What is Important? What Makes for Success?

What are the things that are important to us in society? What does the world say we need to succeed?

According to most societies, to succeed one needs to be learned (have a good education), to be self-made (strong, determined and confident), and to be well-born (come from good family). Africa is no exception to those expectations. However, what does God say?

Let’s take a peek in the Bible and see. In 1 Corinthians 1, look at the ones that God chooses.

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise (learned) according to the flesh, not many mighty (self-made), not many noble (well-born), are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (v26-29, NKJV)

I have personally witnessed this from my online time in Africa.

I was chatting to a young friend from Uganda. He is an evangelist and a singer. He writes very well, and he seems to have a good grasp of the English language.

One day I wrote a word or phrase that he didn’t understand. He asked me to explain and he said that he was not very well educated. Well, I would never had known.

Then he proceeded to tell me how he was despised as a boy, and as he grew up he was still despised, even by pastors. Many were against his marrying his wife. They thought he would not be a good provider.

However, his faith in God astounding. In recent times I’ve witnessed him go through some tough financial struggles. But he believed that God would see him through. After some days of fasting and praying and seeking the Lord’s face, he was able to testify to me of the Lord’s provision. He took God at His word, and God came through.

And I wondered too, about his grasp of the English language. He tells me that as he had to leave school in primary school, he didn’t learn to read and write English very well. But he had a desire to learn. So guess how he did it!?

Being blessed with two Bibles, on in his native tongue and one in English, he would read a passage and compare both translations. Thus he came to know and understand the English language, AND he came to know the Lord, and learned to walk with Him. Oh, we praise God for His Word.

In Proverbs it says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” and also “the beginning of wisdom”. Well this young man is a walking testimony to both. God has given him much knowledge and also great wisdom, far more than his 25 years.

I thank the Lord for such a dear friend.

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Now today, in my reading in Luke, I found another instance of God using the despised “to bring to nothing the things that are.” I am up to chapter 4, after Jesus was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness, and where He begins His ministry.

He goes out in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in most of the regions He is well received, until he goes home, back to Nazareth.

He proceeds the same way as He did in other places by going in to the synagogue, and He read from the Scriptures, from Isaiah 49:8,9 and 61:1,2. Then He said to them,

“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Well the hearers protested at His presumptuousness.

“Is this not the son of Joseph?… Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” (Luke 4:22; Mark 6:3, NKJV)

But as Jesus said, that is the way it is for the prophet.

“A prophet is not without honour except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” (Mark 6:4, NKJV)

This outraged His hearers to the point that tried to throw Him over a cliff. But He walked right through their midst and went on His way.

So, if you feel despised and worthless according to society, remember that you are in good company. Let us not take our worth from what the world thinks, but let is realise our incredible worth in Christ.

And remember too that God raises up the foolish and the weak and the despised so that “no flesh can glory in His presence.”

Who’d wanna be a Teacher?

A friend and I have been doing a study on James via email. It’s been quite an adventure!! I must share some insights from chapters 1 and 2 sometime. Things like counting it all joy when trouble comes… and not being double-minded … and faith without works is dead… etc.

Anyhow, that will have to wait, because now we’re up to another sticky topic in chapter 3. The first verse certainly made me take a step back. Here’s James 3, verses 1 and 2:

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” (NIV)

Sounds a bit scary, eh? So then, what are the credentials to be a teacher in the church? And if God calls us to teach, how should we live our lives? Well, to start with, here’s a prayer:

O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; (Psa 141:1-5, NIV)

That’s not all… still heaps of questions to come!! I’ll be back… hopefully with some answers too! And I’d love to hear what you think! PLEASE!!!

Walking Wisely in These Treacherous Times!!

As Christians, what should we do in these troubled economic times that are facing our world?  And what is the Lord doing?  Where do we stand?

Well, at the moment, I’m in the middle of a study in Ephesians.  Today I looked at chapter 5, and these verses jumped out at me…

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.   Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (v.15-17)

And then I was reminded of Psalm 37…

1 Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
and will live in peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.

14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

16 It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and rich.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.

18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.

