. Then the kings of the earth and their noblemen and their magnates and their military chiefs and the wealthy and the strong and everyone slave or free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains and they called to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the deep-seated indignation and wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand before it? (Rev. 6).

When God’s holiness touched Mount Sinai, it was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly (Exod. 19:18). We have no idea how serious it is when we disrespect the holiness of God! We might not be aware of it, but in time, continuing in this path, you know soon or later how holy He is. The Egyptians were judged for having many gods and mocking the Israelites God. They were judged with several plagues and at the end, they were drowned in the Red Sea in pursuit of Israel. Israel, experienced and witnessed God’s judgement in many ways while in their journey to the Promised Land. They always seemed to have touched the holiness of God. And in their life time as a nation, they continued with their wicked ways. Many did not make to the Promised Land and were killed in the desert. The writer to the letter to the Hebrews confirms saying, Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion and their provocation and embitterment in the day of testing in the wilderness (Heb. 3:7-12). God’s time frame for judgment will come when many do not expect. For the nation of Israel, God’s plan is to refine her as gold and silver. The Prophet Zachariah says, I will hear and answer them, I will say, It is My people; and they will say, the Lord is my God! And in all the land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be out off and perish, but one-third shall be left alive; and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people: and they will say, The Lord is my God. (Zech.13:8-9)

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Come, My Beloved, Come!

Come, My Beloved, come!

The winter has been long

Waiting for your return

To take us to Your home

Here we remain. Come!

Come, my Beloved, come

Hear your bride’s cry

Echoing throughout the mountains

Sustained by faith- The force

That will take us up as one!

Come, my Beloved, come

We long to be with you

Forever worshipping you

Eternally adoring you

In harmony, loving You

Come, my Beloved, come

Whenever it will be

O, that You would rend the heavens

With the trumpet now

In an everlasting sounding of victory!

To fetch your bride

Forgiven, and sanctified

Forever free from sin.

What glory it will be

When Your face we shall see!

Behold, One Like a Son of Man Was Coming With the Clouds of Heaven

The glorious promise YAHSHUA left before He ascended to heaven is getting closer and closer to its fulfillment. The Word of God mentions in various places the promise of His return. Look up! For our redemption is very near! In one of the Prophet Daniel’s visions, he said, “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass way; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

ALLELUIA! So, that at the name of YAHSHUA every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that YAHSHUA Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phi. 2:10-11). Answering to the high priest a very question, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” YAHSHUA said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless, I tell you, here after you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:63-64). At the ascension, while the disciples were gazing intently into the sky while YAHSHUA was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This YAHSHUA, Who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same as you have watched Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Hours before His trials, while comforting His disciples He said, Do not let you heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also… (John 14:1-3). In YAHSHUA’S own words, the promise stands. Daniel’s vision of hundreds of years earlier, is echoed and confirmed by YAHSHUA Himself – the Son of Man Daniel saw in his vision. In the message to the seven churches, John said, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So, it is to be. Amen (Rev. 1:7). “AND BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY. BLESSED IS HE WHO HEEDS THE WORDS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK.” (REV. 22:7).

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Fake Peace on the Horizon

Can you hear the trumpets announcing the fake peace soon coming near you? It is as if we were reading the prophetic words from the Bible, in particular the first letter Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. Please read chapter 5:3 with me: When people are saying, All is well and secure, and There are peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape. Middle East nations are uniting in an agreement of peace like never before. Enemies becoming agreeable to peace is a question we need not to ask, for if you are tuned with the Word of God, you will know the times. The book of Daniel says that Israel will enter into a firm covenant with the many for one week (of seven years) and in the midst of it he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease [for the remaining three and one -half years] and upon the wing or pinnacle of abomination [shall come] one who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator (Dan. 9:27). What do we see here is Israel entering into an agreement with many nations, fulfilling the time for its judgment. The Prophet Isaiah prophesized about this covenant saying, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem! Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement -when the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter…I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be annulled and your agreement with sheol shall not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you will be trodden down by it” (Isaiah 28:14-20). The interesting thing is that some of the nations in agreement for peace with Israel now will be the same ones coming to attack it later, prophesized in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. We see that Israel is vehemently after this peace, leading the way, under the power of the antichrist, who is active in the world, but not yet his time to be introduced.

