February 2021

01/02/2021

Thought for today
Fallible man and the infallible God

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom 3 v 23)

How great is our sin… our transgressions… our iniquity? How can we even begin to comprehend the glory and majesty of our God?

We all fall short and miss the mark every day and cannot rely on our own intellect and strength to get us through a mere 24 hours. It is only through the grace of God that we are able to stand.

From a young age the fallen nature of man is revealed when a 2 year old shakes her head very confidently after her dad asks her if she was the one who broke the plate and she denies her involvement without blinking an eye.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. This is more than enough proof that man is fallen and not inherently good as some may belief. After the fall of man in the garden, their fellowship with God was broken and their “nakedness” revealed.

The whole dynamic between man and God changed in an instant. From a point where the Lord walked with them to a point where they were removed from the garden. God does not tolerate sin and neither should we.

Even though we are bound to this earthly body, we are called to walk in the Spirit in order not to give into the lusts of the flesh, which just shows us we are not strong enough to rely on our own abilities. Only God is infallible and able to rescue us from our own destruction.

His plan of salvation that was put into motion would take thousands of years to be fulfilled in the form of Jesus’ death and resurrection and He is the only way to come into the Father’s presence again.

We thank the Lord for His work on the cross. He has overcome sin and death and therefore we are able to walk in faith, knowing that through sacrificing our desires of the flesh, we may also overcome.

I thank the Lord for His saving grace and lovingkindness!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

02/02/2021

Mat 20 v 1-16; Acts 27 v 1-26; Ps 44 v 1-26; Lev 18 v 1-20 v 27
Prayer for today: Shipwrecked

“Keep your life free from [the] love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13 v 5) [ESV]

What is the one thing that always causes us to doubt the Lord? The one thing that is a necessary evil while we are in this fallen and depraved world…

Like the great Swedish band said; “I work all night I work all day
To pay the bills I have to pay… Money, money, money… in a rich man’s world…”

We live in an age where everything revolves around money and there seems to be no place for those who are shipwrecked and stranded without the means to pay for their needs – not even to mention their wants. For those of you who feel like you are sinking and struggling to keep your head above water, my prayer is this;

May you find favour in the Lord’s sight. May His provision be enough so that you do not have to steal and not too much that you forget about Him. May He spoil you with the riches of His treasure chest, which is not of this world.

He has promised that He will never leave you, nor forsake you and even if your ship has been ripped apart by the onslaught of the waves of destruction, the God of heaven has sent us a life boat. In Him who has saved us from certain death we can find the true meaning of life.

May God’s grace rain upon you in abundance. May His peace fill your whole being. May your soul find rest in the presence of our Lord and Saviour. May He revive your broken Spirit so that you will praise Him day and night. Amen

God has made a promise that if you are (truly) content with the portion He has given you, He will always take care of your needs. Will you complain about your portion like the laborers in the vineyard did, or will you live a life of gratitude with that which the Lord has entrusted you with?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

04/02/2021

Mat 20 v 17-34; Acts 27 v 27-44; Ps 45 v 1-17; Lev 21 v 1-23 v 44
The perfect sacrifice

“[19] for you to be accepted – it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. [20] Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you.” (Lev 22 v 19-20)

God cannot (and does not) tolerate sin. He frowns upon it and is not able to compromise, because HE IS HOLY!

Through accepting the death and resurrection of Jesus as the only way to come into the Holy of Holies, into God’s presence, we are able to stand blameless before our Creator, cleansed by the blood of our Saviour.

There is no other way for us to be saved and be reconciled with God and just as He is holy, we are called to be holy and even though we are still bound to these earthly vessels, we are instructed to die to self, by crucifying the flesh and through baptism, lay down the old life.

Christ was the perfect sacrifice, blameless and without any defect and although He became flesh, He remained Holy, having no sin. It is written that God loves righteousness and hates wickedness (PS 45 v 7) and for this reason flesh and blood will not enter the kingdom, for we seek darkness rather than light.

