God....My God

Oh Mighty God , who are we ?  That you love us this much.  Did we do anything that we deserved  your grace, Is there any good that we did?  Did we bring any magnificent gift in your altar ? Did we come up with some great idea? Father ,Father , what did we do ? !!! What did we do my God, what is it Father, What is it my God?  

I have looked everywhere  but  I have not found anything good. There is nothing good and worthy that I discovered in me, Father not even one , I have searched inside out but I have came back empty handed.  I am  sinner  , there is nothing good in me, there is absolutely nothing intrinsically good in me. I have tried to pretend and look good and appear righteous but you and I know that there is nothing  worthy and wonderful in the person that I am.  There is no will to do good and to do the right thing. When I resolve to do the right thing I end up  doing the bad thing. Even when I do a good thing I do a bad thing in it. There is nothing attractive  and glorious in me.  Heavenly father I am ridden with sin and unrighteousness. My heart is sinking in covetousness and fleshly desires.  I have no potential in me , I have no ability that is intrinsically mine.  I don't have the means at all.  

 But God .... But God.... My God Maker and Creator of all things , Redeemer of hopeless and lost souls. You have overtaken  my whole being with your love and your grace. You have rescued me  from the present hell and eternal hell.  You have captured me from darkness . You have given me your own righteousness , you have given me your own divine nature.   You given me hope, you have given my life meaning.  I have hope and I have you in my life.

Ephesians 2:1-10  1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins"  Death is a hopeless imprisonment. Its a desperate  incarceration. There is no hope of escape  to life at all. In death someones destiny  is completed and done. There is no home coming in death. Its an imprisonment where there is no parole at all.  Death is eternal  enslavement to evil where there is  not even a  reason or  hope for emancipation.  In plain words death is a totally hopeless and irreversible  state. If an object  has been burned into ashes  it can never be restored into its original state. This is our dismal diagnosis without Jesus Christ and it has a completely negative prognosis. Here I am specifically referring to spiritual death.  With Jesus Christ death is rendered powerless , because when Jesus comes into my life  He quickens within me and makes me alive together with Him. This is the sheer power of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it totally  overtakes us and changes us completely.

This is to expose that Jesus Christ makes the  impossible possible , He reverses the irreversible. This to show that the new birth is a miraculous event in our lives.  It is not ushered in by the will of the flesh or by the will of man. The new birth is not familial inheritance  but it is completely God's miraculous activity in our lives.  The new birth is not our  achievement its absolutely  God'S divine work in us. We should fight  and capture every thought that begins to suggest that we somehow influenced or worked to bring about our salvation. It was because of God , by God , through God  and for God.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.

Privatization of Faith

The issue of faith has been dubbed  a personal issue and as a result  this  has privatized it.. Its an area that is frowned  at when its being shared in a public space. It has actually become a taboo. These days saying a swear word has become more tolerable than expressing allegiance to Jesus Christ publicly.  

The issue of our faith in Jesus Christ is not an isolated controversial issue  but it is our very lifestyle as christians , it is who we are. It is our culture , it is how we express ourselves as human beings in the known world.  It is in the core of my faith that my life and my message must affect the person next to me. Sharing of our faith is one of the core values of our faith. Its the value  for the spreading of the fame and glory of our Lord and King Jesus Christ.

Therefore the privatization of faith  is forcing us to compromise the core mission of our faith. We cannot  tolerate  this because it prevents us to be who we really are  i.e Christians. Christians must express their faith to others  even if those people have beliefs of their own.

Who is God? Part 1

Acts 20:24 The God who made the world and everything in it , being Lord of heaven and earth , does not live in temples made by man , nor is served by human hands, as though he needed anything , since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath  and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth , having determined  allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling place , that the should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way towards Him and find Him . Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being.......


