Category Archives: Christian Life

WHAT CAN GOD DO IN SOUTH AFRICA? – 4

Christian Life, ,

THERE’S A HOLE IN THE JUGGERNAUGHT!

Several months ago, God showed me in a mental picture, a huge ship sailing on a stormy sea. As I watched, the Word that came to me was, “The juggernaught is turning around.”

The word “juggernaught” means “an unstoppable force”.

Only days afterwards, as I sought confirmation of this message, I read an article in a credible publication that reported on a speech our president made at a SACP conference. In his speech, he proposed building a second Eskom as a solution to the electricity problem! In his speech, one of the speakers referred to the government as “the ship of state”! I was stunned! That’s exactly what God had called the government of South Africa…a seemingly unstoppable ship of state!

In the months since that message, the picture is becoming clearer. After the elections in May last year, the ruling party lost its majority and had to resort to a coalition givernment to retain some of its power. The juggernaught began to turn around! At first, the ruling party bulldozed old bills through, passed by the old parliament without consulting coalition partners.

However, since then, the juggernaut is not only turning around. It has also has developed a hole. One of its own spokesmen has declared that the ship is sinking. Through the leaders’ stubborn and foolish decisions and actions, our country is being isolated from its historical allies by aligning itself with countries supporting terrorism and insane socialist Ideologies. There is also mounting internal disillusionment and dissatisfaction as the infrastructure crumbles.

AND THE WORLD IS Watching! The eyes of the world are focused on this little country and its conflict with the USA.

Shortly after a conversation with my son, in which I said that our leaders need a prophetic word from God, two prophecies came to light. One prophecy, spoken three years ago, clearly predicts judgment on our president because of the wickedness of his government especially in relation to the ongoing looting of the countriy’s resources and the oppression of the poor.

The second prophecy, spoken to the ANC during a parliamentary session, by the leader of a party with Christian values, declared that the ANC is under God’s curse because they have cursed Israel.

It seems that crux of the antagonism of the USA against South Africa is the case against Israel, taken to the International Court of Justice (the ICJ). Rumours of South Africa’s knowledge of the attack on Israel on October 7, and of Iran’s funding of the ICJ case against Israel are persistently surfacing.

All this evidence against South Africa, especially exposing the wicked intentions of its leaders, is pointing towards God’s involvement with our country in line with His pattern of judgment on Egypt and on Ahab in the Old Testament records I have already outlined in two previous posts. Our president’s stubborn refusal not only to change the laws that are strangling our economy but actually increasing their severity, mirrors the stubbornness of Pharaoh to let God’s people go.

Despite the warnings of international bodies and the pleas of coalition members, the attitude of our president is entrenching the purpose of the ruling party to drag our country into utter ruin. Is this the same way in which God judged Egypt and King Ahab, by giving them what they wanted?

How can we pray for our country?

Since our role as God’s church is to partner with Him in prayer in what He is doing, since Jesus is working, in all things, for His church, and since God’s will is for us to live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness, we can pray two simple prayers, in line with God’s Word…

Matthew 6:9-10 NIV
[9] “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ “

And, after the prophet Nathan’s prophecy to David that God would build him an everlasting dynasty…

2 Samuel 7:18-21, 25-26 NIV
[18]”Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? [19] And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human! [20] What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. [21] For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant…
[25] “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. DO AS YOU PROMISED, [26] so that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established in your sight.”

God will destroy the gods of South Africa as He did the gods of Egypt. He will not tolerate rivals…

God will glorify His name by destroying the wicked who rule over us as He did Pharaoh and his army…

And, God will reveal His glory to the whole world as the world watches to see what happens in our land.

Habakkuk 2:14 NIV
[14]”For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

So, let’s not jump ship as many people are doing. Let’s stay faithful to the Lord and His plans. His pattern in Scripture is clear. He will rescue our land from the evil leaders who are enslaving us to socialism. He will destroy them and the gods they worship. He will show the world that He reigns in our nation and glorify His name in His righteousness and justice.

Psalms 37:1-11 NIV
[1] “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; [2] for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. [3] Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. [4] Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. [5] Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: [6] He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. [7] Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. [8] Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. [9] For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. [10] A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. [11] But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”

THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE

Christian Life,

John 14:4, 6 NLT
[4] “And you know the way to where I am going.”…
[6] Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

It was the eve of Jesus’ death. After years of close association with Him, hearing, listening, following…yes, even clashing with Him, the disciples must have had some idea of what Jesus was about, except…they were obsessed with the idea that the Messiah’s mission was about freeing them from Rome’s stranglehold on their land and their lives.

