Jesus gives us life and heaven

Christ brought the light of heaven,

to guide us on our way.

For love of lowly sinners,

He came to serve, to pay.

God so much loved the world, that

He gave his only Son -

our Lord, our hope, Redeemer:

Eternal life was won!

Our living hope and salvation,

is Jesus Christ our Lord.

He gives us life and heaven

and shields us through his Word.

As we are waiting faithful

for God’s new glorious reign,

may we be found elated,

when Jesus comes again!!  

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. (4)

The Lord’s plan is to lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalms 61: 1 – 3    Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.  From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint;  lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

We know the Lord’s plans for us are to prosper and that no harm will overcome us.  What we do not know, is what the journey to victory entails.

Psalm 61 encourages prayer as a source of help, of strength and of winning the battles on the way.  Although we in faith mostly know that we will win the “war” - we often are concerned about the battles.

Even as our hearts grow faint, we will call, we will cry and beg our God to listen to our plea and provide for us in the battle of every day. Notice the need for a place to hide under some circumstances: a strong tower for defense and a tent for resting and refuge.  God is our tower of refuge and strength.

But more importantly, we need a high rock, a firm place, from where we will launch our attack and secure victory!   Fighting with sword and shield requires a high place, a steadfast rock and the advantage of height and a good view of the enemy. We need a place to dig in, to recover, turn the fight around and catch up even while it feels as if we are losing.  

God is much more than a place to hide from adversary.  He also provides the higher rock from where we will launch the victory.  Jesus is our Rock! In Christ only do we make our stand!

Our experience shows that although we know the Lord Jesus to be our sure salvation in all our needs, we often struggle to come to him, as a result of our many doubts, fears and hesitation. A Saviour would have been of no use to us if the Holy Spirit had not gently led us to him, and enabled us to rest on him. We often feel that we not only need a rock, but a dire need to be led to him, even Jesus our Redeemer.

May our Lord today lead you to the higher Rock by his Spirit and give you the courage to win the battles, as our God, in Jesus, already won the war.

God’s grace is sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 10. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.   But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.    That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Lord told Paul that in spite of his “thorn in the flesh”, God’s grace is sufficient for him.

How did God’s grace make the difference?  How did it meet Paul’s needs?

1. Grace could meet Paul’s needs because it expresses God’s acceptance and pleasure in us.  When we receive his grace, we enjoy the status of favour and approval in God’s eyes.  Grace means that God loves us, that he is favourably inclined towards us; we have his acceptance and his promise of care.

2.  Grace could meet Paul’s need because it was available to him all the time.  When we sin or fail, or fall short, it does not put us outside of the reach of God’s grace.  Since grace is given freely to us in Jesus, it can’t be taken away because we stumbled.  When we come to God by faith, through the blood of Jesus his grace is ever ready to meet and minister to our insufficiencies.

3.  Grace could meet Paul’s need because it was the very strength of God.  So much of the power of this world is expressed in things and in ways that bring harm and destruction to ourselves, to the world we live in and to God’s work.  It happens when we take a worldly perspective about authority, spiritual power and strength, and deny God’s truth about the strength of grace and love.  God’s grace is not weakness or the tolerance of impurity.

Instead, it is the power of God to fulfil what we lack.

Being spiritually pretentious and conceited kills the working of God’s power through our attempted witness and our lives!

But to trust in God and believe in his grace, enables us to be true vessels of his love, and as such, of his power!

A new hymn: My grace is sufficient for you / My genade is vir jou genoeg!

A new hymn:   My grace is sufficient for you!

Lyrics in English and in Afrikaans.

2 Corinthians 12: 9 & 10:   “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.   That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

“My genade is vir jou genoeg. My krag kom juis tot volle werking wanneer jy swak is.” Daarom sal ek baie liewer oor my swakhede roem, sodat die krag van Christus my beskutting kan wees.       Daarom is ek bly oor swakhede, beledigings, ontberings, vervolging en moeilikhede ter wille van Christus, want as ek swak is, is ek sterk.

