Lovers of money

Jesus said: No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

We are either serving God or “mammon” - the word Jesus used for money when it becomes an idol. When the love of money becomes the core motivator of our lives, we cannot love Jesus as he demands to be loved and served.

Our actions, passions and choices reveal who has our allegiance. Most of us claim to be serving and loving God, but our lifestyles often reveal that we actually love money more. We aren’t serving God in one of the most fundamental ways he requires, namely being faithful stewards of what he entrusted to us. We can’t imagine sacrificially sharing our wealth as God intended, because we love what we have too much, and we want more. Money is really our master and not God! And as Jesus declared, no one can serve two masters. Either we will love one and hate the other or vice versa.

Jesus also said (Matt 6: 28 – 34) : "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Blessed are those who live the simple lifestyle of Christ-like servant hood and righteous stewardship, because they will inherit the glorious wealth of God’s eternal, heavenly kingdom and reign with Christ forever!

Presbyterian Church (UPCSA) celebrates 10th anniversary of Union

We celebrate the 10th anniversary of the union of the former Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC) and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA) during 2009. We became the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) on 27 September 1999. It was the culmination of decades of good intentions and hard work to bring Christians together who share the same teachings, doctrine, church government and history and living in the same countries. into an united spiritual home.

This Union and celebrating it is important, because unity amongst Christians is a central Biblical principle. After all, we believe in “one, holy, universal Church”, because the Bible teaches us that there is only one Body under one Head and King. If Christians sharing the same countries, with the same doctrine, polity, history, vision and mission cannot “live in one spiritual home”, who can?

We celebrate both our unity - and our unity within cultural diversity, as well as diversity of spiritual styles and customs.
Yet Jesus clearly said in John 17 that the unbelieving world will believe that he is Lord and Saviour, if they see that we are one “as he and the Father are one”. This remains our calling - and our challenge.

We are grateful that the Lord thus far protected our Union, in spite of the fact that many practical issues and historical diverse developments and traditions still need to be addressed and resolved.
Let us pray, for the sake of our witness in the world, that we will remain as one and serve the Lord and his Kingdom with fervour, love and passion, understanding his priorities for his work and living according to his principles for his ministry.

Through prayer we will pursue these challenges! Please pray the following prayer with us:

A prayer for the Church of Christ and for the UPCSA, as we remember the “journey of union” this week:

Eternal God, most blessed and most Holy,
before whom the angels veil their faces,
with humble reverence and adoring love
we acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity,
and worship you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God.

Lord of heaven and earth,
we thank you for all the ways in which you have blessed humankind
through the work and witness of your world-wide Church.
We bless you for the teaching of the Scriptures,
for the preaching of your Word,
for the grace of the sacraments,
and for our fellowship in Christ with you and with one another.

We thank your for the holy example of your faithful servants
who have gone before us
and pray that with them that
we may be counted in the company of the redeemed,
when Jesus comes in glory.

In particular we thank you for
the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa,
as a branch of your one, holy, universal Church,
and for the ten years of our union that you have given us
to express the unity of the Body of Christ.

Forgive us, we pray,
for the times when we have not listened to one another
and for all the ways in which we have not, for the sake of our unity,
set aside our prejudices or what our own group prefers.
Set us free from all our failures in the past
and from all our self-importance and pride, we pray,
so that we may more fully express
the oneness of the Body of Christ in the world.

Almighty God, holy Father of us all,
we ask you to provide the UPCSA with all it needs
to grow into the stature of the fullness of Christ:
teachers to educate children in your love and grace,
Ministers to minister in Word and sacrament,
Elders to serve with diligence and integrity,
carers to care for the needy and the suffering,
and places of worship in which to glorify you.
God our Father, you are the source of all truth and peace.

Hear our prayer also for the whole Church of Christ.
Look with mercy on all your people.
Purify our hearts from all hypocrisy, falsehood and prejudice
that, professing one Lord, one faith and one baptism,
all whom Christ calls may be of one heart and one mind
and come to manifest the unity of the Body of Christ to the world,
to the honour and glory of your Name.

We pray for all who spread the gospel,
that through them your Holy Spirit may draw all people to the Father.
We pray for all who do receive the Word,
that they in turn may bear a good witness to your glory.
So guide us by your loving wisdom
that the peace and unity to which you call the family of God
may be realized more and more in our land
and between all people on earth.

Take away from us everything that hinders
the advancement of your truth;
rouse the careless;
turn the wicked to repent;
restore the penitent;
strengthen and confirm the faithful;
protect and guide our children;
comfort and heal the sick and the afflicted
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God, bless Africa:
guard her children,
guide her leaders
and give her peace,
for Jesus Christ's sake.
Amen.

Jesus is alive! Jesus leef!
uJesu u ya phila! Jesu oa phela! Yesu wa hanya!

Worship with gladness!

It has always struck me as amusing how people change when they come to church services. In church they are all solemn and grave. But take these same people to a social gathering or a rugby / soccer match and they suddenly become excited and enthusiastic.

We are emotional people and positive, motivating emotions are good.
In church, we should also be free to be enthusiastic in our praise to God. We certainly should be joyful and happy. There is much to be excited about.

What we as Christians need is a real revelation of the greatness of God and the great number of blessings that he grants his people. We simply are not aware enough of even a portion of the blessings we receive. If we could somehow catch a glimpse of some of the multitude of ways we have been blessed by God, it will blow us away.
And it’s true! We are the most blessed of all people.

We may call the awesome, creator God, our Father. We know Jesus as friend, protector, redeemer and saviour. And his Holy Spirit lives in and with us always! The holy God calls us his own, cares for us and loves us with divine passion.

Pray about it. Ask God to show you how he has blessed you. Ask him to reveal to you the things for which you should be grateful.
Ask him to give you a glimpse of his glory and a glimpse of his love for you. Such a revelation will change the way you worship. Such a revelation will change the way you live.

You will then certainly join the psalmist in singing this song:
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100).

You are the light of the world!

We know what happens in the darkness: you stumble around, you can't see where you are going and you are not sure of where you are. You need light.
This is the condition of people not following Jesus. They are in darkness. They stumble around without hope and without God. And sometimes it is dangerous to be in darkness. What our sin-darkened world urgently needs, is light.

One day Jesus pointed to a group of ordinary people. He said to his disciples – a collection of simple fishermen, tax collectors, and the like – "You are the light of the world."
Matt 5: 4 – 16: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Jesus says God's people, is the light of the "world." He says God's people are to give light to "everyone in the house." He says their light is to shine "before men." The people of Christ’s church must be used by the Lord to lead the world, other people, from darkness into light.

As we all know, even the smallest of lights chases the darkness away. For instance, in complete darkness the flicker of a match can be seen from 30 kilometres. If the light does not shine, it is not because of the darkness. Darkness cannot put out a light. Darkness gets darker only because the light fails. There can be no such thing as secret discipleship, for either the secrecy destroys the discipleship, or the discipleship destroys the secrecy.

I want to challenge everyone associated with this congregation. As a Christian and as a household I want you to find someone who is not a Christian. Maybe it is someone in your own family. Maybe it is someone you work with. Maybe it is a neighbour. Maybe it is someone you have daily contact with. Pick an unbeliever and as a follower of Jesus, or a Christian household, love them with the claims of Christ. Let the light of Christ’s love shine through you.

Jesus combines the light that must be shone with good works that must be done. Many of you have done that. When we go to someone who is hurting or sick or grief-stricken and we love them and support them and enfold them – it makes unbelievers think about what is missing in their lives. They see our love and want to be part of our circle and our Christian family.
Being the light of the world, is to bring people from darkness to light, because the light of Jesus shines through us!

“Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, anoint our lives, our testimony as Christians and the ministries of our congregation, in order to become light to those hurting themselves as they stumble in the darkness without Jesus. Amen.”

A devoted church.

The first church in Jerusalem was devoted to prayer as a way of life and God moved in their midst as a result. (Acts 2: 43).

At one point in his ministry the great preacher, Spurgeon, was distressed by the declining spiritual condition of churches in London. One of the things that was an indication of this decline, in Spurgeon’s mind, was the fact that many churches were meeting as little as twice a week for prayer!
Spurgeon recognized the vital importance of prayer for the success of the local church.

Our church may be suffering because we do not spend enough time doing battle for Christ’s cause, in prayer.

