Monthly Archives: August 2024

GOD IS A GOOD FATHER

Prayer, ,

Matthew 7:7, 9-11 NLT
[7] “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you….
[9] “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? [10] Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! [11] So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

As I have said before, prayer is a mystery. Why do I say that?

How is it possible that an almighty, holy God, creator and sustainer of the universe, who numbers and names every star and planet, can hear, or would want to hear the faintest whisper from one individual among billions? How can He know each one’s needs before we ask Him? How can He invite us, no, urge us to pray, to seek Him, to persist in our pursuit of His presence, His favour, and His blessing? Even more, why does He want us to partner with Him in His management of the earth and its creatures, through prayer?

Although we will never fathom the depth of His thoughts or understand the grandeur of His ways, the Bible tells us very clearly that God Is good Father.

To me, this is even more amazing, that God should want to be our Father; that He should desire a fellowship so close that we would call Him “Abba”. He wants us to live in that daddy/child intimacy that depends on and trusts Him implicitly as a little child would cling to daddy’s hand for security and protection.

How do we know that this is true? Are we creating something that our hearts deeply desire and lack because our earthly fathers have failed us? Are we stepping into forbidden territory through our undisciplined imagination, pulling God down to our level?

The Bible says an emphatic “No!” to our speculations. Jesus is the evidence that assures us that this notion is not from us but from the Father Himself.

Although the Old Covenant makes mention of God’s role as a tender and loving Father to His people…

Hosea 11:1-4 NLT
[1] “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. [2] But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. [3] I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him. [4] I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him.”

Malachi 1:6 NLT
[6] The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!“

… God’s frustration with His people is the frustration of a father who does everything for his children but they persist in rebelling against his authority in return.

David, God’s model king, recognised the father-heart of God in his magnificent song of praise, perhaps through his own experience.

Psalms 103:13-14 NLT
[13] “The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. [14] For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”

However, the revelation of God’s father role to those who belong to Him came to full bloom when Jesus came to earth as His Son. He modelled the attitude and life of a true son, and taught His disciples how to respond to God as their heavenly Father.

Have you ever noticed Jesus’ powerful statement to Mary after His resurrection when He confirmed everything He had taught His disciples about the Father?

John 20:17 NLT
[17] “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and YOUR FATHER, to my God and YOUR GOD.’”

Everything about their relationship with God as Father hung on this one crucial event – Jesus’ resurrection. He died and rose again to bring Father and estranged sons together. Reconciliation is at the heart of our father/child relationship with God.

He sent His Spirit into our hearts to take up permanent residence in us and to give us a strong awareness of who we are.

Romans 8:15-16 NLT
[15] “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” [16] For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”

God’s promise to Israel is His assurance to us too.

Isaiah 46:3-4 NLT
[3] “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. [4] I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.”

1 John 3:1 NLT
[1]” See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!…”

This reality brings me to two important facts about God and us as Father and sons, and prayer.

Matthew 6:9-10 NLT
[9] “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. [10] May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven….”

First, we always come to God in prayer as our Father. We recognise who He is, our HEAVENLY Father… sovereign, holy, His will supreme but… He is our Father. It’s that close, intimate, humble, child-like attitude that should characterise our interaction with God. We don’t come as shoppers with grocery-lists of demands and requests; we don’t come as orphans with cap-in-hand to beg for favours; we don’t come as strangers hoping for help when we run into trouble; we come as beloved children to a Father who takes His role of provider and protector seriously.

Second, we should keep coming to Him with everything. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you….” Prayer is not about nagging God until He responds to us. Prayer is about always bringing everything to God because He is a good Father.

Surely, Jesus said, if earthly parents, who are essentially evil, know that it’s right to give their children the good things they ask for, how much more will God, who is our good Father, give us what is good for us.

So, if God is a good Father in the way He responds to our prayers, He is a good Father in all the ways He treats us. He supervises our lives from beginning to end, from conception to our last breath. Even if we don’t understand what’s going on, we can trust Him because He is working for our good.

Good, good, good, all the time!

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His covenant love endures forever.”

GOD, WHY ARE DOING NOTHING?

Apologetics, ,

Habakkuk 1:2 NLT
[2] “How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save… “

The world, and our own country, is in such a mess that we think God has lost control. We cry out to Him but nothing changes. Sin is rife everywhere. Evil doers are becoming bolder and more blatant in their pursuit of ways to get what they want at the expense of others.

