You might be glad to see that this will just be a short one. (A first for me!) I just want to share 2 Bible verses.
The first is from Job, right after he was afflicted with sores all over his body. His wife told him to 'curse God and die.'
But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:10)
Compare this statement with some of Solomon's wisdom:
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. (Eccl. 7:14)
or as the NIV puts it:
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.
Do you thank God when something good happens to you? Nothing wrong with that. But do you consider that bad things can also be a gift from God? If we believe God is sovereign, it has to be true - God allows good and bad things in our lives for our own eternal benefit. He is not the creator of evil, but as long as we live in this sinful world, God will use anything - good and bad, but more often than not the bad - to draw us closer to Himself. We must understand what it is that Satan came to kill, steal and destroy... do you think he cares about our current comfort, or our souls? If he can draw us away from God with money or good fortune, maybe he will! Just because it seems good doesn't mean it's from God, and just because it seems bad doesn't mean its from Satan. We must learn to receive both good and bad from God's hand, as these verses teach. Again, we can learn so much from Job's case study. Satan only did what God allowed him to do. Ultimately it was God who used adversity in Job's life to draw Job closer to Himself. Remember, in Job 42:5-6 Job says:
"I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job recognised God's work in his life through adversity. He also repented that he ever questioned and complained to God. Sometimes we do not know why. We also do not know the future, as Ecclesiastes states. We can only hold on to what we do know, and that is that God is trustworthy, loving, faithful, all powerful, infinite in wisdom, unchanging, merciful, just, all knowing, sovereign, good and perfect. I believe this honours God. I don't pretend to get it right all the time. Like Job, I fail to remember who God is and fully trust Him when things don't work out the way I would like. I cannot remind myself too often of these facts. In it is wrapped my peace and joy and contentment.
How do these verses fit into your theology?
Friday, 15 November 2013
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
The Tabitha Kruger Memorial Hall official opening
The way it came about to have a school hall named after our daughter was unexpected. When my parents moved down to the coast 2,5 years ago, they noticed the needs of the local community of Great Brak. Unemployment and alcoholism, among other things, is a big problem. The result is a lot of moral or social issues, inevitably impeding the development and education of the children. It all just seemed so hopeless, as the cycle is bound to repeat itself with the exception of one or two success stories, e.g. the rugby player David Wesso, who went to school at Great Brak Primary.
So my dad decided to go and speak to the Headmaster of the school to find out if he could contribute to maybe get a preschool class up and running, or to find out what the needs were. Mr Abrahams, the headmaster, immediately said that they have a great need for a school hall. At that stage the school was not able to assemble except outside in the sun/wind/cold, and obviously not at all when it rained. As the school provides daily meals for the many impoverished children, a hall would mean that they could sit down at a table to eat, rather than walk and stand around outside while eating. It would mean that they can fit everybody under one roof, as the local church hall, which they used from time to time, is too small to accommodate everybody. Basically, it would mean that they would be able to do many things, that we have always taken for granted, for the first time.
There are some wonderful charity organisations in South Africa, e.g. the Garden Cities Archway Foundation, a CSI initiative by housing developer Garden Cities, who aims to build 700 school halls in the Western Cape only by ploughing their after-tax profit into the project. This goal, however, could take more than 150 years to achieve. So who knows where Great Brak Primary would have been on the list. The extra help from my dad prompted them to move the school to the top of their list, so although the contribution my dad provided was not the most significant, it was the catalyst that set the wheel in motion. This explains why they are so incredibly thankful to my dad.
They started building the 800-seater hall earlier this year, and somewhere during the development phases my dad came up with the idea to name the hall after Tabitha. He saw it as a way, to not only remember her, but to share the things we, and he in particular, have learned from our trials. As long as we live we will never forget the work God has done in our lives - turning ashes into beauty - and we will use every opportunity to share it with others. Wessel and I felt honoured and excited when he first mentioned this idea to us.
I did not really know what to expect from the opening event, but we were overwhelmed by the community's thankful response, their warm and honest manner and the effort they put in to make it a memorable occasion. The hall was decorated in black, white and shades of pink, with beautiful proteas everywhere. The school choir entertained us with a song from the balcony. All the contributors, from Archway to local businesses, churches and individuals, even if they just provided a microwave or teaspoons, were honoured. It was wonderful to be part of the occasion. In my opinion Mr Abrahams and the rest of the staff have some of the most difficult jobs on the planet. Education is the goal, but the struggles they face are far more than just providing books and teachers. When your grade 2's are smoking pot with their dads, you know learning the 2 times table is suddenly a lot more complicated.
Rich or poor, I once again realised that although people's problems might be different, the answer is always the same. The answer can always be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who has given us an eternal Hope that is far beyond whatever this life may bring or not bring.
My dad had an opportunity to say something, so I'll end by sharing an extract from his speech (translated from Afrikaans):
"I don't want to talk about Tabitha today, but rather share what we as a family have learned from her life and death, because it is applicable to all of us.
Life does not always run smoothly, not even for Christians. The Bible teaches us that life is filled with problems, uncertainties and suffering. So we always tend to ask the question - why? Where was God? Although we don't know all the answers to life's difficult questions, we know that God is enough, and we can trust Him. That is the test of our faith. It is by God's grace that we have learned the following:
1) God is sovereign, i.e. completely in control of whatever comes our way. Nothing catches Him off guard or hinders His plan. He knows each of us by name and wants us to know Him, our Creator.
2) Not only is God in control, He is also 100% good and wise. His ways are not our ways. What looks good to us might not be good for our souls. God sees the bigger picture - so we can trust Him completely. He loves us. Rom 8:28 - he makes all things work together for good to those who loves Him and are called according to His purpose. That means God can even use the bad things in our lives to benefit us in the end.