Rom 12: 10 – 12 and 21: 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Like it or not, we are engaged in a battle where we must be faithful in prayer, patient in affliction and joyful in hope, because we are devoted to one another. And we are devoted to one another, because we are devoted to Jesus and to the cause of Christ.

A church serving the Lord with spiritual fervour, is a church where people live out Biblical Christianity and not a place where we only speak of it. This can only we accomplished by a praying community of Christ.

May your devoted walk with the Lord be richly blessed.

Filled with awe... Awesome!

Acts 2: 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. (Acts 2:43)

God was at work in this group of believers. They had been saved by his grace and were now devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer. And their hearts were filled with awe.

Being filled with awe means that we have transcended our earthly view and have caught a glimpse of the eternal glory of the living God. It means that we have caught a vision of God’s greatness, holiness, power, and love. When we see the Lord high and lifted up, we fall at his feet in humble repentance and surrender.

This is the kind of atmosphere where God works in power. We hear of many miraculous signs and wonders going on where God’s people are sharing Jesus and many people are coming to Him. You are blessed when God fills you with the holy awe that comes from seeing him in his glory, and he reveals his miraculous power as you share Jesus with others!

My responsibility in the Church

We need to understand that the Church is all about relationship. You know that the Church is not bricks and mortar, it is people. The New Testament word for Church means "the called out ones." The Church is not a physical building or space. The Church is made up of Christians. The Church is all of us. In the Church, we are related to one another in a vital union of the Spirit.

It is a relationship based on a reflection of who we are in relation to each other.
Rom 12: 3: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

There always is a danger to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. There also is the danger of not thinking of ourselves as highly as we ought to think. There is an ought to our thinking. Our opinion of ourselves ought not to be too high or too low. It ought to be an opinion based on what God has done in our lives and what God’s calling means in our lives. We need to desire for our lives what God’s idea is for us, in stead of the “good ideas” that we have for ourselves.

God’s idea is that we rejoice in his work in and through us. God’s idea is that it is through every believer in the body of Christ that his work gets accomplished.

But we are not the same!
Rom 12: 4 – 5: Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Do you want to know how the Church should function? Take a look at your own body. Every part of your body has a specific function. You have hands that can pick up objects and you have feet that can carry your body as you walk. But your hands or your feet could not do their jobs without being connected to your arms and your legs. You have eyes that see, ears that hear, a mouth that can eat and taste and speak. You have a nose that can smell, ears that can hear. There are many organs in the human body, and they must all work together, guided by the head of the body, the brain.

Paul tells us that the mystical body of Christ, the Church, is like our human body. Each member has a role, a function, a ministry. Each member is necessary and important. Each member is inter-related to each other member. And when we all cooperate together under the leadership of the Head, Jesus Christ, the ministry of the local church is powerful and effective.

Because our various gifts are all necessary and important, there is a certain responsibility we have toward one another. With the responsibility comes accountability. We need one another. When one of us is lazy in our job at church, the ministry of another suffers. We therefore have a responsibility to exercise the gifts and ministries God has given us. That is God’s idea to make the congregation strong and effective!

We are accountable to God about what we have done with the talents he gave us to serve him and each other. We should also hold each other accountable for enhancing our combined work for the Lord and encourage each other. The leg can disable the foot and the arm disable the hand. And my brother or sister can disable me!

Let’s build each other up in faith, sacrificial love and enthusiasm. Let’s serve the Lord joyfully in his church community!

Calm down! Be silent!

There is a precondition to listening to God - or to anyone for that matter. Think about it. You cannot hear if you are busy talking. There is little space for God’s ideas in our minds and thoughts, as long as we are too full of our own good ideas!
For you to hear the Lord, you have to be silent before Him.

The psalmist and prophet Habakkuk speak to this:
(Ps 46:10) "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." and

(Hab 2:20) "But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."

CALM DOWN! BE SILENT BEFORE GOD!

When it comes to listening to God we can say that "silence is golden”. Many people are not comfortable with silence. More people wake up when a sound stops than when a sound starts. Yet, in order to live and serve according to God's idea, we need to be able to listen within the boundaries of silent expectation of personal time with the Lord.

Do you listen and expect to hear the Word of God? Are there enough silent time in your life in which you are listening to him and are you willing to apply his ideas?

Lets create time this week to sincerely pray the prayer in 1 Sam 3: 10:
"Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

Open letter to all Christian men

OPEN LETTER TO ALL CHRISTIAN MEN:
IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE A REAL MAN or
Serving Christ in a masculine way…

Let me start by saying that I do not write this open letter against women or their role and privileges in the church. There must be no doubt in your mind that I fully and completely support women’s role in the contemporary church and their right to serve in every ministry and that I respect, honour and appreciate their irreplaceable feminine contribution towards serving God’s people.

But although God made men and women equal in value and honour, the Bible is clear that God made us different. Men should serve God in a masculine way, because this is God’s way for the guys.

Almost a 150 years ago in speaking on the challenges of being a Christian man, C.H. Spurgeon said, ‘there has got abroad a notion, some how, that if you become a Christian you must sink your manliness and turn milksop’. (Milksop is bread soaked in milk but it also means someone who is a weak and easily frightened man .)

One of the problems among Christian men is a lack of understanding of what it means to be ‘more like Jesus’, as men. We know that we are to grow to be more like Jesus (Col.1:28), and to lead like Jesus (Eph.5:25) in our relationships and responsibilities. The problem is that most Christian men see Jesus more as a feminine type than a masculine one, or as I read in a book this week (No More Christian Nice Guy by Paul Coughlin), the vast majority of Christian men see Jesus as a bearded woman!

Paul Coughlin shows how he learned to say no to the "nice guy" syndrome. After all, Christian nice guys aren't always so nice. In the name of appearing Christian by being agreeable, they can lie, keep secrets, manipulate, duck responsibility, and much more. Using the biblical model of Christ as his example of a real man, Coughlin shows men how to become both gentle and bold. This is a powerful challenge and a hopeful message that elevates the true biblical model of manhood above prevailing views in contemporary culture.

If I ask you to describe the ultimate man, what image comes to mind? For most Christian men, Jesus is not the image that comes to mind. In his book The Heart Of A Tender Warrior, Stu Weber writes, “Why is it when someone says, picture the archetypal male, the image that comes to mind is not one of Jesus? For years, the picture in my mind would not have been Jesus. Every portrait of Jesus makes him look more like a pouting model for shampoo than a man”.

This is sad, but it is true. Our image of Jesus is one of a nice guy, a “milksop”, a sissy, who was always gentle, meek, mild, did not defend what he knew was right, was not a highly motivated provider and would do anything not to offend anyone. This is not a biblical picture of Jesus!

When you turn to the gospels you discover a man who we’re told was born to bring division, and who would be the cause of the destruction and salvation of many people (Luke 2:34; 12:51; Matt.10:34).

You discover a man who spoke the truth and spoke up publicly against hypocrisy calling the religious leaders of his day snakes fit for hell, and decomposing corpses that stunk and polluted others (Matt.3:7; 23:27, 33).
You discover a man who thought his disciples were too slow and let them know about it (Matt.17:17).
You discover a man who threatened judgment to those who were spiritually unfruitful (Luke 13:6-9).
You discover a man who got physical when he saw God’s name dishonoured (Mark.11:15-17).

The Bible’s picture of Jesus is one of a man who openly confronted lies and deception, who spoke the truth boldly, who spoke up against hypocrisy, who spoke judgment, who wasn’t afraid to embarrass those who deserved it, who jealously acted to guard God’s honour, and who wasn’t trying to please everyone. Jesus was no milksop, he wasn’t a sensitive new age guy, and he wasn’t a bearded woman. In fact, in the last book of the Bible, Jesus is portrayed as a divine warrior who initiates God’s final salvation and judgment (Rev.19:11-21)

Yes, we certainly also discover that Jesus was tender and gentle. His strength was matched by tenderness.
His power was matched by gentleness. His masculinity was matched by compassion.

Jesus is portrayed as a powerful and strong warrior who came to save his people (John 3:17; Luke 19:10).
He was a man who invited those tired and worn out to come and find rest in him (Matt.11:28).
He was a man who expressed a desire to gather those who were his, under his wings (Matt.23:37).
He was a man who was truly moved when he saw those who were lost (Matt.9:36).
He was a man who openly wept with others in their loss (John 11:33-35).
He was a man who got down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples to teach them how to serve (John 13:1-15).
He was a man who forgave the sins of others (John 8:1-11; Luke 23:34).
He was a shepherd who bravely laid down his life to save his flock, his people.