They were convinced that He was the Messiah; they had seen His power, but…they were not sure how He was going to set about overthrowing Rome’s might against their insignificant resistence.
Perhaps God the Father would send an army of angels, led by Jesus, to drive the Romans out of their land or, perhaps, even better, He would do to the Romans what He did to the Egyptians… drown them in the sea.

Jesus’ talk of His death had fallen on deaf ears. Death at the hands of Roman soldiers, initiated by their own Jewish priesthood, just didn’t fit their expectation.

It was Passover. Deliverance was on their minds. Hopes ran high of a showdown with Rome. Jerusalem was filled with loyal Jews from all over the Roman Empire, who were there to celebrate an apex event in Israel’s history that would hopefully be repeated again.

These Jews had just hailed Jesus as the Son of David despite the displeasure of the Jewish leaders who had no hope in Him and no aspiration for a showdown with Rome. In fact, the Jewish leaders were sellouts to Rome. To them, Jesus was an intruder who constantly picked on them for their hypocrisy. He was as annoying as a pesky fly, to be swatted out of existence.

The disciples were uneasy. Shut away in an upper room, they waited to hear the Master’s plan, perhaps His strategy for conquest. How shocked they must have been to hear Him say, “I’m going away, but trust me, I’m coming back to fetch you.”

Why would He be going away at this crucial moment and where was He going? Who would lead the campaign against Rome? Not one of them, not even the motormouth Peter, was capable of taking on the mammoth task of leading a riff-raff army against the most powerful force in the world.

Thomas, the skeptical one, was bold enough to question Him. “At this most important time, when our hopes of deliverance are high, where might you be going, Jesus?” Perhaps Thomas thought that they could all get out of there with Him. If He was going to escape this terrible situation, so could they.

The disciples were taken aback by His answer. As always, despite their denial, they were forced to shift their minds from the current situation to the realm of the Father, from which and towards which Jesus has lived His life from His earliest days.

Jesus gently rebuked Thomas and, through him, the disciples. Despite their close association with Him for all these years, they still didn’t get it! Didn’t they ever recognise that, like the twelve-year-old of many years ago, He was still about the Father? Hadn’t He tried, through His teaching and miracles, to show them that He and His Father were about something much greater than Roman oppression?

With great solemnity, Jesus spoke these immortal words. “I AM THE WAY…”

“Once and for all, my beloved friends, get this…I’m going home to the Father and I’m the only way anyone else will ever get to Him.”

Everything in this life is not about escaping from any kind of oppression or unjust treatment one person or group inflicts on another. This life, with all its ups and downs, is about freedom from a master far more cruel and destructive than the Romans… the sin nature in us that has us in its grip and, in partnership with the devil himself, will surely drag us into eternal death if we never overcome its power.

Romans 8:13 NIV
[13] “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die…”

Rome’s power was nothing compared with the power of sin and death.

Thomas’ question, asked in ignorance, led Jesus to make a statement that that towers over every other usurper who dares to challenge Him. Despite every delusional claim fashioned to lure people away from faith in Jesus and the real life He can give those who believe in Him, He said, “I am the WAY.”

Jesus was then, and is now, the only one who embodies a life lived in perfect union, submission, and obedience to the Father. The Holy Spirit was His partner and power. The only way for humans ever to stand before the Father, forgiven, righteous, and holy, is to follow Him.

Why must we follow Jesus and not another religious leader who offers some sort of reward at the end of this life? Jesus is also the TRUTH. We can only reach the Father if we go to Him by way of the truth. Who Jesus is, what He says, and what He does is the truth. He proved it by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. If He were a liar, He would still be in the grave like every other religious liar who died and stayed dead!

By following His Way, by living by His Truth, we can experience Life, both now and forever. How can we describe this real life? Perhaps a simple definition of LIFE is…living every day in the perfect love of God without fear.

Is this possible? Yes, it is, simply because Jesus’ way has obliterated every obstacle in the path to the Father. Sin? Gone! Condemnation? Gone! Punishment? Gone! Separation? Gone! Fear? Gone!

Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV
[19] “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Can any delusional religious person or system offer and make good on anything better than Jesus? He embodies everything our hearts crave for in this life and the next.