3) God values our relationship with Him more than any other earthly thing we might have/want. That is why He did not spare His own Son, but thought it good to send Jesus to come and live among us, and to bear the punishment for our sins on the cross, so that we don't have to pay with eternal death which we deserve, but can have eternal life. It is more important for God to change us than what it is for Him to change our circumstances. Our circumstances are temporary, but our soul will live forever. We might still not know why Tabitha had to die, but we know that God used this situation to draw us closer to Him. And to know God is the reason why we are here. It is the only relationship that brings true happiness and fulfillment.
4) We might never have everything we want in this life, we might even think God is unfair. But in Jesus we have received a free gift. A gift we would never be able to buy ourselves, because in our sin we cannot atone for sin. Only Jesus, the perfect God-man, the spotless lamb, could. No pain or suffering on earth can compare with eternal damnation, and no earthly joy can come close to what Heaven will be like. Therefore don't focus on what you have or don't have, but rather on Jesus. Not only is he the only one that can save you from sin and death, He also promised to be with us and give us the necessary strength to deal with our suffering. He is close to everyone who calls on Him in humility.
May this hall be a reminder to everyone, not of a little sick girl, but of a great God who loves us and who will do whatever it takes to draw us closer to Him."
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| The beautifully decorated hall |
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| Placemats they printed and laminated for the occasion |
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| Wessel and my niece, Ezé who is visiting my parents for the holidays |
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| Me and Juan, my nephew |
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| Me and my beautiful mom |
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| All together... |
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| My dad, officially declaring the hall open |
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| 'The Tabitha Kruger Memorial Hall. This hall was made possible by a joint venture between the Luus Family Trust, Garden Cities Archway Foundation & Western Cape Education Department. Officially opened on the 20th September 2013 by Dr Herman Luus' |
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| With Mr Abrahams, the Headmaster |
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| Some of the learners, clearing the tables |
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| The rest of the school buildings |
Ps. This article appeared in the local newspaper on the 25th of September:
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Think positive thoughts…and then what?
On Sundays my Facebook is filled with messages of positive thinking, speaking life, watch what you say, you are what you think, you are the master of your universe, the controller of your destiny, etc. And wow doesn't it sound good. You can call it affirmative prayer, visualisation, a renewed mind or 'speaking life' if you want. This is basic New Age/New Thought/Law of attraction philosophy, popularised by people like William Walker Atkinson (Thought Vibration of the Law of Attraction in the Thought World), Wallace C. Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich), Napoleon HIll ( The Law of Success in 16 Lessons / Think and Grow Rich) and more recently Rhonda Byrne (The Secret).
A lot of people swear by these philosophies, mostly I believe because they want it to be true - after all, who doesn't want to be in control and be successful, rich and happy? You are free to believe what you want, taking the eternal consequences into account, off course. But I am writing this as a warning to well-meaning friends who are being deceived into thinking that these philosophies are Christian, when in fact they are far from it. Yes, these philosophies are being proclaimed as Biblical in many churches today. Not the other way around (i.e. New Age did not get these ideas from Biblical principles, as some may think). You may say 'but I can tell you of 10 people that it worked for!' Then I will say I can show you 100 people that it didn't work for. I will therefore look at a few popular arguments from some streams of Christianity and try to refute them Biblically. If you have any other arguments not mentioned here, feel free to comment.
Prov 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
This simply means that a great deal of good or harm can be achieved by the power of the tongue. James teaches (James 3, the great 'Taming the tongue' passage) that the tongue can set a forest on fire, but a Christian's life ought to be marked by the control of his tongue. We must be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:19).
I want to be clear on this. Words can have a certain measure of consequences, which is what the scriptures here address, but it is not the same as the power of positive thinking. E.g. if you affirm your husband with words of encouragement, support and love, you will most likely have a better marriage than the complaining, nagging, criticising neighbour's wife. Watching what you say is quite different to the practice of repeating a phrase over and over, avoiding and rejecting the reality (if it sounds negative at all) and concentrating on a desirable outcome in the hope that your wishful thinking will change the course of events. Phil 4:8 does speak about thinking good thoughts, but not because it will change your circumstances, but because it pleases God, (and as people saved by His grace we WANT to please Him!). In fact, God will not only judge our actions, but our thoughts as well. Saying and thinking anything that is not true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent or worthy of praise is a sin. Its not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person (Matt 15:11).
Let me illustrate with another example. Saying something like 'my sister has bronchitus' will not change whether she is sick or not. It is not sinful to say so. Neither will saying 'she is not sick' change anything, except that I will be a liar. Whether I (or she) says it or not, write it down or not, think it or not, if she has bronchitis she will have to deal with it and get the proper rest and medication in order to become better. But if I say something evil about her, whether true or not, I defile myself (by sinning against God) and my words may cause much harm. Please try to see the difference.
Now there is another verse in proverbs that says:
'A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.' (Prov 17:22) It is a well known fact that certain conditions can lead to other conditions, e.g. depression or stress may lead to other physical problems like headaches, anxiety, obesity, accelerated ageing, heart or gastrointestinal problems. A joyful heart (or positive thinking as some would interpret it) can't fix everything though. If you have a chronic illness like asthma, or were born deaf, a joyful heart will not fix it. Don't overanalyse a simple proverb like this, to say more than what it was intended to (or to say what you want it to say, based on popular philosophies).
Another popular scripture people quote in the 'Christianisation' of New Age philosophy, is Prov 23:7 (NKJV) 'For as he thinks in his heart, so is he'. I wish people would take the time to read the verse prior, or at least the rest of verse 7. Or they can consider reading it in any other translation, which will convey the same original intended concept, but without the opportunity to take one part of the verse out of context and build a sermon on it. Here is the whole passage in the NKJV:
6 Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
Here it is in the ESV:
6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
do not desire his delicacies,
7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
Pretty self explanatory - don't think you know a person by what they say - it's their thoughts that reveal who they really are. It is impossible to derive any positive thinking message from this passage when read as a whole, the way it was intended to be read. On the contrary, this passage speaks of evil thoughts - doing one thing but thinking another (like a hypocrite). It does NOT say that if you think something, you will become it. Rather it says what you think reveals who you already are!
