“Light from on high”
– Luk 1:78 (AMP)
Help from Heaven!
Shalom to all God’s people!
The following is a well-known portion of Scripture, but I would like to point out a few important aspects contained in it. Please read it thoughtfully. I have underlined and numerically marked certain phrases to make it easy to refer to. It is a fairly long discussion, but seeing we are currently still in “lock-down”, do take the time to read it all?:
Daniel 10 (NIV)
:18 Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength1.
:19 “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened2 and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”
:20 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia3, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come;
:21 but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth4.
One thing this Scripture-portion highlights, is the influence that the spirit-world has on our natural environment. An angel (Gabriel) touches Daniel. The angel refers to fighting against the spiritual power (evil spirit) over Persia. The angel further predicts the future and reveals to Daniel what has already been declared in Heaven (written in the Book of Truth). Let’s look at the 4 noted phrases:
1 Daniel was in need of being touched by an angelic being. As Christians we cannot simply rely on our own human strength. We are all in need of strength coming from the supernatural world of God. Does Hebrews 1:14 (NiRV) not say: “All angels are spirits who serve. God sends them to serve those who will receive salvation”? Notice it says, “ALL angels”. Isn’t that comforting? Furthermore, the phrase “who will receive salvation” may sound like it only refers to the yet unsaved, but remember we are all still in the process of salvation because our physical bodies are not yet resurrected.
2 The phrase that struck me the most was that Daniel was strengthened by simply receiving the WORDS spoken by the angel! What has more power than Words spoken by God? I do not have enough space to repeat the many references to that from the Word of God, but let me quote one verse, also from Hebrews (1:3 NKJV). Talking about Jesus Who is in the Image of the Father, it reads: “upholding all things by the word of His power”. The Word of God releases and sustains God’s power wherever it resounds. When you feel low, take up the Bible and let God’s Word strengthen you. You will literally feel that encouraging strength the more you read!
3 The angel reveals the future to Daniel when he says “I will return to fight…”. It means the war was not over. Though the current battle had been won (with the help of the archangel Michael), evil resistance will rise up again. Yet, Daniel is promised that Heaven will stay involved. The angel will return to fight again. “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47), and we never have to be victims of evil.
4 Although we may not be privy to what exactly is all written in the “Book of Truth” (is it the Bible? Is it God’s future plans for the earth?), yet we know God knows of every impeding danger! This may refer to the war between Medo-Persia and Greece already recorded in Scripture (Dan. 2:39; 7:5-6; 8:3-8,20-25), but whatever the case, it is sure that mankind’s every step has already been measured by the Almighty!
How can we lose if Heaven is for us? Rom 8:31 (MSG) So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Draw on the supernatural strength of God that is freely available to everyone of us. It just means we have to take the time to “connect” to Heaven, daily.
Be strengthened and encouraged. May the peace of God remain with you all.
Warm regards
from the pastoral office
PS: Going forward, two versions of our weekly Teaching-video will be posted. The one accessible from our website will be in high-resolution, and the YouTube-link sent to you by WhatsApp will be a lower resolution version (using much less bandwidth/data). I will also post an audio-only version for those looking for real data saving.
– – – – – – – – – o 0 o – – – – – – – – –
NB: Please take note of our new Facebook Page:
Here is the link to the new page. It will be populated over time:
https://www.facebook.com/lighthousefgc.randburg
Banking details:
(This is the Lighthouse’s Savings Account.
You can also do deposits and EFT’s into our Current Account)
Nedbank
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Savings account
Acc. No: 2514275563
Br: 151405