God  is  infinite  and  He is ultimate reality. I know that is very difficult for some people  to swallow this , it doesn't settle well with their intelligence and affections. They are unhappy that God is God  since they want to rule and dictate everything in their lives.  Understanding God   as creator is crucial and ultimate to  the Faith,  this  is also crucial in understanding the existence  and the revelation God. Our faith hangs in the very creative ability of God i.e that everything emanates from God.  God is the creator , He made all  things. The existence of the universe and everything in it  is not because of  some cosmic accident that happened billion years ago. Everything Is!because of God.  From the far reaches of space  to the depths of the oceans God's hand is all over it.

People of the world  this is huge ! Its absolutely staggering.  God in His infinite wisdom and power purposefully created the world.  He made the very details of everything.  The composition of the stars is his very invention. He is the great scientific mind behind the hallmark of every living creature  i.e the DNA. This very fact implies that  God is infinitely big and beyond our wildest  ideas.  Nothing is new to God , He is never surprised or intimidated . He  is altogether  and is absolutely intelligent and resourceful.

By virtue of being the creator of the  universe , God is the rightful and absolute ruler of this world.  Yes He is the rightful ruler of my life  and your  life. What He says  is what should be  and it is what is to be followed to the very letter.  He is also the ruler of the very details and intricacies of life.  For the most of our lives  we have been attempting the  impossible. One way or the other many of us have cried to "house" and "box" God.  We have made and created boundaries  for God , saying to Him  " this is far you can go" This is absolutely impossible , we want God to be what He is not. We want Him  to come on board to our terms and conditions as if we voted Him into power. God is not a democratically elected ruler of this world. He was not interviewed by a panel  and found to have the qualifications. We should never be prescriptive and instructive to God , that is absolutely an insult to the God of the universe who is all knowing and in control.  God has  therefore  no obligation to give an account or answer to us of His actions. He is the creator and ruler of the world and  He is excellent at that. God is all-wise and does what pleases Him , what pleases God is always the best. He therefore has our best interests at heart as He gives us the best and that is Himself.


God is absolutely resourceful. He provides breath and everything and to the 7 billion people on earth and billions of living creatures. He never runs out  , He overflows with resources. He always wants to provide and He overflows with provision.  God is not in debt  and He doesn't owe any one anything.........................................

Does Your Life Count?

The first man, Adam lived 930 years and God had a purpose and an agenda for that. After the flood God said our years will be 120 years.  Although the number of years we live is important but is not more important than what we do with the years that God has given us. The latter is of great importance.  I therefore think that it is paramount  that we ask ourselves these questions:  "Am I  living according to the way God purposed ?" Am I using everything God has given me to my utmost abilities " Am I making a positive and a lasting difference? "  The  content of our lives on this earth is  of extreme importance.  We don't want to reach the end of our lives and say we have  wasted it.

John Piper says   "You dont have to know a lot of things to in order make a  huge difference for the LORD  in the world.  But you do need to know a few things that are great and be willing to live for them and die for them. People that make a difference in the world are  not people who have mastered a lot of things  , they are people who have been mastered  by a very few things that are very very great. If you want your life to count.  If you want your life to count , you don't have to high IQ , you dont have to  have a high EQ, you dont have to be smart ,  you don't have to have good looks, you dont have to be from a good family or a good school.  You just have to know a few basic , simple , glorious , majestic, obvious ,unchanging eternal things and be gripped by them and be willing to lay down your life for them." 

The life we have been we are given for a purpose and we supposed to make it count. We are stewards of our lives.  Let us not let it slip off our hands , let us not allow it to be used for the wrong purposes. In another place John Piper says" It is possible to waste your life. Few things make me tremble more than the possibility of taking this onetime gift of life and wasting it. Every morning when I walked into the kitchen as a boy I saw hanging on the wall the plaque that now hangs in my living room: “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” And now I am almost 58, and the river of life is spilling over the falls of my days with tremendous speed. More and more I smell eternity. And oh, how I want to use my life well. It is so short and so fragile and so final. You get one chance to live your life. And then the judgment. I speak as a father who has children your age, and I am jealous with Jesus that they and you not waste your life."This is crucial people , let us not miss the boat.  Every day of our lives is meant to count. All of us were made to be world changers. We were made to worship.  Worship is not just singing but worship is doing the things that glory God the creator of the universe. We are meant to be reflectors of His glory. 