And then another popular one: Genesis 1 - God created the world by simply speaking the words…so you can do it too!
Just writing it down already feels ridiculous. One slight problem - we are not God! If He is the Creator, and we are His creation, how would people come to the conclusion that we have switched roles? We declare and speak into being, and God obeys? Not so! God has not changed, He is still God and He is still in control of the Universe. Being a Christian means you are saved by grace. It does not mean that you have earned certain rights and privileges and that God now follows your orders, just to say thank you. No, everything we ask and pray for is still subject to His will. There is no Biblical basis for 'declaring' your wishes and 'claiming' your wants. People practicing this sort of thing are simply on an egocentric power trip. Reality tells us that they have no real power to change anything. If they really did have the power, I wonder why they don't go around to places of real need like hospitals, orphanages and cemeteries and just 'speak life'. (Really selfish of them to limit that power to themselves and their own churches!)
Anything miraculous that happens today is by God's will and power, not ours. Even Jesus, who said that He came to do the will of His Father, prayed “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luk 22:42) Jesus knew that there was a bigger picture to consider, and therefore submitted to the will of God the Father in fulfilling the Salvation plan.
Our wants/needs/prayers can be very self-focussed. But God sees the bigger picture and therefore answers our prayers by His power, according to His wisdom and love. So to summarise why I have a problem with this movement in Christianity:
• Positive thinking appeals to the flesh, and therefore has universal appeal. (1 John 2:16: For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.)
• Instead of learning to be content, positive thinking teaches to focus on the things that we don't have, resulting in even more discontentment. (Heb 13:5, Phil 4:11-12, 1 Tim 6:6-11, Luk 12:15, 2 Cor 12:10)• It diminishes the need to rely on God by supposedly putting man in the power seat. (Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.)• It gives the impression that this life is all there is, instead of recognising the imperfections around us as a reminder that our real home is in heaven. (1 Pet 2:11, Phil 3:20)• With this mindset, Jesus becomes no more than a means to an end, a magic charm to throw in there and make it feel all 'Christian', rather than THE ONE who ALONE SATISFIES, because without His substitutionary death we have no means to solve our biggest problem, i.e. our sin problem, but will pay our own debt by eternal death.
Unfortunately some modern churches have lost sight of the bigger picture by not keeping Jesus and the gospel as the centre (first importance - 1 Cor 15:3). Instead they are appealing to people's lusts and taking advantage of people's dire situations by making false promises that sound good and can draw a crowd (even backing it up with scriptures taken out of context), but in the end, it will lead to disillusionment because it doesn't work. It greatly saddens me, because it is a false hope, and a false understanding of the gospel.
The Hope we have in Jesus is not a 'I hope it all works out in the end' or 'I wish this will happen'. It is an unshaken, steadfast Hope that will not change, not now and not for all eternity. Even if everything goes haywire in this life and I never fulfil all my dreams or live up to my potential or become successful or legendary or rich, even if I loose everything like Job, we can still say with confidence, with Peter (1 Pet 1:3-4): 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…'
A lot of people swear by these philosophies, mostly I believe because they want it to be true - after all, who doesn't want to be in control and be successful, rich and happy? You are free to believe what you want, taking the eternal consequences into account, off course. But I am writing this as a warning to well-meaning friends who are being deceived into thinking that these philosophies are Christian, when in fact they are far from it. Yes, these philosophies are being proclaimed as Biblical in many churches today. Not the other way around (i.e. New Age did not get these ideas from Biblical principles, as some may think). You may say 'but I can tell you of 10 people that it worked for!' Then I will say I can show you 100 people that it didn't work for. I will therefore look at a few popular arguments from some streams of Christianity and try to refute them Biblically. If you have any other arguments not mentioned here, feel free to comment.
Prov 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
This simply means that a great deal of good or harm can be achieved by the power of the tongue. James teaches (James 3, the great 'Taming the tongue' passage) that the tongue can set a forest on fire, but a Christian's life ought to be marked by the control of his tongue. We must be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:19).
I want to be clear on this. Words can have a certain measure of consequences, which is what the scriptures here address, but it is not the same as the power of positive thinking. E.g. if you affirm your husband with words of encouragement, support and love, you will most likely have a better marriage than the complaining, nagging, criticising neighbour's wife. Watching what you say is quite different to the practice of repeating a phrase over and over, avoiding and rejecting the reality (if it sounds negative at all) and concentrating on a desirable outcome in the hope that your wishful thinking will change the course of events. Phil 4:8 does speak about thinking good thoughts, but not because it will change your circumstances, but because it pleases God, (and as people saved by His grace we WANT to please Him!). In fact, God will not only judge our actions, but our thoughts as well. Saying and thinking anything that is not true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent or worthy of praise is a sin. Its not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person (Matt 15:11).
Let me illustrate with another example. Saying something like 'my sister has bronchitus' will not change whether she is sick or not. It is not sinful to say so. Neither will saying 'she is not sick' change anything, except that I will be a liar. Whether I (or she) says it or not, write it down or not, think it or not, if she has bronchitis she will have to deal with it and get the proper rest and medication in order to become better. But if I say something evil about her, whether true or not, I defile myself (by sinning against God) and my words may cause much harm. Please try to see the difference.