It is therefore only through the cross that we can be forgiven our sins and yes, we stand guilty before the Living God, but He has compassion for those who ask that their spiritual eyes be opened and just like Jesus touched the blind men’s eyes so they might see, God will give us back our sight if that is what we desire.

Let us give thanks to God today for the work He has done on the cross, in order that we might be saved. We may now call on His Name, through the righteousness of our Lord and Saviour “who did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mat 20 v 28) [paraphrase]

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

06/02/2021

Mat 21 v 1-11; Acts 28 v 1-16; Ps 46 v 1-11; Lev 24 v 1-25 v 55
Hosanna in the Highest

Praise God! All honour and power and glory to the Son of David. He is the KING of kings and LORD of lords.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became a man and dwelt among those He created. Some loved and adored Him and many died for His Name’s sake, while others rejected and even persecuted Him for they were so blinded by their beliefs.

For those that love the Lord, He is their refuge and strength, their safe haven and salvation. He is their beginning and end, the first and the last. For those who have not entered into His sanctuary He is only a distant after thought.

Just look at the lengths that Paul went to in order to preach the good news and at the same time defend the faith. Not forcing anyone to belief, but simply showing those he spoke to the power of God, led by His Spirit. Something foreign to many of us in the “post-modern” era.

Those who lived under the Old Testament laws who revered God and obeyed His instructions lived holy lives, dedicated to the Lord, while many of them paid with their lives should they have found to be unfaithful to His statutes, longing after other gods.

We too should pay for our transgressions with our lives, if it had not been for the cross. All honour to God for the ultimate sacrifice that He made, giving His only Son to take our burdens on Him. Fully man, yet fully God, He became sin so that we could be made free from the bondage of sin.

Therefore let us cease with chasing after things that have no eternal value and follow after the heart of God. He has revealed Himself to us and have made known His plan for us. It was first cast in stone and now it is written on our hearts.

“LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.” (Ps 118 v 25-26)

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

10/02/2021

Mat 21 v 12-22; Acts 28 v 17-31; Ps 47 v 1-9; Lev 26 v 1-27 v 34
Obedience rewarded

“My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a robbers’ den.” (Mat 21 v 13)

The temple was used for trade because the people had left their first love and the Pharisees allowed this because of the financial gain they received.  They placed the things of the world above that of the law of God, yet they kept the people in bondage, while leading them astray and was very displeased with Jesus when He dared to heal people in the temple.

Paul continued to preach the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection and while many believed, others refused to believe.  The Jewish people were debating among each other, even after hearing from the law of Moses and the Prophets through his teachings, showing them clearly what was prophesied regarding the Messiah.

In Leviticus God’s people are told that He will bless them and not reject them, should they remain obedient and keep His statutes.  We can learn much from the laws of the Old Testament regarding obedience and even though we might believe that we are “free in Christ” (as it is written), we are under His law that has been written on our hearts.  This should be obvious as one cannot be lawless and think there will not be any consequences.

The Lord was very clear about the penalties for disobedience and even if we think He was harsh towards His own people, our feelings do not come into the equation, because He is God and He makes the rules. 

Let us praise God and live according to His commandments.  Clap your hands and raise a hallelujah for “the Lord most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth”.  Sing praises for “God reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne.”

Your body is a temple of God and we are called to be Holy, for God is holy.    The reward for obedience is much greater than you can ever imagine and it might not necessarily seem to have an impact in this life, but you can be sure that it will impact your destiny.

God does not seek sacrifices nor offerings, but obedience and without obedience it is impossible to please Him,  The reward for obedience is everlasting life.  Something that is foreign to the world and those who believe everything simply stops when this life comes to an end.

We need to seek our first love again and return to the God of our salvation.  My prayer is that the Lord will soften your heart and open your mind to the meaning and understanding of His Word so that you will not lose your reward and instead sit down with Him at the wedding feast prepared for us when He returns. 

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” (Rev 22 v 17).