Jesus was not “in touch with his feminine side”, no, he shows us that a real, strong warrior, protector and provider, a real man, also is a gentle, tender man with compassion. That it is truly masculine, to care.

To all Christian men, I want to say that God needs both real men and real women to do his work properly.

Women most of the time do not need any encouragement to be strong, nurturing mothers and daughters of the church.
But I am afraid that we guys seem to need encouragement to be strong and brave warriors, protectors and providers in God’s work.

In order to do that, we need to have a biblically balanced view of Jesus.
Unless you as a Christian man have the right picture of Jesus, your masculinity and your understanding of what it means to be a Christian man will be lacking.
Jesus was no a new age mr. Nice Guy. He certainly was no milksop or sissy.

The Bible’s picture of Jesus is that of a strong warrior whose strength was matched by tenderness, whose power was matched by gentleness, and whose masculinity was matched by compassion.

Another secret I want to share with you – your lady will find the real biblical man much more attractive than any milksop!

And in the church – a man according to the image of Jesus will be respected, loved and looked up to by everyone!

A real man loves, protects and provides for his wife as if she is his own body!
And a real man will love, protect and provide for the Bride of Christ, the church, as Jesus loves, protects and provides for us!

When it comes to taking on the challenges in the church – let’s stop being milksops!
And in the face of any evil, slackness, need or threat - be brave!! Fix it!!!

Let’s pray together as one during these demanding times.

I look to the Scriptures for comfort and strength.
I remember the words of Isaiah 50:10: “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.” During every challenging time and when we look for answers and direction, Isaiah tells us to entrust it all to the Lord.

The reason we can trust him with our lives, our circumstances and trust him to overcome the weaknesses and threats that our congregations has to deal with, is because of his ‘Name’. The Lord’s ‘Name’ speaks of his never ending goodness and of his commitment to us. The Lord took an oath by his Name to be our God. The Lord we trust continues to be good and committed to all of us. We know this, because he didn’t spare Jesus to make us his own.

Uphold your congregation and her leadership in prayer, intercede for the leaders, fast for them, and let them know you are walking with them. Let me share a few Scriptures to guide our prayers for each other and for our church leaders during these trying times:

• Pray that the Lord might strengthen our leaders and their faith that God answers prayer. James 5: 16 – 20.
• Pray that the Lord might be their shepherd giving them comfort, and always leading them. Ps 23.
• Pray that as the Lord knows us and our circumstances, they might know that he holds them and continues to guide them. Ps 139: 1 – 3 9,10.
• Pray that the Lord will give them comfort as they come to him for wisdom and answers. Ps 55: 22 and 2 Cor 1: 3 and 4.

As a church community we want to uphold the church and her leaders before the Lord. Not just on Sundays, but in all the days and weeks ahead. As a church community I am asking you personally to pray, and to pray in your small groups, and during your family devotions.

I look to the Scriptures for comfort and strength.
Only through his Word and his Spirit will he guide, protect and keep us. Because Jesus is our help and our salvation.

Beware! Gossip can kill!

The sin of gossip is nowhere better illustrated than in Numbers 12: 1- 15. It warns against its evil power to destroy all kinds of relationships – also in the church of Christ.

The setting for this story is Moses’ marriage to a woman from the land of Cush. Miriam and Aaron disapproved of this wedding because his bride was not an Israelite. But, instead of directly bringing their unease to Moses, they gossiped behind his back about it, attacking Moses’ character as a result of what they considered an inappropriate marriage. The discussion then moved on to assess his leadership and they started to believe that it would be better if they too became leaders in Israel. God’s reaction to this gossip was fierce, swift and violent. He condemned Aaron and Miriam for challenging Moses’ authority and imposed leprosy on Miriam as punishment. Moses intervened and begged God to heal her. Miriam was healed, but only after she was expelled from God’s people for seven days.

What do we learn about gossip from this story?
Firstly, that gossip is a cowardly act. Gossip discusses the victims in their absence, denying them the opportunity to defend themselves. Moses’ marriage to the Cushite was not against the law and Miriam and Aaron never approached him to understand his reasons for it.

Secondly, gossip spreads like decease. Gossip easily develops into a more serious threat to kill relationships. What seemed to be “only Moses’ personal life” ended up in challenging his call by God. Gossip seldom restrains itself but seems to have a life of its own, spreading like mortal cancer against which only God can protect us.

Thirdly, gossip seems to build up the person responsible for the story, by destroying the injured party. Aaron and Miriam wanted to increase their influence by challenging the uniqueness of Moses’ call. Nobody gossips to help the injured party, although it is most of the time fabricated that it is the case. It always has a selfish, evil element to it.

Fourthly, gossip is injury by a perceived friend, relative or spiritual brother or sister! Are you upset when a total stranger insults you? I bet not as much as when someone you love dearly calls you names and question your character and the sincerity of your faith. The same is true of gossip. It is the friendly and trusted person, often close to us, that has the greatest potential to cause hurt, pain and destruction through gossip. It often is the church’s own members that maim and disable her most severely.

Lastly, never forget that God passionately hates gossip. God’s fierce judgment on Aaron and Miriam for their gossip is but one example of how God hates this sin and that it provokes his anger and punishment.
Prov 6:16-19: “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

A congregation is not made up of perfect people. Also not of robots without feelings, but of humans who naturally respond both positively or negatively to the words we utter when we speak to them and when we discuss them behind their backs. Our spouses, friends and colleagues, children and their friends also are mere humans of flesh and blood that easily are hurt and whose lives can be effortlessly destroyed.

A strict word of reprimand cannot do even a small measure of the harm that gossip does. Specifically if it was deserved and really meant to protect against further foolishness or godlessness. If we truly have someone’s best interest at heart, speak directly to him/her, without hypocrisy, while being willing to listen to their side of what occurred and while praying that you act under the guidance of the Spirit and with the love of God!

Selfish, malignant words and gossip have the potential to break people down! Encouragement, education, instruction from God’s word and reassurance can build them up in the Lord!
Psalm 19:14: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

What words will you speak today?

Remain in the grace of God

Acts 15: 7 – 11 says: Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them (the Gentiles) by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us (Jews). He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith…. We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they (the Gentiles) are (saved)."

We believe that both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews, that is to say: us) will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 15:11)

Yes salvation is free! Yet we are called to a Christian journey, one of remaining in the Word and Spirit of God’s grace. This grace progressively sets us free from the power of sin and grows the fruit of the Spirit within us.
It happens over a life time.
And we help each other along the way. We confess our sins daily and weekly and we are encouraged by the forgiveness of God and of each other!

As we grow to know and to love God more every day, we at the same time grow to accept, to forgive, and to affirm ourselves - and others - in ways that set all of us free to enjoy the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The fact that we, “Gentiles” may share in God’s grace was made known through the Lord’s prophets so long ago, as we read in Acts 15: 13 – 17 (NLT):
“…this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:
‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord, including the Gentiles— all those I have called to be mine’.”

May the Lord who called us from darkness to light, sustains and protects us in his grace.

What should I do with my life?

“What should I do with my life?” Many of us ask this question. We ask it when things do not make as much sense as during “better” times, or when we are exhausted, or worried.

The Bible’s answer is that we have to begin with a bigger, more relevant question. If I am a Christian, if I am committed to follow Jesus and love him, my question should be: ”How do I fit into God’s plans?” And “What are God’s plans?”

God is not standing idly by as the world plummets from one debacle and failure into another. God certainly has not deserted our sad and corrupt world, leaving us to see whether we will be able to fix the problems we have created for ourselves and for each other.

God has already revealed his plan to bring an end to all evil. He made the preparations for a new world possible when Jesus once and for all died and rose to save sinners. He continues his preparation by using you and me, his church, to invite the whole world to accept his invitation to join him in overcoming evil by following him as Lord of our lives.
God has set a day when he will bring an end to all wars, all sickness, and every natural disaster. It will be a new world order, ‘the home of righteousness’.

A picture of this future is given to us in Revelation:
“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:3-4)

This perfect peace is what the world is destined for. It is a world where those who share God’s peace will no longer be self-centred, greedy, corrupt and insecure. Instead God will be with his people and he will be their God. He will rule over them perfectly and lovingly through his Son Jesus.