20 But the wicked will die.
The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
they will disappear like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
but those he curses will die.

23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.

25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.

27 Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.

He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will die.
29 The godly will possess the land
and will live there forever.

30 The godly offer good counsel;
they teach right from wrong.
31 They have made God’s law their own,
so they will never slip from his path.

32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
looking for an excuse to kill them.
33 But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.

34 Put your hope in the Lord.
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed.

35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people
flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
36 But when I looked again, they were gone!
Though I searched for them, I could not find them!

37 Look at those who are honest and good,
for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
38 But the rebellious will be destroyed;
they have no future.

39 The Lord rescues the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them,
rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
and they find shelter in him. (NLT)

I pray that these words may encourage you as they did me!

And some more…

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor,
And for lack of justice there is waste.” (Proverbs 13:22-23, NKJ)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5, NKJ)

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What does it mean to WALK IN THE SPIRIT?

That was a question I was asked today.  

I do believe it is an individual thing. The Lord will tell one to do one thing, and that one thing is completely the WRONG thing for another. God’s leading is perfect!

And God will tell us to do one thing at one time, but if we try and do that same thing at another time, we can be completely out of whack!! God’s timing is perfect!

And then about places? God will have one place for one to be and a complete different place in the field for another. God’s positioning is perfect! He plants us where He needs us!!

Anyhow, that’s my thoughts for the day!

What is Worship?

“But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24, NKJ)

So then, what is this worship that Jesus was talking about? And what does it really mean to worship in spirit and truth? Do we really see it in church today? What are the elements involved in worshiping God? Is it singing and music, and does it have to be music? What if we can’t sing, can we still worship God?

This was one of the topics of conversations on our bus trip the other day.

(You know, I feel so blessed at the moment. Everywhere I turn, there seems to be God’s people. I don’t feel starved for fellowship, which hasn’t always been the case. In fact for years, it was far from it. Now, there seems to be so many Christian friends the Lord has put in my path. But that’s all btw!!)

Thursday was one of those blessed times. Lots of great fellowship. And on the bus, I was sitting not too far away from our new Pastor. He was sharing his heart about worship, and how he’d like to encourage more of it in the church services. But isn’t worship what the church service is all about?? I listened very intently, over top of the other conversations that were going on.

His conversation got me thinking some more. He quoted the verses in John 4, which I’d only read a day or so before. I then found out that there was a congregational meeting on Saturday afternoon. The pastor wanted to talk to us… my guess was that he wanted to share about his thoughts on worship. I decided to go, and guess what? I was right!!

But, I want to rewind back to this morning first. Over my morning cuppa, I decided to do my own quick study on what worship really was, and what it meant to worship God in spirit and truth.

WORSHIP:
The Greek word used for worship in the John text is “proskuneo” (from “pros” – towards, and “kuneo” – to kiss), and it means to make obeisance, do reverence to. I’ll have to look more into the kissing bit, but interestingly, the idea of the kiss is mentioned in Psalms…

“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” (2:12)

Also, in the Old Testament, worship always involved bowing down, by bowing the knee, or laying prostrate.

IN SPIRIT:
The spirit is our inner being or our heart. It’s the inner sanctuary of our temple body. Worshiping from our feelings is not enough. True worship doesn’t work if we don’t bow down our hearts, submitting to His will.

IN TRUTH:
Jesus is Truth! God’s Word is Truth! The Holy Spirit is Truth, and He leads us into all truth. He reveals the truth in us.
As we bow, we look at the true nature of our hearts. We should not come to God with any pretense. Rather we need to open our hearts wide to Him, so that He can search them, revealing our motives and intentions, and all that is unclean.
As a goldsmith purifies gold, our Father wants to bring those impurities to the surface so we can be purified by Him… so that we reveal His image. We must want to be changed into His likeness!

So, how does that line up with what we find in churches today. I liked what our pastor said this afternoon. He mentioned these three models of modern worship.

• The Entertainment Model – so we can be entertained;
• The Service Station Model – so that our needs might be met;
• The Lecture Hall Model – with the high view on preaching so that we can learn.