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

11/02/2021

Thought for the day
Faith that can move mountains

“Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do NOT doubt, you will not only do what was done to this fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘be taken up and cast into the sea’, it will happen.  And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Mat 21 v 21-22)

How many times have we seen the disciples stand in awe after Jesus had performed a miracle?  Why was it so difficult for them to believe and do we believe Jesus’ words more today than they did while walking alongside Him?

It seems there are two conditions for us to meet in order to experience the power of God;

• Firstly, we should have faith, without doubting

Doesn’t having faith automatically remove all doubt?  It is clear from this passage that both faith and the absence of doubt is required to experience God at work.  

There is ample evidence in the Scriptures in the Old and New Testament where people trusted the Lord without any doubt.  Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his only son and even if we question God’s motives it is irrelevant, because Abraham obeyed and God provided a substitute.

Noah was instructed to build a boat and as the only righteous man he listen and obeyed and through his obedience his whole family was saved.  Almost all of the disciples were killed for their faith without doubting their salvation and eventual resurrection.  Just look at Stephen who saw His redemption draw near.  Hebrews 11 is full of examples of men and woman living by faith.

• Then we should believe that we will receive the things asked in prayer.

It is also written that we do not receive, because we do not ask and when we ask it is for our own pleasure and fleshly desires, while Jesus said that everything we ask in His Name we shall receive.  

Off course we should define “everything” before simply assuming this entails EVERYTHING this world has to offer.  The bible should be read in context, just like any other book or else one will be very disappointed and then blame everyone involved, from the writers to the translators as well as the interpreters and even God Himself when your requests are not fulfilled.

It is difficult for many believers to simply trust in the Lord for their next meal, yet we think that we can pray for luxuries in the name of God…  

Throughout the bible’s history it is evident that those who sacrificed everything and committed themselves to the kingdom of God, didn’t live in luxury….  wait a minute.  What about the kings and even Abraham and Job, to name a few?  Solomon was very wealthy.  His wealth was equal to 666 talents and he built the temple with the resources God gave him.

This is true, yet he prayed and asked God for wisdom, instead of wealth and God, seeing his motives and the intentions of his heart, granted him wisdom and blessed Solomon in abundance (1 Kings 3 v 1 -15).  

Our measure of faith should be practiced daily.  

Trust God in the small things and He will prepare you for greater things that are yet to come.  There are many promises that will come to pass in the next life and this should be our focus.  Live for eternity, for that is where God’s treasure lies and the fullness of His glory will be displayed to those who remain faithful.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

14/02/2021

New Reading Plan
Resurrection Hope

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool. (Is 1 v 18) [AMP]

Please join me for this 7-day reading plan focused around the life, death and resurrection of our Messiah, Christ Jesus, starting 15 February 2021.

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23/02/2021

Thought for the day
Wages of sin

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.” (Rom 1 v 24) [NIV]

Could it be that a loving God reaches a point where He gives you your heart’s desire, even if it is to your own detriment?

Even “born again, bible believing Christians” tend to forget that God made certain rules for a reason. We too, fall short of what He has intended for us from the beginning and can so easily end up in a dark and lonely place, separated from Him, if we continue down the destructive path of immorality.

Do not be deceived in thinking that God’s grace, which covers a multitude of sins, will exempt us from His wrath, while we continue to live immoral lives and for this reason we need to be brutally honest with ourselves, testing ourselves daily to see if we are in the faith…

Can we honestly say that our minds have been renewed and that our hearts long after the Lord. Do you have an affection for the Lord Jesus in your heart? Do you desire to spend time in His presence? Are you seeking His will in everything?

The only way for us to overcome the lusts of the flesh is to die to self EVERY DAY! Whatever we do behind closed doors that is not done in faith is sin. Those things we do not want others to know about, those things that keep us from fellowship with God, because of the shame…

Consider this. If we label our sins for what they are and place them in the same category as those crimes one would never commit, such as murder and theft, for example, then we will start to take ownership and become serious about our relationship with the Lord.

Continuing in sin is already like kindling the fire, but when we are no longer convicted of our wrongdoing, we have probably already reached a point of no return and according to Hebrews 6 we are at risk of falling away from our faith. Yes, this is possible, unless God intervenes miraculously, just like He did with David.

