September 2021

03/09/2021
Mat 28 v 1-10

Look unto Jesus

“He is not here… for He is risen… just as He said.” (vers 6)

Do you look unto Jesus as the risen Lord or is the above simply a myth, perhaps only something spiritual or figurative?

I am of the opinion that many “Christians” get stuck and even stumble at the foot of the cross. I do not intend to question their faith, but it seems that they only accept the death of Jesus and have a hard time to confess His bodily resurrection.

A two-fold faith

Confessing one’s sin and believing in the crucifixion of Jesus, as the only atonement and remedy for our sin, is the first step toward coming to faith.

As long as we do not accept that He physically rose from the dead, we continue to fall short, and as a result our whole world view is corrupted. If we cannot trust Jesus’ own words that He would rise on the third day, then we may just as well become agnostics who proclaim that we are not actually sure about anything and subsequently choose to simply worship a form of Godliness.

If we only look unto Jesus as our Saviour, because He died for our sin, and not as the risen Christ, we are really acknowledging that He didn’t actually overcome sin, neither was He victorious over death. This is a dangerous, devastating and destructive theology and many Christians are mislead through this teaching.

Jesus, King of kings and Lord of Lords

“With great fear and joy”, the woman ran to tell of the good news. Little did they know that they would run into Jesus and were so overwhelmed when they say Him that they fell at His feet and worshipped Him.

They knew who He was. This was also not the first time they kneeled at His feet and worshipped Him. To them, He was the Messiah and they believed His prophecy regarding His death and resurrection. I consider them to be amongst the blessed ones to have had the opportunity to see Jesus, face to face.

I pray that should you not have reached a point yet, where you accept the resurrection of Jesus as a crucial ingredient to be truly saved that God’s Spirit will speak to your heart today, for “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10 v 9) [NIV]

Image courtesy of LUMO project | https://www.freebibleimages.org

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

04/09/2021
Rom 15 v 14-33

Serving in Obedience

“Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.” (ver 17)

Are you willing to serve God and others to fulfill in their spiritual and material needs, or do you simply make use of the escape phrase, “I’ll pray for you”, or even worse, “let me know if you don’t come right”…

Serving in obedience entails so much more than simply worshipping the Lord in church on Sundays or during mid-week fellowship with friends and families.

We are called to minister

We are all called to minister in one way or another through preaching the good news and this goes hand in hand with helping others with material things, where required and within our means.

The only way we can know how, when or where, is to listen to the Lord. Pray for guidance so that His Spirit can lead you in this area. We may have studied a course in theology, attained some knowledge of end-time prophecies and perhaps even served on a church council, but if we are not willing and prepared to serve others with the good news of the gospel, we have not achieved our goal.

How do we start then?

Are there people in your life that need assistance with anything? Is there a place where you can support the people with basic needs? I believe this is a good start and simply by showing love and compassion toward others in need, God will open doors and provide the means with which you can serve others.

Let us not be discouraged, for we are all able to give something of ourselves, whether it is time, sharing our skills or planting a seed, the Lord will use that, which might seem insignificant, to let His work through you, come to fruition.

Serving in obedience starts with consulting the Lord and we will often hear a response we do not like and therefore my prayer for you today is that God will soften your heart so that you will give yourself as a living sacrifice, willing to do His good work.

Let us boast in what Christ has done for us and not depend on our own strength and intellect. May His grace be sufficient for us, resulting in obedience in order to fulfill our purpose and that is to know God and make Him known.

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

08/09/2021
Psalm 70 v 1-5

Deliverance from affliction

“But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer.” (vers 5)

Are you still paying dearly for a decision that you made many years ago?
Do you feel “afflicted and needy”, seeking and praying for deliverance from the affliction you are experiencing?

God often seems occupied and His intervention delayed.
Is He obliged to come to our rescue? If He doesn’t interfere and allows us to practice our free will, why would He then intervene in order to change our situation?

Question upon question

Until now you have probably only been able to asked the Lord “Why?” and questioned your own faith all along. The time has come to be still and realise that God is who He says He is. He is the Great, I AM and able to deliver you from the hands of your enemies.

Is it a matter of having more faith or is it simply a case of handing over your fears and worries so God can go at work?
Deliverance from your affliction can only occur when you allow God to fight the battle on your behalf. If we constantly interfere and do things our way, or even worse, prescribe how He should go about doing what He knows best, we will continue to remain stuck in our dismal situation.

“Let go and let God”

Sounds like a cliché by now, right?
Deliverance from affliction is not a matter of God helping those who can help themselves, also something that won’t take us very far, seeing that we got ourselves in this mess in the first place.

There is hope though.
God can cause any situation to work for the good of those who love Him with their whole being, notwithstanding the fact that we tend to wander off course, every now and then.

If the above is a reflection of your current circumstances and you have reached a breaking point, where giving up and giving in seems like the only solution, not knowing what the outcome will be, this prayer is for you.