This is the work God is doing right now as the message of Jesus is preached. It is a message of forgiveness and a relationship with God; a relationship that begins now and will last for eternity in God’s new heaven and earth. It begins for us when we submit our lives to the perfect rule of King Jesus.

As Christians, we “show case” the new world, as God transforms us to follow Jesus, to love Jesus and be more like Jesus. You and I are called to “no longer live for ourselves but for Jesus who died for us” (2Cor 5:15). He calls us to live for his kingdom and to live for his future.
According to what Jesus taught, this practically means that serving God’s kingdom will be my highest priority (Matt 6:33).

The better question to ask is: Am I part of God’s plans? How will what I do fit into his plans? And how can I best serve him with the means, gifts, opportunities and responsibilities he has given me today?

To save sinners

On Friday we went to Agulhas, Africa’s most southern point where two vast oceans, the Indian and the Atlantic, meet. It was an emotional experience. It seemed like these three entities are so huge that I cannot form a picture in my mind of what really come together here. Yet they represent only a portion of a medium sized planet in a small solar system. How great is our God in whom an entire universe, time and eternity come together.
I cannot envisage the vastness of 2 oceans and a continent, but God created an entire physical universe and incomprehensible spiritual dominion and holds it all together with his divine love.
This is the love that motivated my salvation and made it possible that he gave his only Son that I will not perish, but have eternal life!

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." This statement from 1 Tim 1:15 sums up the entire ministry and life of Jesus: to save sinners. It explains why God gave his Son. It is the heart of the Christian message: Jesus came to save sinners. It is the most glorious proof of God's love for us. It is the key to understanding everything written in the Bible.

And because we are saved, we live with confidence and hope. We are not alone. We are under no judgment or curse. We are saved from the perils that are the result of our imperfection and disobedience. We are saved from our sins, and because we believe this truth, we have the courage to look forward to being the followers of Jesus, in spite of uncertainties and concerns!

Take heart – Christ Jesus came to us, to save us from our sins and the consequences of our foolishness. Be courageous and enter into a new week with joy and with peace in your heart! Even before we tread the first step into this week – we have been saved from ourselves.

Listening to parents and to God

A few sparrows came to feed on left over bread crumbs after we had our braai-lunch on Sunday. They are so very, very small in comparison to other birds that also came around – shrikes, Cape weavers and so on.
I could not help to remember that Jesus said that sparrows have almost no monetary value – after all, not even the poorest person can squeeze a meal out of one, even 2 of them.
Then the Lord reminded me of his words that his Father in heaven looks after these tiny little sparrows. It was a humbling thought that we were instrumental in God’s hand to feed these few he also looks after. We did not do much of God’s work lately. We did not feed a hungry person and I did not preach Christ’s gospel.
But we did God’s work in feeding a sparrow on his behalf.
It was a humbling, emotional thought. I
It is not for me to decide how big or small the job must be that I do for Jesus today. The mere fact that he calls me to do something, is an immense privilege. It also means that he remembers us. We are still in his employment.
It was a wow moment, because this lesson from our Lord ended with reminding me of the old song about God looking after the sparrow:
His eye is on the sparrow –
And I know, he watches me!

We all know the influence of parents on their children. We say things like:
-"It runs in the family."
-"Like father, like son."
-"He is a chip off the old block."
These sayings all express the truth that children are a lot like their parents.

And yet, parents are the first to admit that each child is unique and different. If there are 3 children in a family, all 3 are different and unique. These differences within a family are also to be found when it comes to Christianity. Within the typical Christian family, all the children receive the same upbringing: all are disciplined the same way, all are sent to Sunday School regularly, all sit through 18 or more years of family devotions. And yet, some grow up to be faithful, solid church members and others drift away soon after confirmation. Why do some of our sons and daughters follow Jesus and love him and others do not?

We are looking at this from a human perspective. We know that people are saved by God by grace, through faith. But let’s today limit ourselves to the question of what we see on the part of men and women that determine that some follow Jesus and others leave the ways of the Lord.

High priest Eli’s own sons Hophni and Phinehas and Samuel, Hannah’s son raised by the high priest, received the same upbringing. Yet Scripture tells us that Hophni and Phinehas treated the Lord's offering with contempt (1 Sam 2:17) when they, in their greed, took the meat that belonged to the Lord for themselves. In talking about these young men, Scripture has nothing good to say. We are told they were wicked (2:12), they sinned against the Lord (2:25), they made themselves contemptible (3:13). And, we are told it was the Lord's will to put them to death (2:25).

As it so often does, the Bible presents a contrast. In contrast to the wickedness of Hophni and Phinehas is the service and ministry of Samuel. Four times we are told that Samuel "ministered before the Lord" (2:11,18,35; 3:1). We are told that he slept in the tabernacle, beside the ark (3:3f). He wore a linen ephod and robe (2:18), in other words, he served as a personal servant of the Lord. Furthermore, we are told that Samuel "grew up in the presence of the Lord" (vs 21). We are also told: (1 Sam 2:26) And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favour with the LORD and with men. Both the Lord and the people were fond of Samuel!
These very same words many years later described the childhood of Jesus.
Why do some children follow God's ways and others do not? Why are some Christ like, and others are not?

Hophni and Phinehas did not fear the Lord. The Bible tells us "they had no regard for the Lord" (2:12), they did not know the Lord, even though they knew about him. Samuel, on the other hand feared the Lord, knew the Lord and served God with joyful obedience.

We have to carefully distinguish between knowing about a person and actually knowing that person. All in South Africa know about Madiba, yet few can call Nelson Mandela a personal friend. Hophni and Phinehas knew about the Lord, but the Lord was Samuel’s life long friend. That made the difference.

Samuel listened to Eli and to God. Hophni and Phinehas only listened to their sinful hearts. Samuel was saved and the other two died without reconciling with God. That made the difference. Not so much the upbringing, but the willingness to listen and to obey. And personal friendship with God.

Are your children truly friends of God? Do they love Jesus? Do both people and the Lord grow more fond of them every day? That will make the difference.

Do you follow Jesus? Do you worship sincerely, with joyful obedience and authentic prayer? Do you find the greatest joy in doing the work of God.
Do you listen to the voice of God? Do you know him as a friend.

May the voice of God both comfort and excite you!

Jesus keeps watch over us

There are some old favourite stories which are told only once in all four gospels,
such as the story of the Good Samaritan, told only once;
the story of the Prodigal Son, told only once;
the story of the Sheep and the Goats, told only once.
These are favourite, great stories but they are told only once in the Gospels.

But the story about the five loaves and two fishes is not told merely once, not twice, not three times, but four times.

Now, why is this story told over and over again?
I believe that this story is such a favourite, because it captures the truth, the essential truth about Jesus and the essential truth about God. It tells us that Jesus is more than a prophet. It tells us that Jesus is truly and surely the Messiah - our Saviour.

From this story about Jesus feeding the 5000 and Jesus walking on the water, we can therefore be assured that Jesus is in fact the Messiah.
We can also rest assured in the knowledge that,
first of all, Jesus is always there for us.
secondly, that Jesus is the one who provides for us, and
thirdly, that Jesus keeps watch over us.

Be blessed, safe in the care of Jesus!

Have you given your children to Jesus?

We learned last week that we must passionately pray for leaders, because our Christian leaders should be asked of God and called by God. This was the case with Samuel.

Samuel’s parents also had their part to play in preparing Samuel for the leadership of God's people. What did they do? Before Samuel was born, Hannah swore an oath to the Lord:
(1Sam 1:11) And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."

Hannah wished to dedicate her son as a Nazirite. Nazirite vows were very strict: to abstain from the use of wine and strong drink, refrain from shaving the head and beard, and avoid contact with corpses (Num 6). Hannah was offering her son as a Nazirite, in a lifelong special dedication to the Lord’s service.

In obedience to her vow, Hannah presented a 3 or 4 year old Samuel to Eli the high priest, to live in the tabernacle. "I give him to the Lord," she said.
How many of us, like Hannah, dedicate our children or grand children to God’s, faithfully praying for them and giving them the appropriate example, by ensuring that they are faithful in Sunday School and Teens Church and not keeping them out of Sunday School for unacceptable, shallow reasons?

How many of us give our children to the Lord? How many of our youth are even willing to consider to follow Christ and consider to serve Jesus full time?

Many Christian parents and grand parents no longer hold Christian ministry as an ambition for their children. Instead, they bring them up to have a piece of the secure, materialistic, prestigious world. But, what more secure future could we want for our children than to give them to God! Only Jesus can guide and keep them.