Music:  ST PETER – Alexander Reinagle 1830,

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds- SOF 194 

Sufficient is your grace, my Lord,

you help your timid child,

and make me strong although I’m weak:

God’s might with love conferred.

Today your grace, almighty God,

shall grant me strength and power,

I will with joy your love proclaim,

although acutely flawed.

My Father, listen to my plea -

a thorn torments my flesh –

to see that my Redeemer lives,

Christ’s power rests on me.

By grace God called me to belong

to Jesus, Saviour, Lord!

For when I’m weak, through faith I know,

in Christ, my King, I’m strong!

Copy right reserved

Afrikaanse lirieke: Musiek van Liedboek 440.

My genade is vir jou genoeg!

Oor God’s genade sal ek roem,

dit is genoeg vir my!

Al is ek swak, God maak my sterk,

Hom sal ek HERE noem.

Vandag sal u genade Heer,

my krag en toevlug wees.

Met blydskap sal ek nou bely:

U help my elke keer.

My Vader luister as ek vra –

met doring in my vlees –

wys my dat my Verlosser leef,

en dat sy krag my dra.

Wil uit genade in my werk,

maak my ’n Koningskind.

Al is ek swak, ek weet, ek glo,

in Christus is ek sterk!

Kopié reg voorbehou

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. (3)

The Lord will shepherd me because his plans for me are to be safe and to prosper.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23 always has been a comfort in the face of uncertainty, fear and danger.  In times when we experience neediness, we certainly want to hear the Word of God saying:  “I shall not want”, meaning, I will not lack what I must have to survive - even to prosper. In looking for an understanding of his plans for me and when his plans are still unclear, the Lord will lead me on his path until I find rest in his green pasture!

Our survival in this challenging time depends on our faith that God is our shepherd, our keeper, our guide, our defender, our strength and our provider.   In his presence my soul, meaning the control centre of my mind, my will, my desires, my emotions and my faith, will be replenished through the peace I find in trusting our Lord’s plan for me.

The Lord refills my cup by leading me on his righteous path.  For the sake of his glory he brings us from the back roads of our foolishness and redirects us to follow the high ways of his wisdom.  Then only can peace and can rest be found – as we journey towards his gracious purpose for us, instead of seeking self-destruction through foolish choices, bitterness and doubt.

On the Lord’s path I will not fear, even when evil impacts on my life’s journey.  The presence of the Lord is like eating from a rich buffet where he prepared a banquet of love, peace, security, contentment and rest for me.

I will remain a faithful, enduring resident in the Lord’s house. It is my safe haven, my source of courage and of the directions of the Lord’s plans, the Lord’s journey, with me. 

Where else can I find a place to feast when I face an enemy and when I face my fears, than in the house of my God?

Seek the peace and prosperity of our country!

When God’s people were in exile, suffering under the imperialistic oppression of Babylon, false prophets told them that it will soon come to an end.  They preyed on the anger and disillusionment of the Israelites in order to become popular preachers and so they told them what they wanted to hear:  God will smite the evil Babylon soon and then everything will be fine again.

So the Lord instructed Jeremiah to write them a letter to tell them that the destruction of the evil and corrupt powers of Babylon will only take place on God’s terms and at his time.  Anger, revenge and vengeance belong to the Lord and do not bring peace of mind, joy and a future for God’s people.

What they have to do, as they live in a city alien to God, his Word and his people, is to build and construct a life for themselves and their children and grandchildren, and to pray for the prosperity of the city in which they live

We are citizens of God’s Kingdom because we seek to follow Jesus in everything we do.  All the wrongs and all the evil and all the bad governance we experience on earth can cause so much fear and anger that it robs us of the vision and passion to receive what God’s plans are for us: to prosper and not to be harmed.  (Jer29:11)

We can become so bitter that we cannot make a difference in the world anymore.

We can become so negative that our children and grandchildren may lose hope and stop expecting God’s blessings and keeping and help.

Our disillusions may bring an end to us being the salt of the earth and the light of the world

No! Let’s make a difference in the city where we live, says the Lord!