After their peace is established in the world, a surprising destruction will take over them. It is important that we born-again Christians be aware of the signs rising up, pointing to the time, when we must be found knowledgeable of the Word of God, in order that we do not follow the deceit spread around the world, for Paul said, The coming of the lawlessness one is through the activity and working of Satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of miracles and signs and delusive marvels, lying wonders- and by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore, God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false (II Thess. 2). Who are they? Those who have not believed the truth to be saved. For God has not appointed us (the Christians) to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord YAHSHUA the Messiah, Who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead, we might live together with Him and share His life. Therefore, encourage one another and edify one another just as you are doing (I Thess. 5). Who is the lawlessness one Paul is talking about? The antichrist. He is seemly active on the world, carrying his plan to deceive as many as he can today through electronic gadgets and other means.

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O Que E a Vida?

A vida não é só chorar;

Ela é também cantar, dançar

Ela é celebrar;

A vida é em si o fôlego de Deus

Vivificando cada momento

O Sêr humano, confirmando

A fidelidade do Seu amor

Em tempo e fora de tempo.

A vida é um choro, lágrimas caídas

Soluços expressos do íntimo

Como trovão, relâmpago é ao tempo

Assim é a limpeza da alma

Trazendo equilíbrio ao viver

Maturidade, entendimento

Para o amanhã suceder

Vida é braços estendidos

Para ajudar, acolher um aqui, outro acolá

Para amar num calor humano

O sofrido, o miserável e rejeitado.

A vida é uma virgula, separando

Estação no espaço do seu tempo

Primavera, verão, outono e inverno

Mas a vida é também sorrisos

Refletindo gratidão, razão porque amar

A suma e mais importante ação

Registrada por Deus, quando na cruz

Seu coração pingou no seu e no meu,

O perfeito amor gravado com pena de ferro

Pra nunca se apagar.

A vida é a essência da sabedoria de Deus.

Ela é a fé, que nos transporta a Ele

A Esperança da eternidade com Ele

Ela é a promessa viva

A certeza que nunca desaponta

Dum futuro bonito e brilhante

Na presença de Jesus pra sempre!

And They Were Blessed

In the beginning, God created the woman to be man’s help mate, “for Adam there was not found a helper meet for him.” And then the first surgery happened while God put Adam down for a deep sleep. While he slept, God took one of his ribs or a part of his side and closed up the flesh (Gen. 2). So, the woman came from one of Adam’s ribs. We can’t imagine how a body is formed from a rib, with all its intrinsics complicated parts coming together to form the perfect creation of a body. But so it happened that the woman was created to be a help mate for her husband. All through the ages, women carried the character of a leader in certain things, as she became the mother of her children, and the controller of her household. Proverbs 31 well gives a picture of a virtuous woman. The picture given does not show her to be passive, but one that shows her active in every aspect of life. What her husband and children had to say about her? “Her children rise up and call her blessed and her husband boasts of and praises her [saying], Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well, but you excel them all” (Prov. 31:28-29).

There are a few women in the Old Testament I would like to mention for their courage in times of great challenges. Debora the prophetess and the only woman Judge in Israel, left a legacy of leadership many of us admire; it ultra passes that of many men of yesterday and today. In her simple life style, she sat under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment; and she sent and called Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel commanded you, Go gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun? And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the trip you take will not be for your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Debora arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.” (Judges 4). That was not an easy task Prophetess and Judge Debora took under her. She was rewarded however, with victory, and her life lives forever in the pages of the Word of God. Among others, there is Esther. A young Jew who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives taken away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile.

Hadassah had no father, and no mother; they both died and Mordecai took her as his own daughter. Hadassa was the chosen girl to replace the king’s wife Vasti for not submitting to her husband’s orders in his great celebration. She was dethroned, losing her position of queen. The law of the country was that the queen could only appear in the presence of the king when called. Meanwhile, Mordecai her uncle, learned of a plot that to destroy all the Jews from the province of Babilon. Being a Jew, he took the matter to Esther for a solution in her position of a new queen. He warned her, saying, If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion? Esther instructed her uncle to gather all the Jews present in Shushan, and fast for me; three days night or day. I also and my maids will fast as you do. Then I will go to the king though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish (Esther 4). Queen Esther sacrificed her life to save her nation with courage and determination. This is a beautiful act of love for her people. And she found favor in the king’s sight and he held out to [her] the golden scepter that was in his hand. He said, What will you have Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of the kingdom. (Esther 5). The story has a nice ending, because of faith and courage of a young girl.

