Monday Morning Scripture (Wk11/2022) – Jeremiah 30:1-17

Freedom From Captivity Promised

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Write in a book all the words which I have spoken to you.

3 For behold (hear this), the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will return them to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they will take possession of it.’”

4 Now these are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

5 “Thus says the Lord, ‘We have heard a terrified voice of panic and dread, and there is no peace.

6 ‘Ask now, and see whether a man can give birth [to a child].

Why then do I see every man with his hands on his [1]loins, as a woman in labor? Why have all faces turned pale?

7 ‘Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; it is the time of Jacob’s [unequaled] trouble, but he will be saved from it.

8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that I will break the yoke off your neck and I will tear off your bonds and force apart your shackles; and strangers will no longer make slaves of the people [of Israel].

9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and [the descendant of] David their King, whom I will raise up for them.

10 ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ says the Lord, ‘Nor be dismayed or downcast, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from a distant land [of exile] and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, and no one will make him afraid.

11 ‘For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you; for I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not destroy you completely. But I will judge and discipline you fairly and will by no means regard you as guiltless and leave you unpunished.’

12 “For thus says the Lord, ‘Your wound is incurable and your injury is beyond healing.

13 ‘There is no one to plead your cause; no [device to close and allow the] healing of your wound, no recovery for you.

14 ‘All your lovers (allies) have forgotten you; They do not seek and long for you. For I have injured you with the wound of an enemy, with the punishment of a cruel and mercilessly foe, because your guilt is great and your sins are glaring and innumerable.

15 ‘Why do you cry out over your injury [since it is the natural result of your sin]? Your pain is incurable (deadly). Because your guilt is great and your sins are glaring and innumerable, I have done these things to you.

16 ‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity. And they who plunder you will become plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give for prey.

17 ‘For I will restore health to you and I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord, ‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying: “This is Zion; no one seeks her and no one cares for her.”’

Jeremiah 30:1-17

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 30:6 The midsection of the body between the lower ribs and the hips.

Lion Bites – Global Prophetic Alliance – You Are My Favourite

The Spirit of the Lord says, “You are my favourite, the one I long to spend every day loving. I do love you. Feel the embrace of my arms around your heart. Taste my kindness, whilst believing the truth that I will never let you go. Tell me that you love me too, fully. I am jealous for your unreserved response to my attention and affection. Love me more than your family and friends.”

“Do not think that your salvation was merely a helping hand from a difficult situation. You were dead in sin, and I have loved you so strongly and with resurrection power to raise you from the deadness of sin. Nothing you do now stops my love. It never has.”

“But I did not save you to give you salvation only; it was to meet with you and walk with you, as at the start in the garden of Eden. There is something for you yet to grasp my loved one: the fulness of relationship with me, heaven on earth.”

Activation: Spend time with Jesus and ask him what he wants you to know of his love today, giving him your full attention.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)

“..that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:16-19 (ESV)

#lionbites

Lion Bites – Global Prophetic Alliance – War for Love

This is a time to war for community, to war for connection, and to fight for the joy and the privilege of loving deeply amongst your kingdom family. Resist the temptation to stay at surface level, to exchange social niceties, and smooth over the cracks.
Are you willing to allow me to heal the places of resistance? Are you willing to let me help you lower your protective walls, allowing me to be your defender?

I am giving you the grace to go deeper in your kingdom relationships, grace to display vulnerability, and grace to embrace the cost of friendship. As you lean on me for my enabling power, I will help you to build a depth of connection and friendship with those I highlight, that will be a source of mutual strength and encouragement in the days ahead.

Activation: Ask the Father if there are particular connections that he is asking you to invest in more. Ask him if there are any friendships that he would like to heal. Ask him if there are any connections that are not for this season.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. . . This is my command: Love each other.”

John 15:12-13,17 (NIV)

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no-one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIVUK)

#lionbites

Gospel Song of the Day – In Love With You

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Matthew 22:37 (KJV)

And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Mark 12:33 (KJV)

We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19 (KJV)

Lion Bites – Global Prophetic Alliance – Eyes off the Tailspin

Take your eyes off the tailspin portrayed to you daily in the media and by the one who feeds you a steady diet of lies. Take your eyes off the chaos which feeds a sense of life being out of control. Where is your hope? Where are you looking for stability?

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 121:1-2 (ESV)

I AM, your source of stability in the unravelling of this world. I AM, the rock on which you stand. I AM, The One who brings you help. I AM, your safe place.

“God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake,

Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.”

Psalm 46:1-3 (MSG)

I am strengthening you, My bride, to stand firm with your head held high, unassailable by the enemy as you put all of your trust in Me. I am removing your fear of the future as you choose to receive the fullness of My love for you. I have made you to be the head and not the tail, the one who forges a way through the days ahead with confidence and with hope. I have made you to be one who declares My hope to those spinning out of control, those caught in the cross winds and whirling in the storm. I have made you to be one in whom I hold out My hand of rescue to those in need of My deliverance.

Activation: Ask Holy Spirit to show you where you have been drawn into the ‘tailspin,’ and allowed fear, panic or anxiety to plant a seed within you. Uproot anything that He shows you and ask Him to give you a fresh revelation of His love for you.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His super-abundance until you radiate with hope!

Romans 15:13 (TPT)

#lionbites

Tuesday Morning Scripture (Wk10/2022) – Acts 11:19-26

Barnabas and Saul at Antioch

19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.

20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

22 Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.

23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.

24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.

26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Acts 11:19-26 (NKJV)

Gospel Song of the Day – Encourage Yourself

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:4 (NKJV)

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:37 (NKJV)

The Truth Shall Make You Free

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

John 8:31-36 (NKJV)