John 14:27 NLT
[27] “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

Best of all, His legacy of furious peace in our hearts when we believe is the guarantee that everything He claimed to be and do is true. Peace is the seal that our faith is faith not delusion. Jesus is the way to the Father, the truth by which to get to Him, and the life that surpasses every other life we could live both now and for all eternity.

MOLLY AND ME – PATCH PARTNERS

Christian Life, ,

Patch partners…whats that?

“LifeWave” is a company formed that provides a patented treatment, using a unique form of phototherapy, that is able to reverse some of the processes of aging. Through the use of patches stuck onto the skin, the body’s own light waves are stimulated to reactivate the stem cells that heal worn-out or diseased cells in the body.

A few months ago, my little “doxie” has an episode of back pain, common to her breed, that left her back legs too weak to hold her up. At the same time, in God’s amazing way of aligning prayer and answer, I learnt about and bought into the LifeWave way of treating pain.

Desperate to help my little dog, I put a patch on Molly’s back the morning after I received my order of patches. By that evening, Molly was was walking and, within two days, she was running!

I decided to continue the treatment by patching us both with the “flagship” patches, the patches I call, “the one-size-fits-all” treatment that restores function to cells and organs ravaged by age.

Since then, I have patched Molly and me daily with little white discs no bigger than a 20c piece but packed with miracle-working crystals that are slowly rebuilding our bodies.

That’s the reason we are patch-partners!

Together, we are beginning to regain our physical functions, slowly but surely because we have both moved into the “sell-by-date” category. I can see and feel the effects of the healing process. Joints that were stiff and painful are becoming functional again. Skin lesions, the result of aging, are healing. In the months to come, I anticipate, on the experience of others, that internal organs will function efficiently again and the use of expensive medication that keeps me alive will be redundant!

So, Molly and I are being rejuvenated, not so that we will live forever in these mortal bodies but that we will enjoy a quality of life we didn’t think possible until the end of our days.

What is the lesson for me in this new chapter of our lives? Molly is only an animal but a very special little one to me. I saw, in His perfect timing, God’s Iove for a small creature in pain.

In the midst of a world populated by cruel people, the evidence of which is everywhere, there is blessing for those who care for God’s earth and for God’s creatures.

Genesis 1:28 NLT
[28] “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Conservation is built into God’s mandate to humanity to manage the earth.

Proverbs 12:10 NLT
[10] “The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel.”

God’s heart can be clearly seen in our attitude to those who are weaker than ourselves. God is against those who exploit weakness, be it human or animal.

Proverbs 22:22-23 NLT
[22] “Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court. [23] For the Lord is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them.”

The Father has given us the opportunity to learn real kindness and compassion by the way we care for our animals. They can never repay us for what we do to or for them. Like little children, they lean on us for kindness and care.

How grateful I am to the Lord for the little companion who has shared my life for more than eight years. He has fashioned in me a tender heart and taught me to love in a way I could never have learned had He not provided her to be my teacher. I’m happy and grateful to be “patch partners” with her as God fulfills His promise to renew our youth like the eagles. Who knows, we might both live to be the equivalent of 120 years like Moses.

Deuteronomy 34:7 NLT
[7] “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.”

Moses may not have had patches but he had God. Molly and I have patches because of God!

LIVING WITHOUT FEAR

Christian Life, ,

1 John 4:18 NIV
[18] “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

In this world as it is now, is the possibility of living without fear only a pipe-dream? Is it possible to face each new day with such confidence that fear has NO place in our responses to the stuff that happens?

I recently read the story of Anna to an elderly friend in a nearby frail care facility. Anna’s short life, encapsulated in a masterfully crafted book called, “Mr God, This is Anna”, by Fynn, is the true story of a five-year-old runaway child, discovered late at night in a street in pre-war London. Her benefactor, a teenage boy, took her to his home from where, for three years, he learned to travel with her on her journeys of discovery in the magical world of people, creatures, words, and numbers.

Anna was an adventurer. Her goal was Mr God. Every question, every experiment, every discovery, every conclusion led her straight to the heart of “Mr God” who was both her pride and her joy.

Anna’s relationship with Mr God was simple. As Fynn, the author, described… whatever Anna’s circumstances, she hurled herself at Mr God in a free fall of absolute trust, into His arms. Her constant refrain was these three little words, “I ain’t afraid!”