Now there is another verse in proverbs that says:
'A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.' (Prov 17:22) It is a well known fact that certain conditions can lead to other conditions, e.g. depression or stress may lead to other physical problems like headaches, anxiety, obesity, accelerated ageing, heart or gastrointestinal problems. A joyful heart (or positive thinking as some would interpret it) can't fix everything though. If you have a chronic illness like asthma, or were born deaf, a joyful heart will not fix it. Don't overanalyse a simple proverb like this, to say more than what it was intended to (or to say what you want it to say, based on popular philosophies).
Another popular scripture people quote in the 'Christianisation' of New Age philosophy, is Prov 23:7 (NKJV) 'For as he thinks in his heart, so is he'. I wish people would take the time to read the verse prior, or at least the rest of verse 7. Or they can consider reading it in any other translation, which will convey the same original intended concept, but without the opportunity to take one part of the verse out of context and build a sermon on it. Here is the whole passage in the NKJV:
6 Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
Here it is in the ESV:
6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
do not desire his delicacies,
7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
Pretty self explanatory - don't think you know a person by what they say - it's their thoughts that reveal who they really are. It is impossible to derive any positive thinking message from this passage when read as a whole, the way it was intended to be read. On the contrary, this passage speaks of evil thoughts - doing one thing but thinking another (like a hypocrite). It does NOT say that if you think something, you will become it. Rather it says what you think reveals who you already are!
And then another popular one: Genesis 1 - God created the world by simply speaking the words…so you can do it too!
Just writing it down already feels ridiculous. One slight problem - we are not God! If He is the Creator, and we are His creation, how would people come to the conclusion that we have switched roles? We declare and speak into being, and God obeys? Not so! God has not changed, He is still God and He is still in control of the Universe. Being a Christian means you are saved by grace. It does not mean that you have earned certain rights and privileges and that God now follows your orders, just to say thank you. No, everything we ask and pray for is still subject to His will. There is no Biblical basis for 'declaring' your wishes and 'claiming' your wants. People practicing this sort of thing are simply on an egocentric power trip. Reality tells us that they have no real power to change anything. If they really did have the power, I wonder why they don't go around to places of real need like hospitals, orphanages and cemeteries and just 'speak life'. (Really selfish of them to limit that power to themselves and their own churches!)
Anything miraculous that happens today is by God's will and power, not ours. Even Jesus, who said that He came to do the will of His Father, prayed “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luk 22:42) Jesus knew that there was a bigger picture to consider, and therefore submitted to the will of God the Father in fulfilling the Salvation plan.
Our wants/needs/prayers can be very self-focussed. But God sees the bigger picture and therefore answers our prayers by His power, according to His wisdom and love. So to summarise why I have a problem with this movement in Christianity:
• Positive thinking appeals to the flesh, and therefore has universal appeal. (1 John 2:16: For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.)
• Instead of learning to be content, positive thinking teaches to focus on the things that we don't have, resulting in even more discontentment. (Heb 13:5, Phil 4:11-12, 1 Tim 6:6-11, Luk 12:15, 2 Cor 12:10)• It diminishes the need to rely on God by supposedly putting man in the power seat. (Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.)• It gives the impression that this life is all there is, instead of recognising the imperfections around us as a reminder that our real home is in heaven. (1 Pet 2:11, Phil 3:20)• With this mindset, Jesus becomes no more than a means to an end, a magic charm to throw in there and make it feel all 'Christian', rather than THE ONE who ALONE SATISFIES, because without His substitutionary death we have no means to solve our biggest problem, i.e. our sin problem, but will pay our own debt by eternal death.
Unfortunately some modern churches have lost sight of the bigger picture by not keeping Jesus and the gospel as the centre (first importance - 1 Cor 15:3). Instead they are appealing to people's lusts and taking advantage of people's dire situations by making false promises that sound good and can draw a crowd (even backing it up with scriptures taken out of context), but in the end, it will lead to disillusionment because it doesn't work. It greatly saddens me, because it is a false hope, and a false understanding of the gospel.
The Hope we have in Jesus is not a 'I hope it all works out in the end' or 'I wish this will happen'. It is an unshaken, steadfast Hope that will not change, not now and not for all eternity. Even if everything goes haywire in this life and I never fulfil all my dreams or live up to my potential or become successful or legendary or rich, even if I loose everything like Job, we can still say with confidence, with Peter (1 Pet 1:3-4): 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…'
Monday, 12 August 2013
Tabitha turns 2!
On Wednesday we commemorated the life, and what would have been the second birthday, of our dearest baby girl and hero, Tabitha. My parents came to visit which was very special, and because a few of my friends wanted to take me out for coffee on the day, I decided to rather invite them for a tea at my house instead. My mom and I had to get everything ready for the tea, which made the day exciting rather than sad. Life goes on, so I don't want to get stuck in the sadness of yesterday. But her life and death has had such a profound impact on our lives, so I never want to forget. I also want to remind myself that she was real, not just an event that happened to us. Watching the videos we took of her in hospital was a great way to pierce my mind back through the wall of time that so easily clouds up our memories. We miss you baby girl. We miss you!
We had balloons for the tea so we wrote messages on them and released them into the air. If nothing else, seeing pretty balloons rise up into the blue sky is such a happy moment. It is like uplifting house, but without the house and without the music. (lol). On a more serious note, the balloons remind me that Tabitha is not gone, she is just not HERE. Where we are she cannot be, but by God's saving grace I am on my way there. She has already reached the final destination of glory.
The evening we spent quietly at home with my parents. We had a little Bible study and we discussed the Lord's goodness in bringing us so far, teaching us so much, and giving us the strength we need, even now. I still stand amazed at how He knew exactly what we needed when we would never have thought we needed it. I never want to go through the hard times of 2 years ago ever again, but I would honestly not trade it for the world. It might not make a lot of sense to you, but its like a blind man that can see for the first time - he never wants to go back to the way things were! The Lord has given us an urgency to get to know Him more, and how wonderful it is to know Him! How blessed we are to know our Creator, the more we get to know Him the more we stand in awe of His greatness and the more we become aware of our sinfulness and our need for The Saviour, and our utter dependence on Him! We also listened to Tabitha's lullaby - 'The Steadfast love'. None of us can sing that song without a good cry, so we just bit on our shaking lips and listened!
