Niels Prip – Blog

It is a wonderful thing to have the Bible express events in your own life. You may be going thru pain and suffering, and then discover in the Book of Psalms that the writer is going thru a similar thing. If you feel forsaken of God, Psalm 13 expresses the very turmoil of the soul. Feeling that God has forgotten you, and the inner turmoil that you might have to wrestle with. Praying this Psalm gives great comfort!

Just a few days ago a friend and I were in great distress. We were stopped in a line of cars at a red light when a 52-foot semi slammed into us from behind. It was a violent collision totaling the car. In our distress all we could do was to call out to Jesus for help! We were in shock and afraid, I thought it was the end for me. We were taken to the hospital and checked over. I had to have an Xray and CT scan and to my surprise there was nothing broken on either of us. We were given some pain meds and prescriptions and released to go home. There was a lot of bruising that showed up over the next two days, and of course a lot of back and leg pain.

So as I read my Bible today, I turned to Psalm 30. My Bible has this heading- “Thanksgiving For Deliverance From Death”. “I Will extol Thee, O LORD, for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not let my enemies rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to Thee for help, and Thou didst heal me. O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

So today I am thankful to the Lord, for He has kept me alive! I will praise Him this morning, and give thanks to His Holy name.

Dear Children of God,

We have now come to “The Time”- the goal of the world’s history. Already we are in the snare and the trap which is engulfing the whole world. The world is trapped, there is no way out except into God. And one of the most fearful things about it is that many of the children of God are not divorced from the love of the world, and from the things that are in the world.

The most fearful of all times has come upon the world. We are in it, trapped. And no way out except into God. The very word “peace” in the world’s mouth is a lie. But so great are the advantages and wonders of science even now, that it is hard for the children of light to break away from it. We must look at the fact. The time has come when the fate the world, humanly speaking, rests in the hands of a narrowing circle of men. They are imbued with the love of the wisdom of this world. And that love is a fusion into “one mind“. That love is a fusion into “one mind” because it is a spirit. And that spirit and love of the world is a false love, false god, fallen mind working destruction through the most towering exaltations of the wonderful works and wisdom of men ever conceived. The world has passed the point of possibility of return. And it has come to “The Time” when the power to produce the fear of death is within the reach of a group, or a man, by which to shackle the mind of mankind and rule the world. And yet in the midst of it all, the Word of God shall arise forever.

Excerpts form The Meditations in the Revelations -Chapter 2 by Rex Andrews, Zion Faith Homes 1955

It is amazing that Rex Andrews wrote this in 1955!

The advancement in technology in these last days is staggering, especially if you were born before 1980, younger people don’t realize it. God has restrained mankind for many generations and still does to some extent. I am reminded of the verses in Genesis 11:6-9 “And the Lord said, ‘Behold, they are “one people“, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth'”. They were one people, and one mind like Rex Andrews wrote!

Genesis 11:6 “And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” God spoke this over 4000 years ago. We are now in the “The Time” when God’s restraining hand is being removed! God put an end to mankind’s planning and restrained them for many centuries. It says in Genesis that He had to stop them from accomplishing whatever they put their minds to. God limited man’s abilities over thousands of years. In this modern world, God is allowing man to accomplish whatever they put their minds to. Why has He to stopped restraining man? I believe that these are the last days, and God has a purpose to culminate all things! There will be a final conflict in which God and Jesus win.

Daniel 12:1-4 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;^a and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

We are in the time of immense increase in knowledge. Man thinks he is in charge, but it is God who is allowing this all to move forward. We were warned about it in Daniel. Being born in 1950 and raised in the 1950’s and 1960’s, I never could have imagined the technology and knowledge explosion that we see today.

The world is caught in “the snare”! The only escape is into God! It is not too late to turn to Him, but the time is short. We can be in the world, doing His will, and not be of the world.

Psalm 124

Had it not been the Lord, who was on our side, let Israel now say

Had it not been the Lord, who was on our side, when men rose up against us

Then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger was kindled against us

Then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream would have swept over our soul

Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us, to be torn by their teeth

Our soul has escaped as the bird out of the snare, of the trapper

The snare is broken and we have escaped, our help is in the name of the Lord

Who made heaven and earth

Romans 9:22-25, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction; and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”

There is so much that can be said about this verse, but I would like to focus on “the riches of His Glory”. In Gill’s Exposition of the Bible it says “…his glorious riches, the perfections of his nature, his love, grace, and mercy, his wisdom, power, faithfulness, justice, and holiness; all which are most evidently displayed in the salvation of his people”. Those qualities were extended to me when I turned to Him for salvation! God would have been right to show wrath towards me, but He didn’t, He showed grace and mercy.

