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
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, March 15, 2010
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
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
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