God Is.

God IsRev 4:1 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

God Is. He is self-existent , He has no beginning and has no ending. There was no time that GOD was not. God has always been . God will ever be God. He cant help it He just Is.

God is not an idea or some abstract

 thought. He was not conceived , He was not invented and He was not created. There was never time time that God was not in all eternity. Eternity proceeds out of God and God is eternal.

God is not trying to be God because He Is period! He did not apply or submit a CV that He can be God. He was not interviewed and found fit to be God. The issue is that God Is and He can be whatever He Is because absolutely Is.

God is infinitely resourceful. Everything that exists, exists because of Him. If God was not , nothing will be. Everything owes its existence to God. There is no one or anything that God submits to or gets His resources from. God has no supplier and has no factory outside Himself. He is the factory and the supplier. God doesn't get wisdom from anywhere, He is infinitely wise and all knowing . Nothing and I mean nothing escapes the attention of God.

We therefore are compelled to refuse pay allegiance to any other but God because God Is. He deserves to be worshiped by everything that He has brought into existence. Acts 17: 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.....

Hell , Love and the Justice of God Part II

As a human being it is easy to get caught up with emotion about certain things- when a decision has to be made we often let our heart go before us. We live our lives  based on what feels right at the time. In His Word though, God is clear. He wants us to be led by His Spirit and not our hearts.

“The heart is deceptive above all things.” It is deceptive because it  is the seat of our emotions: a place that has been tainted by the Fall. The devil who is the master deceiver, uses whatever tricks he can in order to keep us bound by the fall. For the unsaved, he will try to prevent them from being saved and for the saved, he tries to prevent us from waling in the fullness that God wants us to live in so he messes with us in whatever way he can and we end up confused, depressed, unstable or defeated- either way of no use to a world that is dying unaware because of the desperate need they have for God.

I do not know Rob Bell, the prominent preacher who came forth with this doctrine about the nonexistence of hell , so personally I cannot judge him but I think that he is leading the masses astray. This is a dangerous doctrine- it is without Scriptural basis and uses emotion and human reason to talk about what has been plainly put in black and white in the Bible. By denying  hell, this man is making light of the whole message of the gospel and making God look like a liar and a fool. I think it is a doctrine from the devil and from the pit of hell.

The Bible is a redemptive  story about God and His people that He loved so much even though they constantly turned their backs on Him and disobeyed. It is the ultimate epic about His great plan(that cost Him so much) to save them  from the ultimate separation- an eternity in hell. It is how He was willing to sacrifice His Son, who was indeed inseparable from Himself. He brought Him down to endure life as a human being and eventually death on a cross because He knew what awaited man if He didn’t do it.

By saying  that there is no hell, this man is saying that Jesus Christ wasted His endeavor  at winning us and that He didn’t have to come down and die on the cross and shed His Blood for us. God would in any case not go through with His punishment, It makes God out to be a liar and He is the God of all Truth. His Word is established  forever. Several Scriptures address the issue of Hell.

Hell is not a made up fictional concept that flowed from the mind of man, it is a real place that the Bible speaks about. It has been prepared for those who deny Gods solution(Jesus.) His argument/message hinges on the fact that a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell. However, when you read the Bible it portrays God as this Great God who is multifaceted. This God of Love and  God of Justice. This God of all Truth.

In His book ”Screwtape Letters” C.S Lewis speaks about the devil/ demons and says: “what the devil wants is for us to either deny  their existence or to place extreme importance on them”. What this man has done is play into the devils hands. If Christians do not believe in Hell or acknowledge it, they cannot reach out to the unbelieving masses because it would in essence be like selling a product they don’t believe in , that is the Word of God/the Gospel  and ultimately its redemptive power.