Families used to point with pride to sons and daughters who became ministers or missionaries. Now, parents rather are proud of sons and daughters who make lots of money. Yet, no career is as exciting, as important and as life-changing as Christian service and ministry. For in Christian service and ministry we deal with matters of eternal significance that effect people for eternity.

If we passionately pray for Christian leaders as we should do, we must put our money where our mouth is and dedicate our sons and daughters to God through prayer, example and upbringing.

"I give him to the Lord," says Hannah. "For his whole life he will be given to the Lord." How I wish every parent would say this. And, how I wish everyone of our youth would demand this.

God invested in you!

Knysna and the garden route are international tourist destinations. Big and small enterprises both depend mostly on local and international tourism for economic survival.

In this environment the global economic slowdown is a lot more visible than at home. During previous visits more people spoke other languages at tourist destinations than English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. German speakers favour this destination and businesses are focussed on providing for the German speaking market.
But, where have all the tourists gone? They stay home as a result of the economic slow down in Europe.
What is really sad, is that it is obvious that the small local enterprises find it harder to survive. Big conglomerates hang on, holding their breath, while waiting for the market to be revived. The small guy may not last that long. The result is that the small number of customers that do visit the Garden Route at the moment, are more often not serviced by local entrepreneurs, and utilise the offer of the corporate sector which is stronger in marketing and sales skills.

During this time of economic woes, one cannot help to remember the words of Jesus when he used financial investment as an example of our calling to make the most of what God invested in our lives. This is the parable about the 10 servants who each received one mina, a valuable coin, to invest for their master. Some earned 10 and 5 minas more. One man kept it laid away in a cloth. The master’s investment did not earn any interest in his case.
About this man, Jesus said: (Luke 19: 26) "'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away”.

In this parable a servant is punished, because he did nothing with the treasure he was given.
This servant represents the people who received the gospel message and God’s blessings and it has not changed them even one little bit!
And they have not shared God’s investment in their lives with others and did not use their blessings to expand the Kingdom of God. Their shareholding in God’s work remains vulnerable and without dividend and when the day of judgement comes, they will not hear the Master’s word of approval. For those who earned Christ no interest on his investment in their lives, the judgement day is a daunting prospect.

But to those who made the most of God’s investment in their lives, will also be given the share of the unfaithful servants – their share of eternal glory. Those who truly work with the Big Entrepreneur of the Kingdom of God, those who use their given salvation, spiritual gifts, church membership, Bible knowledge, access to God’s throne in prayer and ability to give to advance the Kingdom of Christ, will certainly hear the Master say: Well done good and faithful servant. They have been changed into godly entrepreneurs by God’s work of grace.

Christ has invested his life, his death, his blood, his power and his Spirit in you!
What interest has he received through your life, your service and your witness?

Be blessed when you are changed by God’s goodness and grace into someone who is making the most of every opportunity given to you in Christ’s cause on earth. When the last day comes, you will remain standing and you will be given Christ’s glory for all eternity!

Asked of God and called by God!

In 1 Sam 1 we read of the pain and agony of Hannah, an infertile woman desperate for a child. We are told about the mocking she received from her husband's other wife. We are told how she went into the tabernacle, and proceeded to pour out her bitterness and anger to the Lord and prayed passionately, even desperately, for a son.

The Lord wasted no time in answering Hannah's prayer. Within a year a boy was born. Hannah named him "Samuel," saying, "Because I asked the Lord for him." The name "Samuel" means "asked of God". This Samuel who was asked of God, was also called by God. In presenting the boy to Eli, the high priest, Hannah could say,
(1Sam 1:27) I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

Why did the Lord answer Hannah's prayer and granted Hannah's request for a son? At first it appears that her prayer was selfish and self-centred. She wanted a son to take away her disgrace, to quiet her rival, and to ensure her place in the covenant community. But remember, she also was willing to give this son back to God’s service, let him stay in the tabernacle and allow him to learn to know the voice of the Lord.

Never forget the setting of a Bible story. The time of this story is the days of the Judges. It was a wicked and infamous time in Israel's history. The book of Judges ends with these daunting words:
(Judges 21:25) In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
What was needed in the days of the Judges is the same thing needed today: God-fearing leaders through whom only God rules and leads his people.

God gave Hannah a son, because Samuel was going to be the Lord's anointed leader, filling the need for godly leadership amongst his people. It is through Samuel that the Lord would carry on his work amongst his chosen people. It is through Samuel that the Kingdom of God would be served and the rule of God would be established.

Samuel, the future leader of Israel, was asked of God and called by God. That same pattern should be found in the church of Christ today.

"What we need are good leaders," we often say and pray.
We need people who are all the time praying for good leaders, like Hannah prayed for a son. We need people praying with Hannah’s passion. We need people praying to God for leaders like Samuel – asked of God and called by God. We need to pray that the Lord will call leaders through whom only God rules and leads the church in his ways and paths.

A God-led church is a glorious treasure and comfort.
A God-led church is served by leaders begged of God and called according to his purpose.

Listen when God warns you!

If I tell you that a Knysna Lourie visits a big tree in front of our chalet more than once a day and that double collared sunbirds (suikerbekkies) enjoy the nectar of the flowers of the same tree all day long, you know that we are not in Jeffreys Bay anymore. We since Saturday stay in Knysna, the gateway to the big forest on the garden route, one of the most beautiful natural gardens in our country.

On Friday, the day before we left Jeffreys, our car gave us warnings of two problems that we should attend to. They could be easily and at very low cost be fixed, but if we ignored the warnings, we would have had a most inconvenient and costly problem to resolve. Listening well to what the car showed us, helped us to avoid catastrophe. I thank the Lord for these warnings he helped us to recognise, and for his provision in everything we do and wherever we go.

God warns us way ahead of time of the dangers in our spiritual life as well as of the challenges for his church. It always was the case. In the days of Amos the prophet, God said through his servant:
Amos 3: 6 and 7: When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

But we must listen when we hear and see that God reveals his plan, we must take the action God’s wisdom shows us and be prepared. Nothing is impossible to God, who will provide in our every need, even when dangers prowl.
We always must give our best and our all to God. When the day of the Lord comes, we will be prepared to heed his warning and triumph in his Name and by his grace and mercy. Our God gives wisdom as much as he gives warning.

May you be blessed when you serve God wholeheartedly, responding to his revelations and conquer through his omnipotent power! Be prepared to receive the Lord’s solution on the day of danger and attack, by giving him your best and giving him your all.

How great is your God?

We see God's glory in the wonders of creation.

When you visit the coast you see the most glorious sunsets. As the sun dips into the ocean, action on the beach seems to stop. Most people fall silent. Conversations become hushed. Children stop running. Balls are not thrown. All eyes turn to the sun until it dips below the horizon. Silence reigns. The silent splendour of God's sunset over the ocean works its magic in our hearts. The very colour of the sea seems to change minute by minute. After the sun slides behind the sea and everyone returns to his or her activity, you go on your way, with this verse on your lips: "O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Ps 8: 1 and 9)

God's glory shines above the heavens and below the heavens. Yesterday we were speechless when visiting the world heritage site, Baviaanskloof. The fine arrangement and beauty of mountain, river and unique ecology shown in the abundance of vegetation only found here, show the skill of the heavenly Artist. The immense grandeur of one of the gardens designed by the eternal Gardener himself, demonstrates the incomprehensible greatness of God. It enthuses gratitude. It inspires thanksgiving.

God's name is not simply crowned in our hearts; it is majestic in all the earth. Many small and seemingly unimportant things reveal the greatness of God. Each little flower that opens and each little bird that sings proclaims the glorious majesty of God. Every special relationship - a mother and her baby, a couple in love, a hand reaching out to a friend, reminds of the glory of the Lord.

David starts and ends Psalm 8 the same way, with words of praise to God:
(Ps 8:1 and 9) O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

God's name stands for God's person, God's being, and God's attributes; they are all majestic. "Majestic." In the Hebrew language, this word tells us that God is the incomparable, omnipotent God.

We believe in, and adore, one living and true God, who is Spirit, personal, infinite, and eternal, present in every place, the almighty Author and sovereign Lord of all; most blessed, most holy, and most free; perfect in wisdom, justice, truth and love; to us most merciful and gracious; unto whom only we must cleave, whom only we must worship and obey. To Him be glory for ever. (Art 1 of the 24 Articles of Faith).