For the almighty Christ is our true King and our Leader.  He returned from the hell of Golgotha a victorious Warrior for our sake. He will, on the day of the Lord’s pleasure bring an end to all evil power and authority in this world.  That is his work to do, at his time!

What we have to do is:  (Jeremiah 29: 5 – 7):  "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.

Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

When the country in which we live prosper, God’s children and his work will prosper too.

Seek the peace and prosperity of the land where we live.

Let’s work smarter, with clear vision, hope and courage, and pray for authorities that disappointed us, that they will become efficient and successful in their task to rule and govern for the good of all.

God is on the side of his people. And God’s purpose for us is to be well. He seeks our well being and our peace! 

Through following Jesus every day, we shall overcome bitterness and then again be able to bring God’s hope and peace where we live and work and will be able to make a difference to the future of our children.

God's promise of gracious salvation is both for me and my children!

Sometimes we call ourselves children of Abraham. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and in Christ we too received all the grace promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Galatians 3: 16 and 29

¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3 is but one passage that confirms God’s firm grace promises to be our God, our Saviour, our Protector, and our Lord. It is the promise that through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are saved and received the Holy Spirit. 

In Acts 2 it is emphasized that the promise to receive the Holy Spirit who grants us faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour is not only for a first generation of believers, but also for their children, and even for far off generations still to come: 

Acts 2: 38 and 39:   ³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

This is a precious birthright that our parents and grandparents, our church, and our Lord have entrusted to our keep. To head a Christian family is both a breathtaking privilege and an enormous responsibility to hand the gospel to the next generation.

We own this precious faith of the martyrs who during the first centuries died for the Lord and still do today. It is the faith of the fathers and mothers of the Reformation during the 16th century till now and it is the faith of our church fathers that kept it, preserved it and carried it faithfully up to our generation. 

It is, by God’s grace, our birthright and our inheritance to know that although I am a sinner in need of salvation, I am redeemed in and through Jesus, my Lord. It is the faith that says Jesus alone, by grace alone, can redeem me and help me. It is through this faith alone that I know the proper response to God's grace in Christ: to lead a life of sanctification, commitment to God and of gratefulness.

We have a duty to defend this faith, to keep this faith and to guard this faith that has been entrusted to us. We have a holy responsibility to carry the Good News far and wide and to hand it, safe and sound, to the next generation.

It is our duty, our privilege and our calling to keep the true faith for our children’s and grand children’s sake. And most importantly, for the sake of God and his Kingdom. We need to keep and nurture this faith for the sake of the true church of today and of the future and for those who will carry the light of God as the next generation of the followers of Jesus. 

May we put God first in our lives and serve our Saviour Jesus Christ with humble and devoted hearts. Let’s keep and defend our birthright with everything we do and everything we are!

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. (2)

Take courage, God is looking for you.

Jeremiah 29: 14   I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

1.  We heard last Wednesday that God has a plan for our circumstances and our lives. We know his purpose:  “My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future”. (verse 11)

2. How will these plans start to happen? What must take place before we see the Lord’s plans for our new future begin. 

It starts with a faith that accepts God’s promise that we will be able to find him again. He will make sure of that! It starts with a firm trust that even though we experience a sense of being lost within the challenges we have and the feeling we have of being stuck at a dangerous and scary place, our Lord will make it possible for us to find him, and his purpose for us, again. (verse 14)

3. Two key words explain to us what it means to be enabled to find God again:  To be “gathered” and to be “brought back”. 

4. We will be gathered by the Lord.  It means to be brought together to form a group, a family of believers, again. To joyfully and with excitement join the followers of God, once again. To see the gradual growth, the increasing mass, of God’s children gaining the influence and power to change their world and that I may be part of it, again!

5. For this purpose we are “brought back”.  Back from the captivity of fear, of uncertainty and of being without a vision and excitement for the future. Not to be in spiritual exile anymore and to “come home” to Jesus and his other followers to find rest in him.   

6. Our Lord remains the Good Shepherd.  Even when 99 others are safely in the fold, he goes to gather and to bring back the one who is out in the cold. 