“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.  But I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”

The Bible is the greatest love story ever told, the epic of epics, the book of eternal truth. I could never claim to understand it fully but I know in its core is the heart and mind of God for His people. People that He made in His image and wants to spend eternity with. He wants to call them back to that He created them for because He knows there is another option and it leads to destruction. I trust His heart for me as poured out on the pages of His book and anything that belittles that or makes light of it, I would prefer to steer away from  because it is assisting the thief in stealing, killing and destroying the best God has for His people.

"Guard your heart above all else for out of it flow the issues of life."

God wants us to guard our hearts because He has made it as a treasure that HE wants to hold but the devil also wants his share and thus it can be deceptive. The devil is on the prowl now more than ever before and its time we started being careful about what we accept. His Word is established forever. Some of the Scriptures that address the issue of Hell John5:28, 29; Matthew5:29:Mark9:43; Matt 25:41; Mark9:48; Matthew3:12; Mat8:12; 13:42, 49, 50: matt22:13; 24:51 25;30; Romans 2:5-8; Hebrews10:27-31; revelations14:10-11;

By Tumelo Sikhosana

Hell , Love and the Justice of God Part I: Should we do away with Hell?

Once in a while  we hear someone  of note  questioning or denying the teaching on  hell, one recent example of that is Rob bell , pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church  and author  of the book called "Love Wins: A book about Heaven and Hell and  fate of every person who  ever lived." The publishers statement about the book goes like this :"Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins. "  In the preface of the book Rob Bell says "A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better…. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear."  This is tragic and out right  heretical because it  is a denial of the clear  Biblical teaching on  hell. Hell is  depicted in the Bible  as  place of  conscious eternal suffering where there is no possibility of repentance, away from the presence of God . In 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 Paul says "6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,  7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels  8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from2 the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,  10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

In his book Hell under fire Albert Mohler says "  the biblical doctrine of hell is but a distant memory. For so many persons in this postmodern world, the biblical doctrine of hell has become simply unthinkable.................. All the same, there are particular doctrines that are especially odious and repulsive to the modern and postmodern mind. The traditional doctrine of hell as a place of everlasting punishment bears that scandal in a particular way. The doctrine is offensive to modern sensibilities and an embarrassment to many who consider themselves to be Christians" 

Our problem  is that we have so much  been conditioned  to wickedness  and now  we have altogether tolerated  and almost regarded some evil as normal and okay. This has made us to think that the wrath of God is  an overreaction and that it is uncalled for.  The God that we are dealing with here has not changed, He is the same yesterday , today and forever, it  doesn't matter whether we have been conditioned or accepted some manifestations of wickedness in us , His word remains the same.  In his Essay  The Eternal Torments of Hell Jonathan Edwards says " God infinitely hates sin  and therefore sin is infinitely evil and deserves eternal punishment"  Sin is not merely a personal thing committed against self & others  but it is an insurrection committed against an infinite being called God. Sin is a clear  mistreatment and disregard of God.  Unless we see the true nature of sin  as infinite evil against God , we will see hell as an overreaction  and will try in every way  to extinguish it from our mind and hearts. We can try as much as we can to deny it , but it is not going to make hell disappear  as a manifestation  of Gods wrath.

Folks, this is very serious , the wrath of God is not just something we can play around  and rethink or reconstruct whenever we like so that it can fit with our feelings and inclinations. God went into great heights  to save us from this wrath, He allowed His Son to stand in our place  to experience the penalty of our sin. Do we think that God is okay  with what we do on earth ?  Do we think he is okay with our wickedness? The truth is that God is angry against our wickedness and there is nothing that keeps the wicked man any moment out of hell  but its rather the restraining hand of God over hell.