It was a perfect day.
Wessel and I did not forget about our kite flying tradition. We were planning a trip to the Drakensberg for the long weekend, and we took our new and improved kite along. Tabitha's little bunny also faithfully came. The weather was freezing when we arrived on Friday, but nevertheless, as soon as we arrived at our destination (close to Giant's Castle), we attempted the first kite launch. It was very windy, perfect for staying indoors and making a fire, but Wessel insisted that it is 'perfect for kite flying'. So out into the open spaces we went, with our skiing jackets, thermals, beanies and 2 pairs of gloves. Our poor kite took a plunge as soon as it went up, and one arm broke. Not so easily demoralised, we fixed it with a strengthening beam and tried again, but to no avail. The other arm also broke. Seems like the tail was not heavy enough for the strong wind so we attached some socks to it to add weight. However, we decided to call it a day because the second break required some specialised materials that we could not immediately obtain. That, and a fire seemed more attractive!
The next day we went to Giant's Castle and took our mended and strengthened kite along, in case the next flying opportunity presented itself. However, the wind speed for the day averaged at approximately 0mph. Not even a slight breeze! So Sunday was our last chance. We decided to stop at an open field, not far from the guest house where we stayed. There was a gentle puff in the air, which constituted all the encouragement we needed. It was not long before the local Zulu kids gathered around to see what we were up to. It is sort of in the middle of nowhere, between Estcourt and Pit Sonder Water. We took off all the socks because of the marginal wind. Wessel managed to get the kite in the air and it was a beautiful, memorable, successful flight. All the kids clapped as our kite went up into the blue skies, joining two eagles gliding above. Wow what a sight it was! The ribbons were so pretty! It went so high it was only a speck on my camera. I also had a turn, but as the wind was not very reliable the kite came crashing down (or was it the pilot's fault?). Anyway, after 2 crashes we called it a day. The poor kite would never be the same again, but we decided to donate it to our little Zulu spectators who were delighted. If nothing else, I'm sure the ribbons would look pretty in their hair! We thought it might inspire them to build their own. They ran home to show their parents. I'm sure that was more action than what they've experienced in a lifetime in their remote little village! And so our kite flying weekend mission ended in delight.
Enjoy the pictures!
We had balloons for the tea so we wrote messages on them and released them into the air. If nothing else, seeing pretty balloons rise up into the blue sky is such a happy moment. It is like uplifting house, but without the house and without the music. (lol). On a more serious note, the balloons remind me that Tabitha is not gone, she is just not HERE. Where we are she cannot be, but by God's saving grace I am on my way there. She has already reached the final destination of glory.
 |
| Thanks everyone for making it such a delightful day! |
 |
| Up, up and away! |
The evening we spent quietly at home with my parents. We had a little Bible study and we discussed the Lord's goodness in bringing us so far, teaching us so much, and giving us the strength we need, even now. I still stand amazed at how He knew exactly what we needed when we would never have thought we needed it. I never want to go through the hard times of 2 years ago ever again, but I would honestly not trade it for the world. It might not make a lot of sense to you, but its like a blind man that can see for the first time - he never wants to go back to the way things were! The Lord has given us an urgency to get to know Him more, and how wonderful it is to know Him! How blessed we are to know our Creator, the more we get to know Him the more we stand in awe of His greatness and the more we become aware of our sinfulness and our need for The Saviour, and our utter dependence on Him! We also listened to Tabitha's lullaby - 'The Steadfast love'. None of us can sing that song without a good cry, so we just bit on our shaking lips and listened!
It was a perfect day.
Wessel and I did not forget about our kite flying tradition. We were planning a trip to the Drakensberg for the long weekend, and we took our new and improved kite along. Tabitha's little bunny also faithfully came. The weather was freezing when we arrived on Friday, but nevertheless, as soon as we arrived at our destination (close to Giant's Castle), we attempted the first kite launch. It was very windy, perfect for staying indoors and making a fire, but Wessel insisted that it is 'perfect for kite flying'. So out into the open spaces we went, with our skiing jackets, thermals, beanies and 2 pairs of gloves. Our poor kite took a plunge as soon as it went up, and one arm broke. Not so easily demoralised, we fixed it with a strengthening beam and tried again, but to no avail. The other arm also broke. Seems like the tail was not heavy enough for the strong wind so we attached some socks to it to add weight. However, we decided to call it a day because the second break required some specialised materials that we could not immediately obtain. That, and a fire seemed more attractive!
The next day we went to Giant's Castle and took our mended and strengthened kite along, in case the next flying opportunity presented itself. However, the wind speed for the day averaged at approximately 0mph. Not even a slight breeze! So Sunday was our last chance. We decided to stop at an open field, not far from the guest house where we stayed. There was a gentle puff in the air, which constituted all the encouragement we needed. It was not long before the local Zulu kids gathered around to see what we were up to. It is sort of in the middle of nowhere, between Estcourt and Pit Sonder Water. We took off all the socks because of the marginal wind. Wessel managed to get the kite in the air and it was a beautiful, memorable, successful flight. All the kids clapped as our kite went up into the blue skies, joining two eagles gliding above. Wow what a sight it was! The ribbons were so pretty! It went so high it was only a speck on my camera. I also had a turn, but as the wind was not very reliable the kite came crashing down (or was it the pilot's fault?). Anyway, after 2 crashes we called it a day. The poor kite would never be the same again, but we decided to donate it to our little Zulu spectators who were delighted. If nothing else, I'm sure the ribbons would look pretty in their hair! We thought it might inspire them to build their own. They ran home to show their parents. I'm sure that was more action than what they've experienced in a lifetime in their remote little village! And so our kite flying weekend mission ended in delight.
