“And it was so, as her soul was departing (for she died) that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.” (Genesis 35:18)
Many children are being saddled with strange names nowadays, such as the boy whose sport-minded parents named him ‘Espn’. In colonial time, parents sometimes opened the Bible at random and selected the first word they saw, which led one child to be named, “Notwithstanding Griswold. There were some strange names in the Old Testament too. In Genesis 35, as Rachel struggled with childbirth, she named her son Ben-Oni, which means “Son of my sorrow.” Imagine having a name that would constantly remind you of that your birth had caused your mother’s death! Graciously the boy’s father, Jacob, discarded that name and called him Benjamin, which means “Son of My Right Hand”…a designation of honour in the home. Often we suffer travail in life, times of trouble can leave us bitter, and we can go through life with negative emotions. But those are the times when we dare trust the Lord to bring honour out of suffering and triumph out of tears. By faith we see things in a different light. Faith in God’s promises is a winning strategy…it was the tribe of Benjamin that later produced Israel’s first king and the great apostle Paul. Prayer: “Heavenly Father I pray that You will help me see the bigger picture and strengthen my faith in Your promises for my life, in Jesus’ Name…amen
0 Comments
I want to address your fears today; What is fear?
Oxford Dictionary definition: “a distressing emotion aroused by real or imaginary threat.” What does fear do? When the evening news reports economic collapse, crime and natural disasters, it can ignite anxiety. You may think, “Am I next on the list?” ….fear invades Maybe you’ve experienced loss, thought failure was inevitable, or felt frozen and unable to take the next step in your life…fear paralyzes Fear is the devil’s tool used to destroy our hope in the future. It saps our energy and robs us of joy in living. BUT!!!! The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” God in His Word wants to reassure us; over 360 times in the Bible it is written, “fear not.” EXPECT GREAT THINGS This resurrection life that you have received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s an adventure, greeting God in the morning in a child-like manner saying, “Good morning Dad.” God touches our spirits and confirms who we really are, and what the relationship is: Father and children. And we know that we are going to receive an unbelievable inheritance! Prayer: “Heavenly Father, today I greet You as your child by saying, “Good morning Dad! How are You? Dad, I ask for your advice for the day ahead for the things that I am going to face, for the people I am going to meet. Help me represent You to the best of my ability; I pray in Jesus’ Name Your Son…amen! “Jesus said to her: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25,26)
Many Christians seek more profound answers, a more profound understanding of Christianity, and how to be a Christian in a world that does not understand the essence of being a Christian (sometimes even Christians follow their own concepts of what one should be one). How do I live a Christian life in a world where humans themselves are the focal point, where the self has become “god”? In a world where we are taught to do our own thing and the ethic of the cross, self-denial and self-sacrifice are strange and unwelcomed concepts. In a world where it is not “proper” or “correct” to proclaim that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Some seek answers, a deeper relationship with God, a more powerful spiritual life after wandering from one church to the next, from one spiritual technique to the next, from one experience to the other without finding lasting fruit and peace. Jesus Christ is the answer. He has no question. He knows the answers; He gives the answers. He is the Father’s answer to the sin and distress of the world. Jesus was different and still is today than everybody else. He came to show us a different road to follow. Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to walk in Jesus’ shoes. Lead me in the way You have drawn up for us in Jesus’ Name…amen There has never been anybody like Jesus Christ. He stands at the center of the history of mankind; there is no way you can ignore Him once you have heard about Him. There are those who hate Him, others love Him, yet other philosophize about Him. Many try to avoid Him, some like to be associated with Him while others will leave no stone unturned in their attempt to destroy His kingdom. There is one thing, however, that cannot be done…you cannot ignore Jesus Christ, He is incomparable.
Whatever people might say about Him, He is unequalled, always has been and always will be. One man like Jesus is sufficient for all eternity. What He did, who He is, what He said is enough to satisfy all of humanity forever. Yes, He is sufficient for every living person on this planet, irrespective of race, colour, creed, language or nationality. He walked where we walk daily, contended with the same questions we contend with daily, was subjected to temptation just as we are. He knows sickness, persecution, rejection, pain, loneliness, misunderstanding, humiliation, the praise of mankind as well as the corruption of humankind, the attacks of Satan. He lived this life so He could teach us HOW to live…this man is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God our Heavenly Father. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You that he took my place on the cross so that I could live…amen Good day to all
“I know that nothing good, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out…as it is written, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 7:18-19 and 3:10) We serve a majestic, awesome and great God. There is one truth about God we need to understand and that is: He doesn’t called those who are equipped. He equips those He calls. When you read your Bible you will see that God calls people from all sides of life to serve Him and commit to Him. That is the reason and this reason alone, each of us qualifies to be helped by God. He is the God of hope, He is the merciful and compassionate God. He is the God who forgives and does think about it any longer. He is the God who mends, heals and restores. He is the God who makes new again. He is the God of ‘starting over’. He is the friend of tax collectors and sinners; fishermen and lawyers, doctors and kings. He is God, our shadow. Think about it; Psalm 91 gives us permission so sit and rest in His shadow. He never leaves us, He walks alongside us and identifies with us. He is not embarrassed to be called our God. God is never ashamed of us and at no time does He not want to be seen in our company. Your sin and brokenness cannot surprise God; your sin and your brokenness are never out of His reach, never so deep that you cannot be lifted out of it by the grace of God. Whether you are a Christian or not you qualify to be called by God because you are His creation and His child. All you need to do is call upon His Name and He will answer… Prayer: Heavenly Father how soothing is Your Name, it is as ointment upon my lips. Father I thank you for calling me and making me what I am today…a child of God. Amen As we spoke before, your sin and brokenness cannot surprise God. He gave His Son so that no one of us needs to be pitiful, second-class Christian. Our Father gave us a Mediator and a High priest, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, who delivers us from sin and has compassion for our weaknesses. God knows that we are made of dust…He made us this way.
