Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord!

  

Please click this link for the video version of today's blog :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT749fBnRBc

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

      2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

     Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile. 

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.          **Sing a song to praise the Lord

      

     Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method) 

      https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

**Please click this link to read how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

Today's Time with Abba:  Psalm 140:9-13; Micah 1:1-4:13; Revelation 6:1-17; Proverbs 30:1-4

Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

Key passages:

                 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
    listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.

3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
    he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him
    and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
    like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
    because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
    Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
    a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces;
    all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
    I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
    as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
5 All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.

                                                  Micah 1:1-7; 4:1-5

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passages we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him.

    

The topic I received today from Jesus is:  Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord!

Micah, from southern Judah, prophesied between 750 - 687 B.C. He lived during the same time as the prophets Isaiah and Hosea.  His message was directed mainly to Judah, though part of his revelation also involved Israel. His message was mainly on God's judgment, also stressed God's mercy and salvation.

Micah put forward the sins of both Judah and Israel in Chapter 1 that both of them were spiritually rebellious nations that had abandoned their faith in God which included worshiping false gods, immorality and all kinds of sinful lifestyle.

The prophecy in 1:6 that God will make Israel(Samaria) a "heap of rubble" was fulfilled in 722 B.C., when the Assyrians completely destroyed the city and confiscated all the wealth gained through ungodliness. 

Micah then prophesied that Judah was also guilty and called on certain towns in Judah (1:10-16) to mourn in advance for the destruction that was about to come on them.

The main message was that due to their unfaithfulness, stubborn and rebellious they would be carried away into captivity!

The last chapter, Chapter 4 tells us that after Micah's prophesy against the fall of the ruling classes, priests and prophets, this chapter turns to the hope of the glorious future at the end of earthly history that God will rule over the entire world. God will be honored and worshiped not only by  a unified Israel, but also by all the nations of the world. The mountain of the Lord's temple, Jerusalem, will be the center of God's government. This future kingdom will begin when Christ returns to destroy all evil and to establish His reign on earth.

What I received from Jesus today is an invitation to come and go up. Go up where? Go up to the mountain of the Lord to meet him. It's purely a personal relationship. Why? Let's take a look at the next part of verse 2:

He will teach us his ways,

 so that we may walk in his paths.

We may not have the opportunity for that last day to come.  But, we can go up to the place where Jesus is each day to be a teachable disciple equipping ourselves to be his servants and then walk with him to extend his mighty Kingdom. 

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help us to be able to come to you, go up to you to enjoy the blessing of being a teachable disciple and to be anointed by you to extend your mighty Kingdom. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Reflect on these questions:    

1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?

     2.  What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus, to be holy - that is to do what Jesus wants you to do and not to do what Jesus wants you not to do?

    

    Family Corner:

     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 

     

     You are welcome to join our Monday to Friday 7am-7:30am(Pacific time (Vancouver)) Worship, Devotion, Prayer

    https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3962567042?pwd=4qqbcGJ2zQl3tlTUvus4Qv6g7byZKy.1&omn=88167363288

Meeting ID: 396 256 7042

Passcode: 12345

     

Please click this link to worship with us - 

Open the eyes of heart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViBNqNukgzE&list=RDViBNqNukgzE&start_radio=1

    Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible four passages: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

   For the Chinese version of this daily blog and video, please click this link (中文版請按此連結):

    https://timewithabbaprayinglisteningchinese.blogspot.com

     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link:http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

       My first blog "Devotion on Fire"  was written in English only  (July 17, 2009年7月17日至November 22, 2012年11月22日). Each day one chapter of Bible, from New Testament and then Old Testament. Completed in four months and three years:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/blessings-from-rev-dr-john-stott.html

My second blog "Discipler 123"  was written in both Chinese and English (March 6,2011to December 31, 2016 ):

https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-1-choose-light-away-from-darkness.html

and "Time with Abba" blog and video (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024): 

https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2017/01/1-2017.html

 

 

Connecting Workshop 2025(Session 2)

Bishop Silas Ng on Three Streams

 https://youtu.be/xiSOSFF9Iw0?si=puDWFD9Cx01ADm-o