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Jacob and the Stone Pillow

When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob (Genesis 25:24-26).

This is the beginning story of two brothers – Esau and Jacob. A story with future significance that has shaped their world and continues shaping, embracing the entire world as it turned to the future of yesterday and will continue writing its pages until the end. The emphasis is given to the younger brother, Jacob. To start with, his name means supplanter. Jacob well lived his name, bringing grudges between the two to this day. The older, Esau was supposed to be the right heir of the blessing before his father Isaac died. But Jacob was always envious of that blessing, so much so that he would not give his brother a bowl of soup without having him give up his blessing. That had come when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, so he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him: My son! And he answered him, He I am. He said, See here now; I am old, I do not know when I may die. So, now I pray you, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out into the open country and hunt game for me, and prepare me appetizing meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat of it, to giving you my blessing before I die (Gen. 27:1-4). But Rebekah had a plan for her favorite son, Jacob, that of stealing the blessing from her older son to give to his brother.

Jacob hesitated for a while, but went along with it and deceived his father, dressed as Esau with a delicious meal which Rebeka- his mother prepared. In his desperation, when he came to receive his blessing, Esau tried to kill his brother from that day onward. Not a beautiful picture in the pages of History. But God had His plan to write on those pages- a story that would make a difference in the entire world through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As things were taking place in the lives of the brothers, Jacob had to flee to the house of his mother’s father, which was between six hundred to seven hundred miles from Canaan to Padan-aram, where his mother’s family lived. After that, Isaac blessed him saying, May the God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you until you become a group of peoples; may He give the blessing [He gave to] Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land He gave to Abraham, in which you’re a sojourner (Gen. 28:3-4). Years earlier, the righteous Abraham had been was tested, when God asked him to offer his only son to Him in the region of Mount Moriah. Abraham obeyed when he built an altar and Isaac, was put on the altar to be sacrificed. There, Abraham was blessed and, in his Seed, all the nations of the world with him for his obedience to God. (Gen.22). The blessing continued through Jacob the day he fled from his brother. Nothing was interrupting God’s plan of salvation through Jacob’s descendance. His journey was going to be challenging, but God ‘s plan was going to be fulfilled in the fulness of time. Paul said, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal. 4:4). One of the beautiful things God does is to reveal His plan to His servants. He reveals to Moses, to Abraham, to the Prophets and still reveals to us today.

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God’s Purpose in Lazarus’ Death

When YAHSHUA received the news that Lazarus was sick, He was staying in Peraea beyond Jordan with His disciples, which was more than a day’s journey. By the time the news arrived, Lazarus had died. YAHSHUA knowing that, He remained there two more days, before He went to see Lazarus. He said, Our friend Lazarus is at rest and sleeping; but I am going there that I may awaken him out of his sleep. The disciples answered, Lord, If he is sleeping, he will recover. However, YAHSHUA had spoken of his death. So, then He told them plainly, Lazarus is dead (John 11:4-14). That happened at the time when the Jewish Passover was at hand, (11:55). Lazarus death and resurrection coincided two weeks before YAHSHUA’S death and resurrection. According to the Restored Vision book by A.E Ware the death and resurrection of Lazarus took place exactly two weeks before that of our Lord YAHSHUA, and precisely the same days of the week. The messenger sent by the two sisters must have left Bethany on Thursday, April 16^th and reached our Lord on Friday, April 17^th. Lazarus died on Friday, April 17^th, and rose on Monday, April 20^th; our Lord died on Friday, May first and rose on Monday 4^th of May, in exact fulfillment of every statement He had made upon the subject. Lazarus death was not an isolated case, without a significant meaning that of connecting him to a prophetic event to happen many years later in the life of the Jewish nation. Lazarus, was a type of the nation of Israel, which was destroyed A.D.70 and remained dead as a nation, until the time when it was reestablished in the year 1948. Lazarus’ resurrection pointed to a time in history when his nation would arise from the ashes into life.