Hell begins in our hearts and souls  when we have  rejected God.  We  then become  slaves to wickedness of  all types.  The heart therefore becomes  a  ground where the hell fires are kindled by evil.  Hell is then consummated when the body and soul are sent there to literally be tormented forever and ever. In Romans 1: 18-32  Bible gives  a clear  synopsis why the wrath of God has been revealed against all ungodliness:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

In all this God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God wants to rescue the human race from evil and hell. In His love He has given us what we never deserved(GRACE) and withheld from us what we deserved(MERCY) but when we reject Him we get what we deserve(JUSTICE).  God has done the utmost highest for undeserving traitors like me and you but instead of receiving his grace with joy we spit at His face and say '' God we don't need you we can manage just fine by ourselves". Imagine, we express that in the face of God who is infinitely powerful, infinitely loving and lovely.  Do we think then hell is an overreaction?   What we have done is infinitely evil and deserves an infinite punishment but the good news is  God is  still gracious with us  , He loves us so much!!! His love towards us is greater than we can ever imagine , we have done so much against God  but God still loves us and wants to save us.  He gave His Son  Jesus Christ  to die on the cross  , a cross you and I deserved , God poured out His wrath on his Son instead of me.  Even to this  day God is calling us , it is not because of a need on Gods part but it is because He loves us with an everlasting love. Therefore lets listen to Him  as He is calling us in Isaiah 55: 1-3; 6-7“Come, everyone who thirsts,come to the waters;and he who has no money,come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way,and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

In the presence of the Lord

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.(ESV)

The greatest desire of our hearts  should  be to dwell in the presence of the Lord.  The presence of God is our very  life and  therefore a pursuit for  presence of the Lord is a fight for life and a fight for our joy. We should therefore  advance in fighting  against the elements of self , the world and the enemy so that we can dwell continuously  in the presence  of God.  Folks, Jesus Christ has  opened a way  for us !!!, when He was crucified the curtain between the Holy place and the Holy of Holies was  thorn from top to bottom  and we instantly had access to the Presence of God through the Great High priest. 1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ also suffered once for sins , the righteous  for the unrighteous that He  might bring us to God,...."It  must be very clear to us that  it is only by Jesus Christ that we can enter and dwell in the presence of the Lord  , He embodies the presence of the Lord and He is ever in the presence of God.

The presence of God is real and it should be our reality today, it should not only be our future hope but also our daily experience. The Lords prayer  says" Thy will be done  on earth as it is in Heaven" , this is present tense and is talking about today. God wants us to move in a Heavenly reality  and this is how Jesus Christ  lived  on earth. The presence of God should not be confined to certain  times , like  our morning and evening devotions but  we should practice it in all our daily activities. God wants us to be ever present in His presence and He wants to be intimately present in our presence.

The devil likes to keep us  in falsehood, he wants us to believe that everything is alright  and that we are at the right place with  God  while on the contrary  we are faraway from His presence. He numbs our senses to tolerate things we should not be tolerating. We are  also so  quickly satisfied  and we never want to advance in our pursuit for God, The enemy wants to keep us  harmless. He  comes to steal,  kill and destroy. Kirk Bennet said" The least amount of the presence of God you are satisfied with , is what you will have. But God wants to give us more and He wants to give us His fullness"  The devil does everything in his power to keep us uninterested in the presence of God. This is a  fight for faith  and we need to awake from our indifference  and fight!!!. James 4:7-8  "Submit yourselves therefore to God . Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you"  Hebrews 4: 14-16  "Since then we have a Great High Priest  who has passed through the heavens , Jesus , the Son of God , let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses , but one who was in every respect has been tempted as we are , yet without sin . Let us then with confidence  draw  near to the Throne  of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace  to help in time of need."