Enjoy the pictures!
 |
| Wessel and his engineering piece of genius |
 |
| Just because you can't see the eagles don't mean they're not there! |
 |
| Good form, good function! |
 |
| This picture makes me feel like some sort of Philanthropist! |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Luv how Wessel captured the sun in this pic as well! |
 |
| Spectators become participators... |
 | |
| Excited to show the rest of the community their new toy! |
Friday, 19 July 2013
I can't get no satisfaction ???
I still think about Tabitha often. But I
think about the work God has done in my life more! Essentially nothing much has
changed since the last time I wrote. I’m still not pregnant and I still miss
Tabitha. But I am continuing to grow in faith. I am eternally thankful for
that. It is a gift that God has given me, grace that He has bestowed on me,
love that He has demonstrated to me that I’d never want to trade for anything
in this world. It might not have happened in a way that I would have chosen for
myself, but God knows what He needed to do to get me to this point! I trust
that He knows better than me. And that He will finish the good work that He’s
started in my life.
My basic message is still the same. Don’t
focus on earthly things you think you deserve or what you don’t have, or what
you’ve lost. If you get it, it will not fulfil you. It will not be lasting
either. Only God can satisfy and give you the joy and peace some people chase
in vain their whole lives. Apart
from Him there is no point to life. That is because we were created to enjoy
Him and glorify Him forever. We
tend to hate our misery more than we hate our sin. God hates our sin more! He
wants our hearts - that is more important to Him than for us to ‘reach our
potential’ / ‘fulfil our dreams’ / ‘be blessed’. Putting your trust in the One
who never changes, who never lies, who will never let you down, who has your
ultimate good in mind and who is all knowing, sovereign, perfect in love and
infinite in wisdom, is the only way to live in this uncertain world and come
out in one piece. Having that amazing comfort is enough to face any crisis.
Because crisis and difficulties and disappointments will come, that’s for sure.
And being dependent on your circumstances for happiness is setting yourself up
for a miserable life! Yes, some things are self-inflicted because we make bad
decisions and live sinful lives, but some things are just out of our control. If
you don’t believe it you’ve probably not lived long enough. This is also true
for people who believe they are little gods and can pray everything right. We
need to live in obedience to the One who IS in control and find our
satisfaction in Him. We can trust Him – He is trustworthy. He already gave us
everything we need, by making a way to save us from eternal death, which we
rightfully deserve for sinning against a Holy God. Yes, you might think your
greatest need is money or a partner or a happy marriage or health or children,
but you are wrong. Your greatest need is the salvation of your soul. That is of
first importance, and if you don’t agree now, you will eventually, but then it
might be too late.
The way God provided to save us from His
righteous wrath (He is the only perfect Judge who cannot let the guilty go
unpunished) is to send a Substitute to die in our place. If we say ‘no thanks’
we will have to pay for our sins ourselves. Remember, Jesus didn’t just die
physically, He was separated from God – something we never have to be - and the
cup of God’s wrath was poured out on Him. WE can’t even imagine it. But He rose
again, proving that His claims to be God was true.
No suffering in this life is even close to
the suffering a person will have to endure for breaking God’s laws. However, if
we confess our sins, turn from it and put our trust in the perfect Lamb (the
ultimate sin offering), the God-man Jesus - who willingly humbled Himself ,
exchanging His throne for becoming a suffering servant and took our place so
that we can stand guiltless before God on judgement day - our sin is no longer
counted against us. We should say YES PLEASE! And THANK YOU to this offer no
one can, or should, refuse.
Unfortunately, this offer is rejected by
the majority. And the reason is simple. People want to be king of their own
lives, rather than submitting to the King of the Universe. If a Christian stands
before a decision, the first question to ask is no longer ‘what will be best
for me’ or ‘what do I want’ or ‘what will make me happy’ but rather ‘what does
God want’ and ‘what will make Him happy?’ Satisfying your flesh, your pride,
your family and your dreams will have to move to the back seat. This is what it
means to take up your cross to follow Jesus, to put Him first. The great thing
is that God not only made a way for salvation, He also enables us to live the
Christian life through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. He changes our
desires and makes us a new person, who does not want to sin anymore. He is with
us and strengthens us through any trial we may face. This is what it means to
say ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13)
Another unfortunate and sad fact,
especially in largely Christian societies like South Africa, is that a lot of
people have a false security that they are saved, when in fact the evidence shows
the contrary. Are you really a Christian if you don’t obey God’s commands?
Jesus said ‘if you love me, you will keep my commands’ (John 14:15) but most
confessing, church going Christians today don’t even know what His commands
are, because they never take the time to read His Word to find out what His
will is and how we should live, never mind taking the time to find out who He
revealed Himself to be. This is like saying you are a rugby fan even if you
can’t name one player and don’t know the rules of the game. Naturally a true
rugby fan will read and learn all there is to know about the game, and make
sure they don’t miss a match. A true rugby fan will even make great sacrifices
like spending lots of money or sitting for 2 hours in a freezing cold stadium
to show their commitment. Why do we think that Christianity is any different? Is
Jesus precious to you? Do you prioritise Him by spending time in His Word and
learning all there is to know about Him? Is your life’s desire to please Him? Don’t
fool yourself into a false security. It doesn’t matter what your ‘good’
intentions are or how many times you’ve asked Him into your heart (verse
please?), if your actions don’t show that He is first in your life, and you’re living
with demands rather in thankfulness to Him who gave you the biggest Gift of all
to solve a problem you cannot solve yourself, out of love and not because you
deserved it, please don’t call yourself a Christian. You might fool yourself
and others around you, but you are not fooling God. Also do yourself a favour.