Take some time today and meditate on God’s Word. Ask Him to show you the areas in your life that need attention. Plead with Him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Do not compromise on anything that causes you to sin.

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you! (James 4 v 7) [paraphrase]

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

25/02/2021

Mat 21 v 23-32; Rom 1 v 1-17; Ps 48 v 1-14; Num 1 v 1-2 v 34
I am not ashamed of the gospel

“…for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘but the righteous man shall live by faith.‘” (Rom 1 v 16-17)

What is it about the life changing Word of God that makes us believe in His salvation?

Firstly, His salvation is for everyone who believes in the saving grace and power of God and secondly it points us to the law which exposes our fallen nature, which in turn directs us to Jesus who was the perfect example of righteousness.

The Scriptures are full of examples of men and woman who remained faithful to God and sought His righteousness. They sacrificed everything, including their sinful desires to please the Lord, living according to His statutes.

Does this mean they were without sin? Off course not. Did they strive to obey and follow His commandments? Absolutely! We can learn much from the people who lived under the law as well as those who came to faith through believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus to the point where they were persecuted for their uncompromising belief in him.

“We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” None of us are good and we seek darkness and the pleasures of the flesh, rather than light. This is true for everyone, without exception. It is therefore only through the grace of God that we can overcome the lusts of the eyes and flesh.

The Word of God can only manifest in our lives once we have truly come to the point where we acknowledge our shortcomings, confess our sins and turn away from that which has come between us and God. At this point the Holy Spirit renews our mind and heart – something that the natural man cannot understand and seems like foolishness to him.

I pray that today will be a life changing moment in your life. This gospel that has been preached for centuries is the good news of how Jesus has come to set us free from the bondage of sin. Do not allow the enemy to keep you from coming to Christ. Everyone has the opportunity to be saved.

We plant the seed, the Holy Spirit waters and God causes the growth. Do not be ashamed of how God has changed your life. Share this good news of the empty grave to those who are in desperate need of a Saviour. God will give you the words to speak in season, flavoured with salt.

No one is lost until they pass from this life to the next, without coming to faith. Until then there is hope for the broken and the sick. May the Lord empower you to reach out today to continue the good work that was started in you. AMEN!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

27/02/2021

Mat 21 v 33-46; Rom 1 v 18-32; Ps 49 v 1-20; Num 3 v 1-4 v 49
Unrighteousness rebuked

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” (Rom 1 v 18-29)

How do you perceive God and what is your view of Jesus?

If God is simply a concept of a higher, impersonal being and Jesus a figure of history past, brought about by precepts of men, then you should reconsider your belief system.

The “disciples” of the religious institute didn’t consider Jesus as the Son of God, neither did they fear God, for they manipulated the people by presenting to them a figure of God, contrary to that of their forefathers. On top of this they bound the people to a certain set of rules, whilst living according to their own authority, abusing the law to their advantage.

Jesus warned those who rejected Him, the One who has come in the Name of the Father. God has also warned those who reject and suppress the truth in unrighteousness and in response, 1) He gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, 2) He also gave them over to degrading passions, and 3) He then gave them over to a depraved mind…

Being filled with unrighteousness and all its attributes those who practice these things mentioned in Romans 1 will face God’s judgment as well as those who approve of these wicked acts.

All of us are guilty and should stand in judgment before God’s throne, for He created us in His image and has given man an understanding of who He is and the discernment to differentiate between right and wrong, good and evil and therefore man is without excuse.

Thanks to God for His underserved mercy and redemption through Christ, who also gave us the Holy Spirit, interceding for us, or else we would be without guidance, lost at sea, tossed around by every wave and every wind of teaching (Eph 4 v 14).

This much is true. We will all give account for our actions and even if it seems that the unrighteous is victorious in this life, God does not sleep, nor does He slumber, and His day of reckoning will come, sooner than the world might anticipate. For this reason we should turn from our wickedness and seek the Lord while He may still be found.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“