Like Habakkuk, we accuse God of inactivity, even indifference as His own people suffer along with the rest. We beg Him to do something and wait in vain for some kind of supernatural intervention that will magically straighten things out.

Let’s examine the situation from the Bible’s perspective.

Is God still in charge? The Bible assures us that He never changes and that He is always in charge in human affairs. For example, Daniel recorded event after event where God revealed His sovereignty even in Babylon where His people were in captivity. He drove history towards their restoration and repatriation for His one purpose…to bring His Son into the world.

God’s timing and ours don’t match. Only when we look back do we see how He was moving in the world to prepare for the coming of His Messiah.

Paul writes…

Romans 5:6 NLT
[6] “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME and died for us sinners.*

Galatians 4:4 NLT
[4] “But when THE RIGHT TIME came God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”

History reveals that God was putting all the structures in place to prepare for Jesus’ coming.

We can be sure, then, that God will intervene at the right time.

God’s response to Habakkuk’s complaint is a startling reminder that God works in ways we least anticipate. His people were on a downward spiral of idolatry and wickedness. God’s way to intervene was by sending them into captivity at the hands of ruthless and cruel conquerors, the Babylonians. The outcome for the people of Judah was an abrupt end to their passion for idolatry.

“You want to worship idols! You can have them all you like, in Bsbylon!” They felt the heat of a ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, who enforced idolatry on pain of death.

As He did to Egypt, so God showed Babylon and His own people His power over those who tried to destroy them. He rendered Babylon’s dumb idols useless to stand against those who revealed a steadfast faith in the one true God. He put an arrogant world ruler in his place by sending him into insanity for a season. He brought Babylon down through more powerful nations, the Medes and Persians. He moved Israel towards conquest, occupation and oppression by the Romans.

Then Jesus came…

Is God working now?

We are assured, both by history and by God’s Word, that we can safely trust God to work in the world to fulfill His will. We need not be concerned about what is going on around us. God has not abandoned His plan to set up His kingdom on earth under the command of His Son.

Psalms 2:1-6 NLT
[1] “Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? [2] The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. [3] “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.” [4] But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. [5] Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. [6] For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

Psalms 2:7-8 NLT
[7] “The king proclaims the Lord’s decree: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. [8] Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.”

Jesus assures us…

John 5:17 NLT
[17] But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

Jesus said it and He doesn’t lie.

What is God doing?

We don’t know but we can be sure that..

Ephesians 1:11 NIV
[11] “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything IN CONFORMITY WITH THE PURPOSE OF HIS WILL… “

We may not see or understand what God is doing in the world, nor is it important that we do, but we can be sure that…

God is still in charge;

God is working behind the scenes to move history towards and to prepare His people for Jesus’ return;

Jesus is in charge of and working in everything in the world for the good of the church;

Ephesians 1:22 NLT
[22] “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.”

Gid is working in everything for our good;

Romans 8:28-29 NLT
[28]”And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. [29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

God’s purpose, “in all things”, everything that is going on around us and in our Iives, is to restore the image of Jesus in us.

Jesus didn’t fuss about what Rome was doing in the world or what the religious rulers were doing in Israel. His focus was on what people were doing in their response to Him. “Reject me and my teaching and you are doomed. Receive me and my teaching and you will have eternal life.”

The rest is in God’s hands.

It’s as simple as that!

John 3:16-18 NLT
[16] “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. [18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

GOD HAS THE LAST WORD

Apologetics, ,

Racism” is an issue that raises its ugly head all over the world. It’s the mud that people sling at each other when they don’t like what the other has said or done. It’s the brick wall they hide behind to shield their own “racist” attitudes. It’s the paint they apply to blame the other person’s colour on the outside.

However, racism, and all its fallacies, is, well, a fallacy! You see, when God created the first pair, He made the beginning of one race, the human race. All the colour, culture, and group distinctions are variations of one race. If we strip off our skin, we are all the same on the inside.

Acts of the Apostles 17:26 NLT
[26] “From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.”

So, what can be clearer than that!

Where does racism originate? I comes from foolish members of this one race who think that the variations in one race equals different races! Since a dachshund differs from a dalmatian, is it not a dog? Since a lion differs from a house cat, is it not a cat?