The presence of God is closely linked to our spiritual disciplines , if our prayer life is non-existent the presenceof God is going to be very scarce in our lives. The presence of the Lord is brought in  by the power of His Word ,  therefore we need to meditate on it day and night  so that we might be impassioned and ignited for His presence. We therefore need to invest our lives in prayer and meditating in His word. This should be daily , intentional , purposeful and private.   God wants us to  daily stand before Him in prayer  , he wants us to spend extended time praying and meditating on His word. This is the time!! let us not be mediocre , let us arise  and be inspired by men like Daniel and David. In Psalm 27: 4 David said" One thing I have desired of the Lord , that I will seek after : that  I might dwell in the house of the Lord  all the days of my life , to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple"

The presence of God is an undeserved privilege  that we often forfeit , we really underestimate what  has been given to us by God to enjoy. In Ephesians 3: 14-20 Paul was praying and he said"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

By Camagu

Putting all your weight on God- Part 1

Life is not always fair. People are not  always fair.  The world and people are at times very cruel. Life does not always go the way  we have planned it to be and we  get very disappointed .  The world we live in  has taught us to believe in ourselves and  follow our  hearts  and yet we still  get disappointed. On every side  we are bombarded with self-help techniques : " 7 steps to success "  5 ways to get your boss to like you"  "20 keys to unlock your dream" "Your best life now" etc.. etc.  In spite of this we don't always  get our way.  In fact we were not created to move on our way  but  we created to  run on Gods way.  If we still believe in ourselves and follow our hearts , we will never  be eternally happy . True  happiness is found in the Fountain of Living waters(God)  not in ourselves or things. God really wants us to  be happy by enjoying Him as God. He wants us  to trust Him.

Isaiah 40: 29-31                 
"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,they will walk and not be faint."

This is a beautiful  verse and it has a promise , God is actually putting his faithfulness on the line. Unless were are prepared to trust God  we will never  experience the sweetness of His goodness and faithfulness. To be honest it is not always  easy to trust  God and this is because of the disappointments and problems we face in life. However  this verse gives us  a glimpse that  God is interested in our lives and even in our weaknesses and disappointments .

The amazing thing  about this chapter  is that in the preceding verses God gives us a synopsis of his nature & works to persuade us to really trust Him. It is like  God's  Résumé or CV. The great God of heaven is really interested in us.   So he says:

Verse 12
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heaven ?Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket or weighed the mountains on the scales  and the hills in a balance?"

Verse 15
"Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket ; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. "

Verse 17
"Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing."

Verse 28
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.He will not grow tired or weary,and his understanding no one can fathom."

Therefore  He is big and mighty  and is beyond our greatest imaginations.  So go ahead and  trust Him. However you might be asking this question : " What does it mean to trust God?"
Trusting  God  is :  Committing yourself to Him, resting your hope on Him. Trust means;  Fall at full length  and lie upon the Rock, Cast yourself upon Jesus, Fall with your full weight on God.  To illustrate it further , it  is like  falling on a queen bed  knowing that  it will receive you fully and that it won't let go.  God doesn't just want us to hold his hand  but he wants us to rest on Him with all our weight. There is a great assurance in  trusting God  and it is that God will never drop us.

By Camagu Potelwa

Worshiping God

Jeremiah 2:13 My people have committed to sins/evils. They have forsaken me the fountain of living water. And have dug themselves cisterns , broken cisterns  that cannot hold water.

God remains who He is whether we worship Him or not. Worshiping or not worshiping God does not change His nature. He will never stop being the  Fountain of Living water. God does not need our worship but he deserves our worship. He is all-sufficient  and he does not lack anything. God is secure  and intact. We are not doing Him a favour by worshiping Him. He does not have approval addiction. He can't help it he is just that way. He sustains all things  and all of life  and without him everything falls.

However , when it comes to us the lack of worship  has considerable effects. In fact when we forsake him ,  God  calls that evil.  Not worship God  affects our present lives negatively and  massively affects our destiny. This is tragic because it means  hopelessness and  eternal separation  from the fountain of living water.  The disturbing thing is that the things that we worship  are broken things which are temporal. They are deceitful as they never bring lasting satisfaction but instead they bring hopelessness.  When we do this we are really looking down on God and God  hates that and that's why He calls it evil.