Don’t pray for God to solve your immediate problems when you run out of options
if you don’t take the time to find out what He says and who He is, not mentioning
obeying Him or making any sacrifices for Him. Comfortable Christianity,
tailored to your needs is no Christianity at all! If you are still sitting on
the throne of your life, don’t invite Him over when you need a servant. Rather
make a decision once and for all whom you will serve, and call upon God’s mercy
to save you!
Mark 1:15
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Romans 1:16
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the
power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew
first and also to the Greek.”
Luke 5:32
“[Jesus] have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.”
Acts 26:20
“First to those in Damascus, then to those in
Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they
should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”
2 Corinthians 7:10
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to
salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance.”
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Hope and encouragement for 2013
I’m still trying to get back into a routine
after a lovely holiday, but finally I’m getting to say happy 2013 everybody! I
hope that you and your families were kept safe over the festive season and that
you got time to reflect on who Jesus is and what His life and death meant for
you.
Yes, another year has gone by. And another year is ahead of us. We’re starting all over again with the birthday calendar, as we watch the seasons turn and in about 45 weeks we’ll start getting ready for Christmas again. And then we’ll start getting excited again for the new year. Are you looking forward???
Motivational speakers pull out all the best cliché’s in January – everybody must be positive and get into the mode to be the best they can be, be the change they want to see, set goals to make more money, have more fun, achieve more success and do more good deeds… all to the glory of self? (just asking). Needing some motivation is not necessarily bad. But is this what life is all about, year in and year out? Is this really what we need? Does it just make us feel better or is there any truth in it? Does it produce results, and what sort of results should we be chasing? Surely some people are more excited this year because maybe they are getting married or having a baby, or finishing their studies, or planning an exciting trip. I’m just wondering if encouraging one another to be hopeful/excited/motivated just for the sake of being hopeful/excited/motivated is helpful at all. Is it even Biblical?
Often in the New Testament the people are told to encourage one another. So is that like saying, ‘Wow, you really are good at this. You should take it to the next level!’, or maybe ‘Just be positive, even if your life is a mess - its just an illusion, just think happy thoughts!’ or ‘You can do this! Remember, you are in control of your own destiny!’. I’m not denying that this style of motivation makes you feel good. And it always feels good to feel good. My question is still: Is this what we need? Is it helpful at all?
2 Tim 3:12 says ‘Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and imposters will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.’
2 Tim 4:2 says ‘Preach the Word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favourable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.’
Rom 15:4 says ‘For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’
Colossians 2:2-3 says ‘I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’
1. It seems like as Christians we’ll need encouragement because persecution is inevitable.
Persecution is not when your boss doesn’t like you. Its when you stand out like a sore thumb because you stick to your Biblical convictions. I think it could also be when you are asked to choose between e.g. more money/a relationship or obeying God and you choose obedience. Its when people oppose you, hate you, reject you or ridicule you because you choose obedience to God before conforming to culture and the norm. (Consider some earlier Christians* who left their families behind and got burnt on the stake because they refused to deny the truth of Jesus – what a source of true encouragement!)
2. Endurance and encouragement seems to go together. So the encouragement is not so much to achieve your personal goals, but to endure in the faith.
If Jesus died to make our lives easier, a Christian should not need to suffer any difficulties, unless He didn’t do a complete work. We need not be encouraged to inherit earthly blessings, but to endure earthly suffering for the purpose of eternal blessings (in Jesus). This does not include self-inflicted suffering. If your life is a mess due to your own decisions and sin, seek God, do what he says, ask for wisdom rather than doing what you want and then praying afterwards. His instructions are for our own good.
3. It seems like we can find encouragement in God’s Word, but not without the necessary correction and rebuking. (Maybe the Bible is not there to make us feel good, but to train us for Godly living, requiring change – ouch!)
Somehow people think everything that’s positive must be God. No, God’s Word is truth and the truth often hurts. A child left to itself will soon grow out of hand and cause shame to his parents. Likewise, as God’s children, we need correction, training, rebuking as only a loving Father can give. Pride (and maybe laziness?) often keeps us from submitting ourselves to God’s Word in this way, and we end up following our own minds, causing problems and shame, and ultimately eternal separation from God.
4. All wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ.
I know this sounds arrogant to some. I know there are a lot of very clever people out there. But how many clever people can explain how life originated apart from God? The guy I sat next to on the plane on Sunday ended up provoking me to bombard him with questions he couldn’t answer. As a chemical engineer, he could explain sustainable energy and the exhaustion of the planet to me in great detail. I told him that I believe that God is in control of it all and that a judgement day is coming despite our efforts to save the earth. As a self confessing Christian, who is spiritual but doubts the accuracy of Scripture, thinks that Jesus was a good teacher and doesn’t think its relevant to know how life originated, his world view soon ran into all sorts of walls when confronted with what the Bible reveals as the truth. He couldn’t believe that I could be so sure. Postmodernism makes confident statements sound like swearing. But how can anybody believe anything if they’re not sure? If I wasn’t sure I’d rather believe nothing!!! A belief is either true or false, it can’t merely be an opinion.
Using the Bible as starting point (with God the creator) and science to explain and confirm what is already there, you can effortlessly complete a logical ‘worldview circle’. Without this knowledge, even the best scientists have big gaps in either their theories, or logic, or both.
5. Our encouragement is in Christ, who fulfilled God’s perfect plan and in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge can be found.
Those who recognise that their suffering is never as great or as serious as their sin, finds joy in knowing that a completely innocent Man (who gave up his throne to become a human servant) took their punishment, to satisfy God’s wrath and pay our ransom so that we can look forward to eternity with God. Eternal separation from God is nothing close to what we could possibly be suffering. Not that suffering equals salvation. But suffering for the sake of Christ is a sign of salvation, because if He doesn’t mean anything to you, you won’t suffer a papercut for Him.
