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!