But God is greater than our sins and weaknesses, they do not embarrass Him; He does not stand there wringing His hands because He does not know what to do with us. No! He is a strong Redeemer, He is our Helper, He provided a Paschal Lamb for us.. He is like the shadow of a massive rock in a barren landscape, a Father who has mercy on us. He is the Balm of Gilead, the healer of every wound and illness…His wounds made this possible. He came for murderers, thieves, rapists, the immoral, idolaters and adulterers; he came for the outcasts and deceivers… “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) Friends, God is well aware of you, your rejection, contempt, derision, defamation, scorn, failures and despair. Jesus experienced it all on the cross when His own people crucified Him. So cheer up, put that smile back on your face and rejoice because SOMEONE HAS GONE TO THE CROSS FOR YOU AND HAS TAKEN YOUR PLACE THERE. “They were on their way to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way; and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.” Mark 10:32
Today we have churches filled with millions of people who do not know what they are doing here; confused people, self-willed people, people full of their own plans, ambitions and dreams. Countless people are focused only on themselves. Most are not aware that there is another road and some who do know refuse to walk on it. When you start walking the road of your calling, there are many misunderstandings, a lot of eyebrows are raised and many who turned back and do not continue on this road. Many people will say that you are foolish for throwing away “fantastic” opportunities, and more still will pity you for the “enormous price” you are paying for following the Lord Jesus Christ. But when Jesus was leading His men to Jerusalem, he was purposeful, He was driven by the force, the passion and the power of His calling. Your calling will take you places that makes your human nature want to stop and turn away. That is this reason God has put a choice before you…live your calling, irrespective of where it takes you. It’s your choice… Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, i greatly desire to follow in the footsteps of Your Son Jesus. Help me overcome my fears of the unknown I face in my walk, in Jesus’ name…amen “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish; so that it yields its seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 54: 9-11)
In the very life of every Christian there are things we do not understand. Very often we do not have all the answers; many things do not make sense and we have to go by faith ignoring what our senses tell us. We trust that God is in charge and whatever is placed in front of us we will overcome. But there will always a part of God’s plan we will not understand, some questions that will not be answered, not in this life anyway. But the Bible teaches us that we must give thanks IN everything but not FOR everything. That is the victory we have is whatever comes our way we are not alone; we have God the Father on our side and that is why we are able to rejoice in the face of adversities. The Bible says: “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” (I John 5:4) . You might say, “How can this be? What makes me an overcomer?” This is the answer the Bible gives to that: “You, dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Dear ones, we are yet facing another week and we know that we will face things that will be difficult to handle, but let us keep this in mind: “What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Prayer: Heavenly Father I want to thank You and give You praise for the rain we received this weekend. I pray Lord that not only for the earth to receive rain but I pray that You might rain upon our spirits so we also may be refreshed with Your mercies in Jesus’ Name…amen “But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God…having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Why do people hate Jesus, why do they become angry with Him? Because they are evil and their works come to light when they are close to Him. Because Jesus makes demands and the real reason why they came to Him was to take advantage of Him, to serve their own purpose. Take note, Jesus never runs after people, never. He does not adapt His demands or lower His standards. Not for anybody, and not for you. If you have never reach the point where you say to yourself: “I wonder if I am prepared to walk this road?” Then you have never really heard what Jesus is in fact saying. Jesus can see your heart; He knows when you have a form, of godliness, a semblance of piety, in other words when you act like you are religious, but deny its power, many people sit in churches today who have distanced themselves from Jesus long ago. Let me ask you this: What is it about Jesus that attracts you? His miracles? His ability to give you your daily bread? His ability to make things go well with you? BUT Are you willing to drink from the cup He had to drink from? Are you willing to be crucified with Him? There is no other way to become part of Him. Or are you offended at Him? Here is a thought for this weekend: YOUR ATTITUDE WILL DETERMINE YOUR ALTITUDE Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father I come to You in the Name of Your Son Jesus Christ and I have made the decision to follow in His footstep, to obey your commands to the very best of my ability. Strengthen my weaknesses and complete my strengths…amen “You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you; so that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.” (Deut 5:33)
Jesus knew there was no other road for Him; His way gave rise to astonishment, but He was not intimidated by this. Jesus’ way disappointed many people like the rich young man who decided not to follow Him because he was not prepared to make the sacrificed required of him by Jesus. You are here because God made you. God gave you a specific calling that only you can live up to. When you do live out your calling you need to know two things: 1) It will always bring some or other form of relief to the need of the world. That is why God created you…for others not for yourself. 2) You can expect that sometimes all hell will break lose around you. You will become a target for Satan’s attacks because the forces of evil will want to stop you in your calling, in your walk with the Lord. Yes the devil will use ANYONE to try and stop you, even other Christians, church leaders and sinners alike. Peter, Jesus’ disciple tried to stop Him on His way to the cross; the leaders of the synagogues tried to stop Him from doing wonders in the Name of God. The world will try and sometime succeed in leading you away from what you were created for. But the Bible says: “For a just man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Pro 24: 16) To fulfill your destiny, you will have to make the quality decision to live God’s way. Prayer: Heavenly Father I have decided to follow You regardless of the dangers ahead. Help to remain faithful to your call upon my life and help me to remain strong in the face of adversities in Jesus’ Name…amen |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
All
Archives
June 2015
|