Yes, another year has gone by. And another year is ahead of us. We’re starting all over again with the birthday calendar, as we watch the seasons turn and in about 45 weeks we’ll start getting ready for Christmas again. And then we’ll start getting excited again for the new year. Are you looking forward???
Motivational speakers pull out all the best cliché’s in January – everybody must be positive and get into the mode to be the best they can be, be the change they want to see, set goals to make more money, have more fun, achieve more success and do more good deeds… all to the glory of self? (just asking). Needing some motivation is not necessarily bad. But is this what life is all about, year in and year out? Is this really what we need? Does it just make us feel better or is there any truth in it? Does it produce results, and what sort of results should we be chasing? Surely some people are more excited this year because maybe they are getting married or having a baby, or finishing their studies, or planning an exciting trip. I’m just wondering if encouraging one another to be hopeful/excited/motivated just for the sake of being hopeful/excited/motivated is helpful at all. Is it even Biblical?
Often in the New Testament the people are told to encourage one another. So is that like saying, ‘Wow, you really are good at this. You should take it to the next level!’, or maybe ‘Just be positive, even if your life is a mess - its just an illusion, just think happy thoughts!’ or ‘You can do this! Remember, you are in control of your own destiny!’. I’m not denying that this style of motivation makes you feel good. And it always feels good to feel good. My question is still: Is this what we need? Is it helpful at all?
2 Tim 3:12 says ‘Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and imposters will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.’
2 Tim 4:2 says ‘Preach the Word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favourable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.’
Rom 15:4 says ‘For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’
Colossians 2:2-3 says ‘I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’
I’m gathering the
following points from these verses:
1. It seems like as Christians we’ll need encouragement because persecution is inevitable.
Persecution is not when your boss doesn’t like you. Its when you stand out like a sore thumb because you stick to your Biblical convictions. I think it could also be when you are asked to choose between e.g. more money/a relationship or obeying God and you choose obedience. Its when people oppose you, hate you, reject you or ridicule you because you choose obedience to God before conforming to culture and the norm. (Consider some earlier Christians* who left their families behind and got burnt on the stake because they refused to deny the truth of Jesus – what a source of true encouragement!)
2. Endurance and encouragement seems to go together. So the encouragement is not so much to achieve your personal goals, but to endure in the faith.
If Jesus died to make our lives easier, a Christian should not need to suffer any difficulties, unless He didn’t do a complete work. We need not be encouraged to inherit earthly blessings, but to endure earthly suffering for the purpose of eternal blessings (in Jesus). This does not include self-inflicted suffering. If your life is a mess due to your own decisions and sin, seek God, do what he says, ask for wisdom rather than doing what you want and then praying afterwards. His instructions are for our own good.
3. It seems like we can find encouragement in God’s Word, but not without the necessary correction and rebuking. (Maybe the Bible is not there to make us feel good, but to train us for Godly living, requiring change – ouch!)
Somehow people think everything that’s positive must be God. No, God’s Word is truth and the truth often hurts. A child left to itself will soon grow out of hand and cause shame to his parents. Likewise, as God’s children, we need correction, training, rebuking as only a loving Father can give. Pride (and maybe laziness?) often keeps us from submitting ourselves to God’s Word in this way, and we end up following our own minds, causing problems and shame, and ultimately eternal separation from God.
4. All wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ.
I know this sounds arrogant to some. I know there are a lot of very clever people out there. But how many clever people can explain how life originated apart from God? The guy I sat next to on the plane on Sunday ended up provoking me to bombard him with questions he couldn’t answer. As a chemical engineer, he could explain sustainable energy and the exhaustion of the planet to me in great detail. I told him that I believe that God is in control of it all and that a judgement day is coming despite our efforts to save the earth. As a self confessing Christian, who is spiritual but doubts the accuracy of Scripture, thinks that Jesus was a good teacher and doesn’t think its relevant to know how life originated, his world view soon ran into all sorts of walls when confronted with what the Bible reveals as the truth. He couldn’t believe that I could be so sure. Postmodernism makes confident statements sound like swearing. But how can anybody believe anything if they’re not sure? If I wasn’t sure I’d rather believe nothing!!! A belief is either true or false, it can’t merely be an opinion.
Using the Bible as starting point (with God the creator) and science to explain and confirm what is already there, you can effortlessly complete a logical ‘worldview circle’. Without this knowledge, even the best scientists have big gaps in either their theories, or logic, or both.
5. Our encouragement is in Christ, who fulfilled God’s perfect plan and in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge can be found.
Those who recognise that their suffering is never as great or as serious as their sin, finds joy in knowing that a completely innocent Man (who gave up his throne to become a human servant) took their punishment, to satisfy God’s wrath and pay our ransom so that we can look forward to eternity with God. Eternal separation from God is nothing close to what we could possibly be suffering. Not that suffering equals salvation. But suffering for the sake of Christ is a sign of salvation, because if He doesn’t mean anything to you, you won’t suffer a papercut for Him.
Being encouraged in anything else but in Jesus
is to set yourself up for disappointment. No boss, no job, no spouse, no child,
no health, no amount of money or success of fame or fun can offer a true,
lasting form of encouragement and hope for your new year. It might be the 2nd
week of January already but if you haven’t found your joy and hope in Jesus yet,
its not too late. Start with Rom 3
and John 3. The good news is, whether you have something to look forward to in
2013 or not, lasting, meaningful, true hope is available through faith in Jesus
Christ!
*Feel free to read
up on people like Ignatius, Polycarp, Cyprian of Carthage, John Huss, Anne Askew, John Lascelles, John Hooper to name a few who were brutally burned or
murdered because they refused to deny Christ as Lord. It seems to me like they were quite sure of their convictions! I think its fair to say they were dead sure!
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