Many people wonder why God allows so much evil and wickedness in the world. This verse tells that God is willing to show forth His wrath and power on the wicked, but is patient with it, so that He might save more people, that He might show forth His riches to those who are willing to join His company. The wickedness in the world is brought on by men, who do not want to serve God. They give in to the wicked schemes and temptations of the devil, creating havoc in the world.

Many refuse to come to Christ because they can’t serve a God who allows so much wickedness. They do not realize that God’s patience with wickedness, is what allows time for them to turn to Him. If God came and stopped it all, they would not be part of God’s people because they refuse to come to Him. It is in the midst of this wicked world, that God is willing to show forth His mercy, patience, kindness, love grace and faithfulness. It is for our benefit! He is willing to show forth His riches upon all who will turn to Him. His love and kindness is directed toward us, if we will turn to Him.

Those of us who come to Him will be conformed to His image. We will then learn to show forth those same riches to others. We are the vessels of mercy. Judgement on the earth will come soon enough.

2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust”.

Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Many pastors use the internet as a tool for their Sunday sermons. They can get ideas and even outlines to simplify their preaching. I myself use an online Bible. While this can be helpful, there needs to be caution. If they move away from seeking the Lord in private and studying the scriptures in depth for themselves, they move away from getting the unction and the anointing. Acts 6:4 says “But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

We have progressed even further. You can now use AI online to generate a sermon for you. If you want to skip time alone, seeking the Lord, you can. You can tell AI that you want a sermon on a specific topic and that you want it to be four pages long, and it will generate it for you in seconds. This will never be a replacement for seeking the Lord and learning His ways. But we live in an age of convenience. Many will go this route.

Leonard Ravenhill, in his book Why Revival Tarries says the following. ” The tragedy of this late hour is that we have too many dead men in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people. Oh! The horror of it. There is a strange thing I have seen “under the sun”, even in the fundamentalist circles; it is preaching without unction. What is unction? I hardly know. But I know what it is not (or at least I know when it is not upon my own soul). Preaching without unction kills instead of giving life. The unctionless preacher is a savor of death unto death. The Word does not live unless the unction is upon the preacher. “Preacher, with all thy getting-get unction”. This was written in 1959.

The are so many churches to choose from, so many pastors. So many so called prophets. So many online sermons, so many books! So many teachers, so many videos. It is a glut of information, how much of it has unction (anointing)? I urge you to be cautious about what you let into your heart and soul, let all things be judged by the Word. Let us seek the Lord in our closets, otherwise we are in peril. If you are in ministry, devote yourself to the word and to seeking Him thru prayer.

It seems to me that Psalm 119 gives great instruction and understanding to what it means to walk by the Spirit. Spending time meditating and pray-reading this Psalm is of great value to our spiritual lives. I can hardly read a few verses without having to stop and ponder what is being said.

In Psalm 119:81-88, David is lamenting his troubles and the persecution he is under. He is longing for the Lord’s comfort, which is being delayed. Many times we ourselves are under stress, wondering where the Lord is. David acknowledges that the Lord’s commandments are faithful and is asking for help. In verse 85 he says, “The arrogant have dug pits for me, men who are not in accord with Thy law”. His persecution is coming from men who do not follow the ways of the Lord. Men who walk according to the flesh, who are not following the ways of God. In verse 150 David also says “Those who follow after wickedness draw near; They are far from Thy law”.

In contrast, David says this about himself, “Look upon my affliction and rescue me, for I do not forget Thy law”. Also, in verses 44-45 he says “So I will keep Thy law continually, forever and ever, and I will walk at liberty, for I seek Thy precepts”.

There is a huge contrast between those who walk according to God’s law, and those who don’t. Those who walk according to the Spirit and those who don’t. In the Jeremiah 31:33 we are told that ““I will put My law within them, and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”. Brothers and sisters, are God’s laws being written on your hearts? There is no shortcut to making that happen. As David endured his trials, his continual turning to God’s laws and precepts is what kept him.

In my own life, there have been many betrayals. It was Psalm 119 and the Psalms in general that helped me get through it all. In the Psalms, I found David facing the same trials that I was facing. It was unbelievable. We will not be able to make it through unless God writes His laws on our hearts. We need to walk according to His laws and according to His Spirit. It is His Spirit that helps us, may we continue to lean on Him.

I encourage you to read and meditate on the Psalms, pray as you read them. Get them in to your heart.