Lastly , worshiping God  is a  privilege and has infinite  benefits for us.  When we worship God we are actually connecting with who God is and participate in the Glory of God. Infact it is for this reason that we were created, that we  might glorify and enjoy God forever.  Worshiping   God   has amazing effects for us in our present life and also in the life to come. Although worship doesn't change God  but it  dramatically changes our lives. When you have an encounter with  God ,  I  assure you that you will never be the same again.  God is the Fountain of Living Water and every created thing is not.  In view of all this  we should  long to worship God in everything we think , say  and do because worhiping God is an unparalled privilege.

Crooked ways made straight.

Every valley shall be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked shall become straight, And the rough ways smooth. And all man kind will see Gods salvation Luke 3:5

Intro

Firstly this is the work that God does. No man can do it , even if they have the highest IQ & EQ. This is something that God does every day. He performs it in our new birth and also performs it in our walk with Him.

God takes the base things of this world and raises them up to shame the wise. When God does it no man can reverse it. If God opens a door no man can close it and if he closes a door no man can open it.

Background of the Verse

Basically luke was a Doctor, he was a learned man and a devout follower of Jesus Christ. He was writing this book to Theophilus who was a well known person in society at that time. Luke was giving his well investigated account of the life and the ministry of Jesus. In Chapter 3 he was talking about John the Baptist, and his role in the ministry of Jesus. John the Baptist was basically preparing the way for Jesus. The verse above was a quotation by Luke from the Prophet Isaiah about John.

A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]


Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."( Isaiah 40: 4-5)

Exposition

This is a visual description of the work that Jesus was to do and is now doing. He is basically saying that Jesus was going to do miracles . He is describing the miracle of salvation and the new birth. It is impossible for us to do this , it is only Jesus Christ who can do it. He was speaking about the abilities and the capabilities of the the God-man. He was talking about God in flesh, he was speaking about Emmanuel( God with us). He is matchless an incomparable. Jesus is the message and power which enables change. He has brought this miracle of new birth by sacrificing his own life on behalf of us , so that God might be glorified. Without him everything is crooked and rough. When He comes he brings a radical change to an individual. Without Christ Christianity will fall apart because He is the revelation that holds it together.

The new birth basically is brought in our lives by God when we trust in that Historical event of the Death and resurrection of Jesus; Believing that Jesus took upon himself our sins, stood in our place, absorbed the wrath of God that was against us.And was raised up giving us the hope and sure promise of eternal life with Him. He became a sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God.The Bible says that we are born again by the abiding and living word of God. So this is not trivial ,its very serious and its a miracle of life.

Oh.. The lord of heaven made the crooked ways straight in my heart, he opened my eyes , he raised me up from the stinking mud . He transformed my life alltogether. uSomandla wajika imifula yazintaba ebomini bam, indlela ezigoso zathi tye.

Application and Conclusion

Even today in our Christian walk, God wants to do this . In some of us there are mountains that still need to be taken down, kusekho indlela ezogoso afuna ukuzilungisa. Kusekhona igrabile afuna ukuyisusa ezintlizwiyen zethu. Kusenezithixo(idols) ezizintaba afuna ukuzisusa. Our heart is an idol factory it can make an idol out of anything. God wants to smash out these idols in our hearts so that we might worship Him only.

Therefore lets trust Him to do this work in our hearts. Lets expect Him to do it because He wants to do it. Lets trust Him to use us to bring about this work to the world. We are the agents of change. Jesus Christ has left us with a mandate.