Are you the one the Lord wants to bring back in order to accomplish his plan for your life? When Jesus makes it possible for you to find him – run back to him and his church family today!

We own a powerful treasure, even though it is stored in jars of clay!

We are called to display God’s glory and show his light that shines out of darkness. (2 Cor 4: 6).  But how can we do this, how can we worship and proclaim Christ in a world that is alienated from God and his people?  Especially when we understand how weak we are in the face of life’s many challenges.

2 Corinthians 7 – 9 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;   persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Paul calls us jars of clay. Weak, unpretentious and easily destroyed, jars of clay!

The apostle is thinking of our many imperfections.  He refers to our weakness and helplessness in the presence of sin and temptation. (Rom 7:15,19)

He also looks to the weakness of our appearance, that we often are not impressive, battle to proclaim the light of God boldly and struggle with our insecurities. (2 Cor 10:1 & 10)

We also are jars of clay because of the decay of our bodies, of getting older, weaker and that we are slowly wasting away. (2 Cor 4:16).

We are only jars of clay, acknowledging our weakness and insignificance!

And yet, we have a treasure, even though it is stored in jars of clay!

We have the treasure of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only and almighty Saviour of us and of the whole world.

It is this treasure, and not being weak jars of clay, that shows the all surpassing power of God in a world alienated from God and his people!  Our weakness and insignificance shows off the all surpassing power of our God in the face of the many dangers and challenges before us.

Therefore,

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, since we show the power of God to all;

perplexed, but not in despair, since we show the power of God to all;  

persecuted, but not abandoned, since we show the power of God to all;

struck down, but not destroyed, since we show the power of God to all.

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.

Have courage - God has a plan for our lives!

Jeremiah 29:10-13.   This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.   Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

1. Babylon makes us think of a place without hope, a place of exile, oppression, fear, hopelessness, financial deprivation and spiritual despair. Yet the time being in this dark space comes to an end.  God’s promise is that places of exile are never a permanent place for his people and his children. (verse 10)

2.  God has a plan for our circumstances and our lives. It is not always clear and it is often a lot different from what we desire or expect.  We may not know the details of what God has in mind for us, but we know his purpose:  “My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future”. (verse 11)

3. Faith to a large extent means to trust God so much that we are willing to trade our plans for his purpose, and to trade our hopelessness for the future he has in stall for us.  (verse 11)

4. With such faith we know where to seek for the answers for our lives, where to go for divine council and who will listen to us when our many questions escape our dark and saddened hearts:  It is the Lord. We will call on the Lord! We will pray to the Lord. We will accept in faith that he listens to our prayers, that he remembers us and that his plans are the best plans for us even when we are surrounded by our dilemmas and our confusion. (verse 12)

5. We too need to listen.  We need to submit. We need to trust and we need to follow. When Jesus forgives both our foolishness and our impurity, he always continues to say:  Follow me!

We can do all of this, because we saw at the cross that the plans of the Lord are to prosper, and not harm us, and that his plans intend to give us hope and a future! (verse 13)

Over all other virtues, put on love

Paul is listing all the virtues that characterizes grateful, Christian living in Colossians 3. 

Colossians 3 : 12 - 14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

It is important to note that we must “over all” put on love, which binds all the Christian virtues together. This is our response to being God’s chosen people, sanctified by the Lord and dearly loved by him.  For these, and all our privileges received by the grace of God, we ought to live lives filled with thankfulness. In verse 17 Paul says:  “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

We express our gratitude over all, by putting on love!

What is love?   According to 1 Cor 13, love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (Verses 4 – 7)

God is love and his relationship with us shows his daily passionate love for his chosen people, his holy and dearly loved children. We are to echo to a world that needs to put to death its selfishness, greed and anger, the love of God.  We need to put on love to become the grateful followers of our God who gave his best to us, even Jesus Christ, his Son.

When we make God known through living in daily thankfulness to the Lord for all our blessings and privileges, we will clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

We will bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances we may have against one another.

We will forgive as the Lord forgave us.