The urgency of the moment of Lazarus’ sickness didn’t concern our Lord, for He knew the perfect timing when He should go to attend to Lazarus’ situation, fulfilling the Father’s desire for that important moment in His life on earth, for it was the time when YAHSHUA’S messiahship would be brought to light. Lazarus’ illness and death was for the glory of God. The burial of Lazarus for four days constituted a case of no doubt in the minds of the people that YAHSHUA was the Messiah, the Son of God. The Sabbath on April 25^th A.D. 33, was therefore the last day of the great Messianic time prophecy of the “seventy weeks” minus one or 483 of 490 years, as measured in Gentile time. (Dan. 9:24-27). However, that day, the Jewish nation showed their ultimate rejection, for settling their minds to kill YAHSHUA, their Messiah. Which happened two weeks later, but on God’s calendar and purpose. Our Lord YAHSHUA Messiah from the very beginning experienced the hatred of the Jewish leaders and knew well that in spite of all His miracles and manifested grace they would reject and kill Him. One week after our Lord was in Jericho He was crucified and six of the seven weeks of years (483 0f 490) were completed in A.D. 26 to 33, which would now have to be relived at the end of the Christian era as a period of retributive judgments, the desolating nature of which the Apostle John received by revelation from our risen Lord and recorded in the book of Revelation (Restored Vision, A.E Ware).

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You Shall Have a Song as in the Night

A song in the night hours when the mind tries to rest, the body tries to relax is possible when there is peace within. But when the mind races with thoughts of the day that seemly not pleasant, the song disappears in the waves of anxiety. The Bible says that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5). It is at night that we are confronted with feelings of disappointments, anger, frustrations, and so on. While all sleep and we are left alone battling these feelings, the night seems long. However, it is in that time frame that we do need a song to pull us out of our struggles. The song in the night will lift up the burden we are carrying. It is a song that will be directed to God, a song of supplication, a song of praise and gratitude, for He promised to keep in perfect peace those whose mind stays on Him, because they trust in Him (Isaiah 26:3). Praises are weapons of warfare against our enemy. Job said, “But no one says, Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs of rejoicing in the night, Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?” (Job 35:11-12). Paul and Silas, after been struck with many blows, and thrown into prison, into dungeon, their feet fastened in the stocks, about mid-night, when they were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened (Acts 16:23-25). Lives were saved that night as a result. Songs in the night were echoed through the entire prison that night, in the midst of sorrow and pain, injustice applied to their bodies. Paul and Silas had a testimony to tell the world and a lesson to teach all of us today. How we move mountains through our struggles and pains, it is through a song in the night and not through our own strength. It is God Who gives us strength to perform, when we seek Him. This is faith, enduring faith, echoing through songs in the night.

“My soul longs for You, (O Lord) in the night; my spirit seeks you earnestly” (Isa. 26:9a). When we sing songs to God in our trials, He opens heaven and peace will flow to us; things may not change at first, but for sure, He heard and accepted our song. Queen Esther, when heard of the danger concerning her people, she fasted and prayed. She didn’t panic, because she knew her God would give her a song of victory in her night. She sought the Lord first thing and her testimony lived forever, when God delivered her and her people from the hand of her enemy, Haman. King Jehoshaphat faced his giants with prayer and with praise as he was told to do. The Bible tells us that he and his people rose early and when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord saying, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, He set ambushments against the men of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir who had come against Judah and they were slaughtered” (II Chron. 20: 21-22). The battle becomes the Lord’s when we let Him fight for us. We will always face our nights sometimes in life. They are necessary to direct us to God in closer relationship. The song He gives us at that time is to call on His name in order to acknowledge Him as sovereign through songs of praises. King David had many nights in his life time. His psalms are filled with praises in his trials, believing that God was going to hear him, or had heard his prayers. He said in Psalm 40 1-3: “I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear and put their trust in the Lord”; and in psalm 42:1-3,5: “As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for your, O God. My inner self thirst for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?… Why are you cast down O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God…Yet, the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”

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