When Jesus came to rescue the human race from sin, He created another race but on very different grounds. His world was divided into two variations in the human race, but not on the grounds of colour or culture. Their defining difference were spiritual. The Jews were God’s people; the Gentiles, were not. The Jews believed in one God; the Gentiles worshipped many gods.

The hatred between Jew and Gentile was deep and bitter. Their racism would never be solved by negotiation or education. There was no way of ever bringing about “racial” tolerance. It was what it was.

God’s way of ending the enmity was risky and radical but permanent and effective.

Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT
[14] “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. [15] He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. [16] Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”

How about that!

No more reason to be at loggerheads with each other. Peace and togetherness at last! A new perspective on racism. It does not exist in God’s family.

Galatians 3:28-29 NLT
[28]”There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”

Therefore, racism is the artificial distinction created by those who leave God out of their lives.

From God’s perspective, then, there are only two variations in the human race.

1 John 5:11-12 NLT
[11]” And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”

All other distinctions are false and mischievous, creating wars that have no grounds to exist.

Why are children not off the table of political contestation?

Christian life

I have felt compelled to forward this article to my readers because this writer puts this incident in a South African school into its correct perspective.

Daily Friend
Why are children not off the table of political contestation?
Opinions

Martin van Staden
Aug 8, 2024
-Listen To This

Twelve 12th grade pupils at Pretoria High School for Girls (PHSG) recently went through a public ordeal involving government officials, political parties, and the press media. They were accused of engaging in racism. Guilty or not, as a society we need to ask: why do we regard our children as legitimate items of political contestation?

If the twelve girls were found to be racist, they should at least have been disciplined, and more likely have been suspended and ultimately expelled. The school was right to investigate the allegations.

In this context, they were however found to be not guilty. This has not satisfied the bloodhounds, for whom only a guilty verdict would be a legitimate outcome. Therefore, the Gauteng Department of Education, which Panyaza Lesufi turned into a race-obsessed circus, will conduct its own ‘investigation.’

But the discrete allegation of racism is the less important aspect of this debacle. Even if the girls were racist, they should have been protected – first and foremost by their parents, and second by the school – from the political circus that followed.

Expelling them, quietly, for actual misbehaviour, is an appropriate remedy. Traumatising them in full view of the world is not.

Kids, often, are stupid – and perhaps even evil. But childhood is the time in our lives when we get to be stupid and evil, and discover the true meaning and implication of ‘consequences’. Children and teenagers should be allowed to be stupid and evil in relative safety, provided they do not cause real, quantifiable harm to the interests of others.

This safety should be guaranteed, under all circumstances, by their parents and daytime guardians at school.

This applies just as much to the dreadful girl who recorded herself saying her white peers should ‘bow’ before her, as it does to the other twelve girls.

Devastate those who seek to politicise children

If there is even the slightest hint that a political issue will be made of pupils, whose whole life awaiting them might be ruined, the parents must stop whatever else it is they are doing – their careers, hobbies, or further education – and bring absolute and uncompromising devastation to whoever initiated or enabled the politicisation.

They must start, of course, with the school.

Parents are forced, by law, to enrol their children in schools. There is no legal choice. In other words, parents are forced to part with their supervision of their kids for at least six hours of five days out of every week. Again – and this cannot be over-emphasised – there is no choice in this.

And because there is no choice, the school enters into a sacred pact with the parents: We will safeguard the interests of your children, who we take from you by force, with every fibre of our being. In all circumstances, the interests of your children will weigh more heavily than our own interests.

If the school fails to live up to this sacred pact, parents must exact a very costly vengeance. Even if the school did not instigate the trouble, it was the school’s sacred responsibility to shield its wards from the political abuse that followed. The school does not get to shift responsibility to the education department or even to the law. The school is where the rubber meets the road.

Agency and choice

While the girls in question are somewhere between 17 and 19, age is not entirely relevant in this context. Choice is relevant.

School is not a choice. Placing a bunch of kids and adults together in a situation that is necessarily characterised by coerced association means that different rules from what we expect in ordinary society do and must apply.

The kids, who are forced to be present, are not full agents, even if they are over 18. Their volition is limited by law.

The reason Hamas cannot legitimately say ‘they were soldiers’ is a valid justification for kidnapping, raping, and murdering unarmed 19-year-old women in civilian clothing – they were conscripts who had no choice but to serve occasionally in the Israeli Defence Force – is the same reason we cannot expect pupils to be completely volitional agents.