We hear this message in all the pages of Scripture all the time:
(Ex 15:11) "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you--majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

(1 Sam 2:2) "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God."

(Jer 10:6) No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

God is majestic. He is majestic in power, in splendour, in glory, in works, and in holiness. He is incomparable. There is no other god like the Lord God almighty.

For King David, the majesty of God is especially evident in his vast and wondrous creation. David looks at the sun, moon, and stars, David looks at the birds, fish, and animals and David looks at man. He sees all that God has made and he says,
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Tell everyone!

Jeffrey’s Bay is known for many things. It is known for good weather, for great waves to surf – and for its abundance of see shells on the beach. The latter became a job creating resource. Some harvest the shells very early every morning. They sell it to people who clean them and then make beautiful ornaments to be sold to tourists. And then there are many, many, selling the final product. You meet them every day. They approach everyone. They do not skip a soul. They see a prospective customer in every car, and on every bench. They have tenacity and they are not shy. And I believe they have to be successful, for they never stop.
How great it would be if we Christians had the same persistence when offering Christ to the world. If we stopped thinking that we know who the people are who will respond to the good news, and who will not.

They make me think of the well known parable that Jesus told, and explained, about the sewer and the seed, in Matthew 13. This story is about the fact that we are all different kinds of soil in the receiving of the Word of God. It also teaches us something very important about the one who sows.

According to this parable Jesus knew that there are some people who are like the soil on a hard path. The Word hardly gets there, and it is gone. They don’t seem to have the ability to respond to the Word of God.

Some of the seed falls on shallow soil. The parable is talking here about shallow people. You know you’re shallow when you only have two items on the agenda: pleasant and unpleasant, what I like to do and what I don’t like to do. I avoid what I don’t like to do, and I do what I like to do. That is shallow. Shallow is someone who never reads anything spiritual, never contemplates anything or responds in any way to God’s Word. There is not going to be any fruit for God’s cause in their lives.

Sometimes the Word of God falls among the weeds. These are people who are too busy to fruitfully absorb the Word. There are too many plants in their lives. They have said yes to too many things. They had a sense of priorities once, but they lost the list, and now it is a matter of only doing something where the most pressure is felt. They never really take time to nourish their spirit, to pray, to read Scripture, to think about life and relationships, to pause and thank God for his blessings and to worship God with his people. There is some fruit in their lives, but it is deprived and undeveloped. It cannot nourish anyone.

Then there is the good soil. These are the genuine, truly humble, serving Christians. They live in the same world as others, have the same friends, work at the same places, yet there is something different about them. They love, they care, they go, they do, and they give. And if you were to list all the good things they do, they would be embarrassed.
What made them so different? It is in taking time to attend to their spiritual life and to God. They nourish their relationship with God. They feed it, talk to their souls about it, praying about being good soil. Attending to God’s Word nourishes, grows your relationship with Jesus and determines who you are. It makes the seed grow 30, 60 and 100 fold.

But this parable is about more than who we are. It is also about Jesus, the sewer who tells us in this parable that in his ministry he scattered the seed on every kind of soil. He did not only sow on good soil. He tells us that he gave each and everyone the chance to receive the seed and the chance to let it grow.

It would be a terrible mistake to give up on people, because we decided that they were too hard, too shallow or too busy to receive the Word! The fact is that we do not know whether there will be any growth. So let us not be selective. Indiscriminately scatter the Word of God and do not try to predict what the result will be, because we do not know.
It is Christ sowing the seed through you and me. And we do not know where the seed will grow. All we know is that we believe that people can change by the power of God’s Spirit.

You do not have to trust your own gift of sowing. Trust the seed, which is nothing less than Christ given to people by the Holy Spirit. He is given to you, your family, your husband, your wife, your parents, your children, your friend and your neighbour.

If you believe that, you will be blessed as you remain busy with God’s farming. Persistently sow Jesus everywhere. Approach everyone. Do not skip a soul. See a prospective Christian in every car, and on every bench. Have tenacity and don’t be shy. And God will carry on using his church to save the world.

Wait upon the Lord

When we arrived at Jeffreys Bay on Saturday, the town was exceptionally busy. In spite of the fact that the sea was as smooth as the Vaaldam on a windless day, there were surfers wherever you went. The guest house opposite the home where we stay, was as busy as a beehive. It’s a place where surfers hang out. Many were socialising, killing time in various ways. They did not look nervous or frustrated. They were waiting for the waves to return.
It was only on the news on Sunday night that I heard that an important international surfing event was taking place here, but that there was no progress, because there were no breakers! The who ’s who of South African surfing as well as the champion surfers of the world are in town. Waiting patiently.
On Monday morning the wind and the breakers returned. The event could continue. All of a sudden the guest house, the ice cream parlour, clubhouse and the shops were empty. The games began.
But on Monday afternoon it started raining. The bakkies with the surfer slogans and posters returned to the guest house. More unplanned parties were enjoyed. The waiting game started all over again.
Tuesday turned out to be a perfect day for the surfers.
We also, for the first time ever, went to watch an international surfing event, and I now have a better understanding of why they are able to wait so patiently. It is part of the game plan to make sure that you get the breaker that will give you the opportunity to win, to be a champion. If you just “jumped” onto the first wave that comes along – you could spoil your chances completely.
What they came to do was important enough for them to continue waiting for. Their focus, enthusiasm and ambition (and desire to win the enormous amount of prize money!!) enabled them to wait for the right time, weather and circumstance. In the water that same patience is rewarded with a better chance to be a winner.
These are people who will not allow their concentration to be disturbed by less than perfect conditions.
These are people who are determined to create their own opportunity by being patient.

Christians are infamous for their intolerance with God’s timing. They want to have perfect answers to instant prayers, immediately. They often blame God for having to wait. They time and again loose interest and focus when there is no wind driving their faith ships or when stormy weather interferes with their plans and desires.
We Christians can learn a lot from the surfing fraternity.

Jesus, on the other hand, spent a lot of time waiting on his Father. He often went into retreat to find answers, strength, and patience. In order to be able to do this, Jesus made certain that he had time to pray. There are four important words about this in Matthew 14:22: "Jesus dismissed the crowd."

This was not just any crowd. This was about 10,000 people who had heard Jesus teach, had seen him heal the sick and had watched him produce enough food miraculously to feed them all. This was a crowd ready to make him a king. But Jesus dismissed them! Why? We read in verse 23: "After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray."

Jesus said no to a buzzing, excited crowd, an excellent opportunity, in order to say yes to an even better one. It was a deliberate choice to honour his priorities. Jesus' first responsibility and main concern was not to satisfy his scores of excited fans, but to wait faithfully on his heavenly Father until “his hour has come”, as he often said.

On another occasion Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek." This word "meek." used in the Bible is the same word used to describe a wild stallion that has been trained for the saddle. It means power under control, strength with direction, ready to get going, yet being disciplined, focussed – and waiting. This saying really says “Blessed are the focused, those who know their priorities and honour them and wait upon God for the wind to turn and the breakers to come back.”

Jesus most of the time served the crowd diligently. But he did dismiss them when he had to do something of greater importance – like having fellowship time with his heavenly Father, waiting on his perfect timing.

When the perfect breakers come, we must be able and ready to surf them like champions.
Will we, in spite of waiting long, when God’s time comes still be focussed, calm and determined enough to accomplish his will?
Are we patiently disciplined when it comes to waiting upon the Lord?

Father, Thy will be done… Amen.

The battle belongs to the Lord

Israel and the Philistines were at war - again! They arranged their forces on opposite sides of a valley. This made it risky for either army to begin an attack. By descending one slope, crossing the valley floor and its stream, and climbing up the other side, the attackers would make themselves vulnerable. The result was a stalemate; neither army dared to leave its position.

It was Goliath who provided a solution. He boastfully challenged anyone in Israel to a one-on-one confrontation. This encounter would decide the battle and the war.

The most important detail that the Bible gives us about Goliath is not his size, his armour or his challenge to Gods people. The most important detail is given in the word "defy." This word means "to treat with contempt or ridicule." Goliath defied "the armies of the living God" (1 Sam 17:26). He treated God with contempt. He mocked the Almighty.

But God had chosen David to be his servant. Bound up in David is the power of God, the honour of God, and the glory of God. Advancing towards the giant is David, God's chosen instrument to overcome an enemy who defied him.