Anna’s short life came to an abrupt end when she fell from a tree in an attempt to rescue a stranded kitten. She was skewered on an iron railing and, without the aid of antibiotics, succumbed to infection. Her last murmured words were, “Fynn, I bet Mr God lets me into heaven for this!”

I believe that this is what real life, the abundant life, is all about…living without fear. We can never escape life’s unpredictability because we will always be a part of this world with all its evils but…what we do with what happens will make all the difference between an adventure and a nightmare.

Fear! Fear stalks everywhere. Its ghostly fingers clutch at our hearts around every dark corner but… fear is a phantom, a “what if” that invades our hearts, clouds our minds, and paralyses our responses if we allow its clammy fingers to squeeze out faith.

Why is fear such a persistent intrusion into our thoughts? The Apostle John said, “Fear has to do with punishment.” Is it possible that fear gets its energy from the subtle idea that every bad experience is God’s way of cracking the whip at us for every real or perceived wrongdoing, and every good experience God’s way of manipulating us with some unknown but sinister intention?

Unlike Anna, we humans are patholigically suspicious of “Mr God”. From where does this suspicion come? From our implacable enemy, the devil, of course. Fear is one of the most potent weapons in his arsenal. Whatever happens, both good and bad, fear intrudes to colour our perceptions of God. If good happens, is it real, how long will it last, why is God being good to me? If bad things happen, what have I done to displease Him?

The Bible is crowded with instructions not to fear. “Do not fear!” or its equivalent, occurs about 330 times in God’s Word, once for almost every day of the year. So, every day should begin with the resolution, “I will not be afraid.”

With this determination, “What if…” can undergo a change. “What if…” becomes “Even if…” when we choose to change our perspective. What can make the change?

God’s love for us, His reassuring antidote to fear, is written indelibly on every page of the Bible. Love and fear can never live together. One cancels the other. God’s love for us rotten sinners is written in blood…the blood of His own son.

John 3:16 NIV
[16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Did you get that? Let’s say it again!

1 John 4:10 NIV
[10] “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Just for good measure, let the Bible say it a third time…

Romans 8:32 NIV
[32] “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Is this not enough to convince us of a love so great that this God, who loves us with a love that gave all and withholds nothing for our good, still loves and will always love us beyond imagination?

John said, “God is love!”, not just “God loves us.” His essence is pure love. That means that He is who He is…LOVE.

Even David, before the cross, embraced this love so big that the universe itself was not big enough to contain or explain it.

Psalms 36:5 NIV
[5]”Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

Psalms 103:11 NIV
[11] “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him…”

Should we, then, not permanently banish fear and embrace the love God has for us in every situation, good or bad. Why? Is it not because life has a lesson to teach us about God’s love so great that it will alter every circumstance we endure from threat to opportunity?

We can only embrace a different response to the “stuff” that happens if we understand God’s purpose and the way He achieves it. If life, for us, is only a set of random happenstances, we will have no reason to expect a good outcome. Like a ball in a football game, we will feel like we are being kicked around by two rival teams, both intent on the winning the game.

What if, instead, we know where God is taking us and can work with Him in gaining His objective? What if we can cancel fear by embracing God’s love? What if we are learning that every adverse happenstance is peeling off another layer of suspicion and mistrust in the perfect love of the Father? What if God’s plan is so to refine our faith in His love that we can turn every “what if” into a resounding “even if”? What if we can grow a trust in God like that of the three Hebrew men who declared, at the threat of the fire,

Daniel 3:16-18 NIV
[16] Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. [17] If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. [18] But EVEN IF he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

No fear!

God’s purpose, in all things, is to restore in us the image of His Son. He desires a family of sons and daughters who perfectly resemble Jesus, His blueprint. Testing is His method. Only testing us can expose the flaws that foul our faith in Him. Every circumstance is a test. Good things and bad things arouse suspicion. Every suspicion calls in question God’s trustworthiness. Every time we say, “even if”, our trust in His infallible love is strengthened and takes us a step nearer to likeness to Jesus.
Every lesson learned means one less test, until, as Paul declared…

Romans 8:37 NIV
[37] “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Is it possible to live without fear, unmoved from our unwavering confidence in God’s perfect love? A resounding “Yes!”, if we choose to change from “What if?” to “Even if!”

Romans 8:28-29 NIV
[28]”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
[29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Armed with this conviction, we can do and be what Paul prescribes…

1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
[58]”Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. LET NOTHING MOVE YOU. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”