One expects that were compulsory schooling laws – a relatively novel innovation – to be absent, many parents and kids would choose not to place themselves in situations where they feel discriminated against; as the girls at PHSG alleged that they were. And kids who want to wear afro-styled hair or doeks would not go to places where afro-styled hair or doeks are prohibited (because they have a choice).

But because they have no choice, we cannot – at least not fully – hold kids accountable for the things they do to adapt to the involuntary situation they find themselves in. We certainly cannot ruin their lives for a ‘choice’ they made within the context of being forced into association with others.

The answer is known: We are abdicating responsibility

Of course, we already know the answer to the question I am posing with the title of this column.

The reason children are not off the table of political contestation is because we decided, long ago – and continue affirming this decision, every day – that our children are in fact the state’s responsibility rather than our own. We are, in fact, quite happy to abandon our responsibility for our children.

Only when this begins to sit uneasily with us can we start truly building the framework necessary to protect children from the increasingly abusive and all-encompassing realm of politics. And what begins as an unease must necessarily end with the abolition of compulsory schooling laws, the privatisation of public education, and restoring respect for the principle of freedom of association.

We all have a role to play in this endeavour, but for once it is not the job of think tanks, politicians, or officials to lead the charge. It is the sacred responsibility of parents qua parents.

[Photo: FaceBook]

GOD’S GOODNESS LEADS TO REPENTANCE

Christian Life, ,

Romans 2:4 NLT
[4] “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

Paul is in conversation with his fellow Jews. He’s on a mission to expose the guilt of the whole human race before God. There are two categories of people in Paul’s world – Gentiles and Jews, separated and at enmity because of their attitude towards God but equally guilty before Him for their disobedience to His Word.

The Gentile word is guilty and the object of God’s wrath because of what they have done with God’s truth… They have suppressed truth by their wickedness, denied and exchanged truth for lies, created their own objects of worship, thumbed their nose at and perverted God’s moral standards and, eventually turned right and wrong upside down. Scripture declares the Gentiles guilty as charged.

The Jews are smug. They are not like the Gentiles. They are privileged people. They have God’s law. They are in covenant with the God the Gentiles have rejected. They belong to God.

“Don’t you understand?” Paul declares. “This is exactly where you have gone horribly wrong!” The Jews believed that having these privileges safeguarded them from the Gentiles’ fate. “It’s not what you have that counts. It’s what you do with what you have that makes the difference.”

The sin of the Jews was, in the main, hypocrisy. They hid behind their possession of the law to cover their disobedience to God’s covenant. .

Romans 2:1, 3 NLT
[1] “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things…
[3] Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?“

Then Paul makes this astonishing statement. “Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

Psalm 73 is the musing of a man who was wrestling with an observation we also wrestle with at times. Why do the ungodly prosper? Why does it seem that nothing can go wrong for them? Even wayward believers seem to get away with their sin. It’s as though God turns a blind eye to what they do.

Trouble is, we don’t think the way God thinks. We think that the way to get the attention of the ungodly or the sinning believer is to turn up the heat on them. God does sometimes get people’s attention through some crisis or catastrophe. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment often helps to confirm their opinion of God. “He doesn’t love me!” or even “God hates me. Look what He has done to me,” when disaster is often a consequence of their own disobedience.

Paul’s reasoning with the Jews who were guilty of hypocrisy was to remind them of God’s goodness. What had He done for them? Exactly what they hid behind to excuse their disobedience! His Word! His covenant! His instructions for living!

Romans 2:17-20 NLT
[17] “You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. [18] You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. [19] You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. [20] You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.”

Possessing God`s law was no protection from their sin. Only obedience to His law would guarantee His favour.

Romans 2:1-4 NLT
[1] “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. [2] And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. [3] Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? [4] Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

God’s patience with sinners is enough to remind us how good He is. He has every right to take those out who persist in their sin, but he hasn’t. He lets them live to have an opportunity to repent and turn to Him.

The day will come when God confirms the choices people make in this life. Until then, He sustains life and gives breath to all so that they can come to their senses and call on His name.

2 Peter 3:8-10 NLT
[8] “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. [9] The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.”

God is patient because of His mercy. However, God will destroy sinners because He is holy. It is up to us to ensure that we live our lives in the fear of the Lord. If we do this, as Peter assures us….

2 Peter 1:10-11 NLT
[10]” So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. [11] Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”