David answered Goliath's challenge, because the LORD was with him. Victory and defeat was in the hands of the LORD. Not in the hands of David or his ridiculous “weapon” – a sling and a stone. It was God who defeated Goliath - not David or his sling.

David’s victory made a statement to the Philistines, the Israelites and to us: that the name of the LORD is sufficient to strike the strongest enemy to the ground. The battle belongs to the Lord (1 Sam 17: 47), and the Lord will give his enemy into our hands, however insufficient our defence may be.

To save us from every enemy, God once more has a chosen instrument – it is Jesus Christ, his eternal Son. God still defeats the enemy without sword or spear. He still uses what seems completely inadequate to save us. Of all things, God uses a cross and a grave, a crucifixion and a resurrection.

He uses what seems to be weak, to put the strong to shame.
He uses his Son, dying on the cross and arising from the grave, to defeat the powers of darkness. As always, the battle belongs to the Lord.
As always it is not our weapons that make the difference – it is God.
Because the battle belongs to the LORD, and so does the victory.

Be blessed when the Lord, through his almighty Christ, conquers his enemies through you, today!

The Church - the holy Temple of God (2)

1 Corinthians 3: 16 and 17: Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

When Paul calls the church God's temple he reminds us of the exciting truth that his Church is where God lives amongst his people, that the church is indwelt by the Spirit of God and that God’s church is the body of Christ. This means that the congregation is holy, set apart, reserved for God and his use - sacred in God’s service. It isn't a building or a place that is holy. It is a people, a congregation of believers, that is holy. "You yourselves are God's temple and ... God's temple is sacred."

A warning follows from this truth.
Paul says, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him." Destroying or wounding the body of Christ is a serious offence in both the Old and New Testaments. God does not tolerate the destruction or wounding of his holy temple. In the Old Testament the penalty for defiling the sanctuary was either death (Lev 15:31) or excommunication (Numbers 19:20). God is no less jealous of his spiritual temple, than he was of the sanctuary built with wood and stone in the Old Testament.
Paul says, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him." This is a twofold promise: a promise to eventually punish those who damage the church and a glorious promise to safeguard his church.

The temple of God can be wounded and destroyed from without and within.
From without we think of persecution, of attacks against the people of God. Think of Pharaoh. It was his intention to wound or even destroy the people of God. He turned them into slaves. He killed their baby boys.
Think of the Pharisees and how bitterly they attacked the Christ and his church. After the Ascension the apostles and followers of Jesus were persecuted and killed and during the first 350 years of the existence of the church more members were martyred than those who were not.

We bear the torch that flaming
Fell from the hands of those,
Who gave their lives proclaiming
That Jesus died and rose.
Ours is the same commission,
The same glad message ours,
Fired by the same ambition,
To God we yield our power.

O Father who sustained them,
O Spirit who inspired,
Saviour, whose love constrained them,
To toil with zeal untired.
From cowardice defend us,
From apathy awake!
Forth on Your errands send us
To labour for Your sake.

But, the church is not only attacked from without, but also from within. This is where Paul wants us to focus our attention. There are so many ways that those within the church can wound and destroy the Body. All that we have to do is look at the church in Corinth. She was being destroyed and wounded from within by divisions, by fights, quarrels, spiritual pride, unfaithfulness, impurity, neglect of duty, being followers of men, rather than followers of Jesus, teaching what people want to hear, rather than the inspired Word, and many other evil ways.

Imagine that we had a wedding, with a bleeding, wounded bride. What a mess. The families were seated. The groom and his attendants were in their places. I was waiting at the front, Bible in hand. The bridesmaids and flower girl had come down the aisle. René began to play the wedding march on the organ, and everyone stood. We could not believe our eyes. The bride came limping down the aisle. Her gown was ripped and covered with mud. One eye was purple and swollen. Her hair was a mess. She had been fighting with her sisters and brothers again.
We all thought to ourselves, "Doesn't the groom deserve better than this?"

This didn't really happen, of course. It is but a parable of what happens when Christ's bride, the church, has quarrels and divisions. A church divided brings shame upon the Lord. A church divided, wounds and destroys the Body.

God always protects and preserves his church from those who attack her, whether from within or without. God does not tolerate her destruction.
Instead, by God's grace and power, we are to build her up. We can live at peace, instead of having fights and quarrels with fellow Christians. We can walk by the Spirit instead of falling from sin into heresy. We can study the Word. By God's grace and power, we may add to the glory of God’s church through missions, evangelism, and witnessing. By sticking together, believing and serving.

The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation by water and the Word;
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride,
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life - He died.

Love one another...

If we do not have a personal relationship Jesus, we can do nothing good!

As we look around our congregation, we see people whose lives reveal Jesus' glory! Their witness strengthens our faith. We are strengthened by them and they by us, and together we reveal Jesus' glory and as we reveal his grandeur, we help others to believe in him.

In the "true vine" context, Jesus says, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch (of the vine) cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them, bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).

The fruit that Jesus speaks about is revealing his love through our love for each other as his children, thus sharing his joy with a sad, lost world.
In John 15: 10 – 11 Jesus says: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Our personal relationship with Jesus results in the fruit of love for each other and complete joy in his service. In this way we reveal his glory to others and then they will believe that he is the answer, the Saviour, the true source of life and hope, of meaning and fruit.

If we really want to honour Jesus, this is how we do it: by loving one another. When we do, people will look at us and see Jesus and understand his message - and believe, take heart and give him glory! Only then our discipleship is complete.

The holy Temple of God on earth

1 Cor 3:16: Don't you (plural) know that you yourselves (plural) are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you (plural)?

Paul's message is: the church, the congregation of believers, can also be called the temple of God.

"You yourselves are God's temple." There are two words that Paul could have used for "temple." One which includes the entire temple area and structure on Mount Zion in Jerusalem and the other, the word that Paul uses here, that speaks of the sanctuary itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. The sanctuary is where God lives: his Name, glory and his power are present here.

The church is God's temple. But what does this mean? This tells us three things about the church and therefore about us, his people.

Firstly, this tells us that the church is where God lives. She is his sanctuary. In her is present his Name, his glory and his power. From here comes God's disclosures of who he is - to us and to the world. The church is where God has his home on earth and where men and women enjoy his presence.

Secondly, this tells us that the church is indwelt by the Spirit of God. The Bible teaches us that where God's Spirit is, there is the temple. That's why Paul can say, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you" (1 Cor 3:16). A church indwelt by the Spirit is a church filled with gifts and fruit, that grows, increases and matures.

Thirdly, this tells us that she, God’s church, is the body of Christ. More than once Jesus identifies the temple with his body. That is why Paul can say elsewhere that with Christ she suffered, with him she died, and with him she was raised. And, someday, with him she, his church, will be glorified.

The church is God's temple. And God's temple, says Paul, "is sacred." God's temple is holy. God's temple is special, set apart, consecrated, not used for ordinary things. The congregation, the followers of Jesus, the Body of believers, is holy, set apart, reserved for God and his use.

But many don't believe this. They want to believe that if anything is holy, it is a place, or a structure or at the most, an organisation.

But it is a people, a congregation of believers, that is holy. "You yourselves are God's temple and ... God's temple is sacred." The church, the people living in the Body of Christ, belong to God. She is his dwelling place and she is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

And God does not tolerate her destruction. Instead, by God's grace and power, we are to build her up.

How do we do that? We can encourage and contribute, instead of criticize and take away from her beauty with the words we use, the thoughts we have and the attitudes we display. We can walk and live by the Spirit instead of falling from one sin into another. We can keep faith with each other, instead of breaking our promises. We can listen to the Word instead of following error and heresy.

So tell me, are the way that you live in the Body of Christ break her down, or build her up? Do you destroy or do you build up the holy church of Jesus?

Prayer: Dear Lord – thank you for the privilege to live in the Body of Christ - here on earth and for all eternity. Make me, by your Spirit, a builder and a beautifier of your church - in Jesus Name. Amen.

Why does God wait so long?

Why do you think God often waits before answering our prayers, keeping us in the storms of life for a while, before he answers our prayers? . Why does he wait until there is humanly speaking no hope or solution for a crisis?
The Bible doesn't tell us. But we do know that God is a God of perfect timing. He waits until just the right time so that we can learn, grow , come closer to him and during this time be educated for our place and roll in his community.

We see this with the Israelites in Egypt. Why did God wait for 300 years before taking His people out of Egypt? He waited until they realized that God was their only hope. He waited until just the right moment.