A prayer for deliverance

I pray that regardless of the reason and whether it was by your own doing, that the Lord may end your suffering today. If there are lessons to be learnt, then let the time be shortened, if you are willing to turn to God and walk in His ways. Let those who have ashamed, humiliated, dishonored and hurt you, be dealt with swiftly. We also ask that the Lord soften their hearts, in order for them to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Child of God – turn to the Lord today and seek forgiveness, where forgiveness is needed. Also forgive those who have transgressed against you and allow the Lord of all creation to renew your heart and heal your soul. Amen

Image by DanaTentis from Pixabay

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

11/09/2021
Deut 32 v 1-52

About God and His people, through the eyes of Moses

About God

“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He” (vers 4)

Moses ascribed to God the attributes of a perfect being and of this He is worthy.
There is no other living creature on this earth or under the sea or in the heavens, who can claim this.

Many religious figures, throughout history, whether kings or prophets, scribes or pharisees, leaders or politicians, who have walked this earth, could not uphold the laws of God, yet they expected others to do the almost impossible.

Through the eyes of Moses we learn about God and His people and how they strayed from His perfect will and ways continuously. Every time God struck them through the hands of their enemies, they returned to the Lord, although only for a short while, before wandering off to worship other gods again.

Because of God’s nature He always showed compassion and granted them grace, knowing they would fall short, each and every time. Nothing has changed and today we behave in exactly the same manner as the people of Israel did during those times.

About Israel

“They have acted corruptly towards Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation” (vers 5)

In my relatively short life, I have not seen a more crooked and perverse generation than this one.
I agree that nothing is new and that everything we see is a repetition of the past and that throughout history people have experienced the same issues and committed the same atrocities, but…

The degree of our moral decline, not only as a secular society, but also in the evangelical church, has reached a new level where nothing seems sacred anymore. Again, during the time of God’s people, whether in bondage and under rule of other nations, or free wandering through the wilderness, they rebelled against the Lord and participated in idol worship.

Through the eyes of Moses, we do not only read about their rebellious actions, but we are awakened to the indecent acts that they participated in. “They made Him (God) jealous with strange gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom their fathers did not dread” (vers 16 & 17).

Can the same be said about us? That “we are a nation lacking in counsel, and there is no understanding in us?” (vers 28) [paraphrased]. Have we gone so far astray that we can no longer see our wrongdoing and that we pronounce evil as good and good as evil?

Who is God to us?

Have we also broken faith with God, forsook Him and didn’t treat Him as holy in the midst of others?
Is God simply a convenience to us when we are in need of anything?

This kind of Pagan Christianity we live according to these days, is no different to how Israel worshipped God during the time of Moses. Seeking and following after other gods, because the One, True God, was not enough and as a result, they usually only called on the Lord after He dealt with them, like a father would respond to a child who misbehaves in disobedience.

We are no different and prefer to live our lives according to our thinking of what is right and wrong, instead of seeking the Lord’s will. There is a lesson to be learnt and the question remains this… Can we really be honest and say that we long after God and that we love Him above ALL other things, which He has created?

Photo by Matt Botsford on Unsplash

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

18/09/2021
Thought of the day

Asleep at the wheel

“You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep…‘” (Mat 28 v 13)

Are you willing to tell the truth about an event, having an accurate knowledge of what exactly transpired or can you be easily persuaded to adjust the truth, even if it reflects that you were “asleep at the wheel?”

To many people truth is a “relative” concept and tweaking the truth for the sake of a temporary “reward” wouldn’t bother them as much as it should, especially if you are a believer.

What’s the big deal? It’s just a “white lie”

Being caught asleep at the wheel is one thing, but to lie about the actual circumstances surrounding an event, is something that has become a daily occurrence in my experience.

One’s character is revealed through your actions. Think about it for a moment…
If you are willing to lie about something to cover up the truth, you have already committed a terrible sin in the Lord’s eyes.

The question one should then ask yourself, is why you would risk your reputation and agree to lie about the situation in return for something that lacks eternal value? Would you allow others in a position of authority to dictate what you should say, in order to further their agenda, as long as you can gain something?

It boils down to this

If you do not have self-respect, you will naturally disrespect others, but most importantly, you will not fear God. It is written that we should do unto others as we would have done unto ourselves [paraphrase] and the bible teaches us that we should love the Lord our God with our whole being, seeking first His kingdom.

If you do not believe in the God of the bible, who we believe is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, then you probably wouldn’t be concerned about it too much. On the flip side, if you are a follower of Christ, we have a responsibility to fulfill, wherever we are, whether in public or at the work place and even there where we are not noticed.

It seems like a catch-22, doesn’t it?
On the one hand you shouldn’t be caught asleep at the wheel for each one has a responsibility toward those who have appointed us in a certain position, but we should also not use an excuse that will reflect our true nature and character for instant gratification.

Prayer

My prayer for you today is that you will be honest with yourself and others in every God-given situation, regardless of your worldview. Inevitably a time will come when you are faced with some difficult decisions that might affect the wellbeing of others and in order to make the right choice, you will have to reach a point where you consult the Lord and seek His guidance.

As a child of the living God, we should be alert and be sober, while listening to His still, small voice that speaks to our hearts. Consider Him in all things. Consider the cost and how your behaviour affects your testimony. We are often guilty of not being the greatest witnesses, but there is always the next opportunity. Ask the Lord to create in you a longing for the truth and He will reveal to you the treasures of Heaven. Amen!

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

Image courtesy of LUMO project | https://www.freebibleimages.org