Let Christ be marveled at and be glorified in our lives. In Jesus Name. Amen

Your Identity determines your Destiny

The truth is we are not going to be here forever , one day we are going to die and pass on to the afterlife.This will either be heaven or hell depending on whether we had allowed Christ to make us children God or that we had utterly rejected Him. None of us know the day or the hour of our death but we know that its coming.Therefore the issue of identity and destiny is very important and it is of great urgency. Who we become will determine our destiny. The scriptures are very clear about this, Corinthians 5: 17,21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And John 3:3 Jesus answered him(Nicodemus), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  We can all do good things and obey all the commandments  but unless we "become" new in Christ we will never see God but rather we will spend eternity away from the presence of God.

Concerning this issue there are four basic questions that people are asking.  They might not express them the same way but these questions can be summarized as follows:

1. Who am I

2. Why am I here

3. What is wrong with the world

4. How can we fix it?

Who am I?

The post-modern belief is that we are a result of series random of evolutionary processes or accidents.However, with the complexity and sophistication of the human being we cannot be a result of a series of evolutionary processes. Therefore there has to be an intelligent designer, who has thought about us and created us. There is no other worldview that answers the question of  origin like the Christian worldview answers it. The Bible says that we were created by GOD in His own image. Think about this for a moment , the LORD GOD almighty who is all sufficient and all wise  decided to make us in His own image! This speaks of value and worth. After God had created man He said it was very good , we are therefore the crown and glory of Gods creation and created to  maximally reflect the majesty and the Glory of God.

Why am I here?

The  post-modern thinking  says we are here to consume and enjoy , to get all that we can get. Furthermore it says that  we are here to make most of this life  because that's all that is. This philosophy says that we are not responsible to  God but rather we are responsible  to ourselves  and that we can create our own destiny. This is rather  tragic because we have decided to exclude the very God  who has created us  and this is the very thing that builds  up the wrath of God against  us. Romans 1: 21-26 says " For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools,  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."

 We are here  to glorify God by enjoying him forever , we are here to delight in GOD the fountain of living waters. In Acts 17 :26-28a Paul says "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,  that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, In him we live and move and have our being’"

What is wrong with world?

Whats wrong with the world is "me". The problem is that man has fallen, and  has sinned against God, they have mistreated and looked down upon Him and his Word. And if we don't address this underlying problem in our world it will continue becoming chaotic and evil. I know that people are asking serious question about evil and suffering but they tend to forget the sinfulness and the evil that is in their hearts and minds. In a nutshell man has sinned against the Holy God and that has resulted in the evil and death that we see today. In Jeremiah 2:13 God says for my people have committed two evils:they have forsaken me,the fountain of living waters,and hewed out cisterns for themselves,broken cisterns that can hold no water. "  We have literally eyeballed God told Him that we don't need Him and decided that we are going to be rulers of our lives.

How can we fix it?

 Is there a solution to this problem? The Bible says Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 'Death here means eternal separation from God and this is the penalty of sin. Because God is Holy and Just He cannot leave sin unpunished , He has to punish it! God is also a loving God and He wants a way to satisfy his wrath and  at the same time save us from the  penalty of sin. In the fullness of time God decided to come to this world in the person of Jesus Christ. "John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.He came unto his own, and his own received him not. "

God in all his Glory and Excellency decided to come and live in Time and with His creation. This He did because he loved us with an everlasting love. Hebrews says"Hebrew 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. "

Christ gave his life for us , it was not taken away from him because he had the power to save his life. He was crucified on the Cross for our sins and it was not the nails that held him on the cross but it was His love for us. The Bible says he became sin for us and all our sins and and curses were upon Him . He experienced the penalty our sin in our stead and God justly satisfied his wrath against us upon Him. He died and was buried and on the third day He rose again victorious over death. And by His resurrection we have received eternal Life.  And if we receive and obey this, we pass from death unto life.John 1:12-13 says "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Then the first thing we need to do is to recognize that we are sinners and have sinned against God . We cannot change without acknowledging our current situation.Therefore lets us repent from our sins and receive eternal life from Christ Jesus! This is an answer to the question of origin, purpose,value, and destiny.

by Camagu Potelwa

For more posts go to : camagu.blogspot.com