Deut 8:2-3 and 5 explains this in detail, saying: Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (3) He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (5) Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

The direct route from Egypt to Palestine would take only eleven days by foot. But God took the Israelites a way which took over 40 years.

God waits until just the right moment, because God is teaching us humility and discipline. He is making us more and more into his image and likeness. He teaches us that man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord!

Were you yesterday in church to be fed on the words from the mouth of the Lord!
Will you make time for personal devotions today, and every day, to be fed on the words from the Lord?

May you be blessed when you learn the life changing and life supporting value of personal time with God and of time with God in fellowship with his Church!!

Tip#6 on Quiet Times: Keep it up, maintain it and put it into practice!

In this, our final devotion about meaningful personal devotions, or quiet times, lets encourage each other to maintain this valuable source of Spiritual motivation and growth. Lets always continue to do this, not forgetting what we heard from God, but while keeping it up, also put into practice what we learn from our God.

James puts it in these words:
James1:23-25: 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

Its easy to deal with our fellowship with God in the same way as someone who looks into a mirror, only to immediately forget what he or she looks like, because we (hopefully) never had the intention to live our lives according to that mirror image. But when we look into God’s mirror during our personal devotions, we need to apply what we see during our daily “spiritual make over”, our quiet times.

1) What we have learned from God about whom we are, what we should be and where we should go, by looking intently into his perfect will for our lives, we must do and apply. This will be the source of our blessings and of accomplishing God’s purpose for us.

2) All relationships have an impact on us. It either makes us depressed and anxious or it motivates us, brings us joy and provides us with the emotional energy with which to continue our lives. As relationships grow and become more intimate and important to us, we depend more and more on them, learn from then and are motivated by them.

Our quiet times bring about a closer and more meaningful relationship with our God. As we worship, listen, pray and learn, we become more dependent on God to live purposeful and satisfying lives. We become dependent on our special, personal time with God. Eventually we will not be able to imagine taking on life’s challenges and our calling, without our exceptional times of fellowship with God.

3) But then we must understand the importance of concentration, discipline and perseverance. We must in a disciplined way, intently, look into the mirror of God’s will and plan every day, and not be sidetracked or tempted to neglect our relationship with our Saviour. Even under pressure of daily responsibilities, we have to persevere in seeking communion, yes communication, with our God!

Tip#6 on quiet times is then, prayerfully depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to maintain your quiet times and to put into practice what you learn during these personal devotions.

If you resolve to do this, and prayerfully expect God to help you to do so, you will enrich your life, grow in your love-relationship with God, find meaning and purpose, serve God better and with more fruit and live a life that brings glory to his Name. We will be blessed in whatever we do.

May God help us to seek his face, do his will and live in an intimate, personal relationship with him!

Our majestic God cares for us!

According to Psalm 8, for David the majesty of God is especially evident in his vast, marvellous creation. David looks at the sun, moon, and stars, at the birds, fish, and animals and at man. He sees all that God has made and he says:
(Ps 8:1,) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

(Ps 8:4) What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? David asks. "Man" refers to the frail, vulnerable and sinful being made of dust and returns to dust. Compared to the awesome majesty of God, what really is man? Compared to God, man seems to be someone very small and insignificant.

What amazes David, is that our majestic God cares for this small weak creature called man and is mindful of him: remembers him and his needs. It seems inconceivable that the incomparable, invincible God, who has made the heavens and the earth, should be concerned with man. Yet our Lord is. Because God remembers us and what we need, he forgives us our sins by the blood of Christ. He has given us the gifts of salvation, new life, conversion, repentance and faith. He unites us with Christ, sanctifies us and forges us into a community of believers. And he gives us our daily bread.

But, then, what else can we expect of our God? Yes, he is the majestic One, but he is also our LORD and Saviour. To be any other way, would be to deny himself, his character, his person and his name.

What do we want God to believe: when we pray and worship and say thank-you, or when we complain and live ungrateful lives?

Be blessed when you praise, worship and give thanks to our majestic God, saying:
(Ps 8:1) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Why? Because, (Ps 8:4) he remembers us and all our needs and cares for each one of us.

Quiet Times (6): Remember the power of prayer (B)

Powerful prayer means praying in the Spirit.

Tip#5 for our Quiet Times is: Make use of the power of prayer in the Name of Jesus. We discussed this last week. Today we share more guidelines on the practical implementation of Tip#5, namely that we will only experience powerful prayer in the Name of Jesus, if we pray “in the Spirit”.

Ephesians 6:18: ”And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Jude 20: “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”

When we pray in the Name of Jesus, his Holy Spirit inspires and leads us in prayer that God the Father answers.

1) True prayer is prayer in the Spirit, that is, the prayer the Spirit inspires and directs. When we come into God’s presence, we should recognise our ignorance of what we should pray for or how we should pray for it, and in accepting our inability to pray according to God’s will, we should look up to the Holy Spirit, depending on him to direct our prayers, to lead our desires, and to guide our words.

2) When we first come into God’s presence, we should be silent before him. We should look up to him to send his Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray. We must wait for the Holy Spirit and surrender ourselves to the Spirit, then we shall pray according to God’s will.
Christ, our Head, in who’s Name we pray, will teach us how to pray, as he taught the disciples. This happens through the work of the Spirit he sent to guide and inspire us.

3) When we feel least like praying, it is the time when we most need to pray. We should wait quietly before God and tell him how cold and without prayer our hearts are, and look up to him for help, trusting him and expecting him to send the Holy Spirit to warm our hearts, inspiring us to pray.

4) When we wait upon the Spirit to guide us, we will pray with faith, and praying with faith, will make us bold.
In Mark 11:24 Jesus said: “Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” Prayer that believes that we received what we prayed, follows our consideration of the Scriptures. We believe that we received, because we ask what the Bible promises and proclaims.

5) Praying boldly in the Spirit requires first of all that we in faith acknowledge our union with Christ. Those who live in the Body of Christ are able to pray in the Spirit – the Spirit that unites us with Jesus and each other.
John 15:7: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you’”.

To remain in Christ, to live in the Body of Christ, is to:
· renounce every thought, every purpose, every desire, every affection of our own, looking day by day and hour by hour for Jesus Christ to shape his thoughts, purposes, affections and desires in us;
· listen to his Word to know and understand his thoughts, purposes, affections and desires;
· pray what we hear to be his thoughts, purposes, affections and desires.

Praying in the Name of Jesus enables us to pray in the Spirit. Our union with Christ, our living in his Body and our relationship with him, ensures that his Spirit that dwells in us, inspires and leads our understanding of his Word, and therefore teaches us to pray.

Now, let all the Tips on Quiet Times come together:

Tip#1: Always ask God to help you when you have your Quiet Time!
The Holy Spirit will help us to hear God’s voice.

Tip#2: Always reflect.
Quiet down and ensure that God’s message reaches the control centre of your being.

Tip#3: Engage your brain with your heart!
Make your personal devotions a time of fellowship based on both an understanding of what God says and a faith-and-love-relationship with him.

Tip#4: Read the Bible well: systematic and with insight.
Be educated and encouraged for your challenges and calling.

Tip#5: Make use of the power of prayer in the Name of Jesus!
When we pray in the Name of Jesus, his Holy Spirit inspires and leads us in prayer that God the Father answers.

Do not fall away!

Jesus said that in the end times there is a warning against the falling away of many from living in the Body of Christ, his Church. But there is also a promised harvest!

Matthew 24:13 – 14 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

While both a warning and a promise might seem contradictory, this is not really the case. For as the challenges to be faithful to the Lord increase, many who have but a shallow faith, or no real faith at all, will fall by the wayside. Yet many others, inspired by the true message of Jesus, will be attracted to Him. Opposition and it being tough to be faithful to Christ and his church, will either build or kill your faith.

Not everyone is willing to make the necessary commitment. Even Jesus had a failure in Judas! But Jesus never gave up, even when the disciples were way out of line. Then finally, all were sufficiently 'discipled' to give up their lives for him, first spiritually and finally committing everything to his service.

If you walked away from living in die Body of Christ since the beginning of the year, because it was too hard and asked for too many personal sacrifices, come back before you loose everything - especially your calling, your personalised service, your contribution of love to Christ's work and your own growth as his disciple.
There is not much time left during 2009 to correct our spiritual failures. And the coming of the Lord, is near!

May you be blessed if you return to live and serve wholeheartedly in the redeemed Body of Christ.