The trouble with these is that they are all “ME” centered!! They satisfy MY enjoyment, MY needs, and MY learning and knowledge.

Oh, for more “GOD” centered worship!! And the challenge for us is to ask ourselves, “Why do I go to church?” The primary reason SHOULD be to meet with and worship our God together.

Those Foreboding Feelings!

I shared this with a friend this morning. Past circumstances had dealt him a hard blow, and even though things have been going well for him, he was finding it hard to believe that it could continue. Surely there must be some evil lurking around the corner?

So here were my thoughts…

I think that foreboding feeling is something that’s etched in your memory. And I can understand that it would not be easy to erase. Past experiences haven’t taught you anything different. How can you believe or expect better?

I guess that’s a bit the same as it is for us when it comes to finance. I can see potential of how things could improve, but past experience tells me it doesn’t.

So what do we do? Don’t look to the past!!! Instead, LOOK UP!!! (to our Father!) LOOK INTO His Word and see His promises! LOOK IN at our hearts with the searchlight of His Word, and let Him do the changes there! Then LOOK FORWARD in HOPE!! Maybe that’s what FAITH is??

Anyhow, my thoughts for the morning!!

And a Scripture:

How do Justice and Mercy Mix??

I share this diamond with a friend, and this was his comment:

I was thinking that verse would be one good to really sit and meditate on. What exactly does it mean to do justly? Love mercy? And walk humbly with our God?

How does that look in our lives today???

Like, in practical, every day terms?

Hmmm….

Always do what is right, I suppose. And act out of love in everything you do… and acknowledge God’s presence in everything you do, everywhere you go.

That’s a start anyway!

Hmmmm (part 2!!!)…

Interesting that justice and mercy are paired, isn’t it? In some ways, they would seem to be at odds with each other. You show mercy to one who is guilty, someone might complain, “That’s not fair!!!” “I want my justice!!!”

What do you think????

I say, “Hmmmmmmm!!” too!! What do *I* think??

Here’s my thoughts: (What does the Lord require of you?)

TO DO JUSTLY - That is our actions. They need to be right and fair. We need to be just in all our affairs. DO THE RIGHT THING!!!

TO LOVE MERCY – This is what we are to show to those who don’t measure up to our standards. People don’t always do the right thing. They let us down!! And likewise, we don’t always measure up. We let others down, often unintentionally. hat is when we want mercy from others. In the same way, we should be merciful to others. Let them off the hook.

TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD – We realize that we want to do the right thing (do justly), but we don’t always do it. We are aware of our imperfections, our humanness. Of ourselves we are nothing!! We need God’s help so we can fulfill His first two requirements.

Change of Direction!!

Boy, it seems a LONG time since I’ve been here.  I seemed to have got stumped with finishing the last subject about highways.

I had questions I needed to answer, but then I lost the momentum of writing.  However, I found that a friend of mine is following on the same theme, and he’s written some pretty neat stuff.  So I thought, I’ll put the link here and you can read that.

“Every Valley Shall be Exalted!“  Highly recommended reading!!

And now, I’ll move on to some studies I’m doing in Matthew…

… I’ll start writing soon…

Go Through the Toll Gates!!

I’VE GOT IT!! I’VE GOT IT!!

Well at least it makes sense to me!!

This “Highway” and “Narrow Way” thing!!!

I found it here in the first sentence…

Go through,
Go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up,
Build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples!
(Isaiah 62:10)

This is MY interpretation:

Go through the TOLL GATES!! Jesus has opened them!! He has paid the toll!!

(As I was writing this, I got sidetracked right here!! A friend’s daughter was having her baby… in the early stages of labour!! But it helped me see something NEW… These gates remind me of the birth of a baby. The gate is really narrow and constricted, eh? But then, after the birth, there’s a brand new, WIDE world!! Sort of along the lines I’ve been thinking about. Anyhow, I’ll continue with what I was saying…)

However, we can’t get on this Highway without going through the gate. We can only go through Jesus, who said, “I am THE gate (or door)!!” He is the only way.

As the only way onto this highway of life is through the birth gate, so the only way onto that Kingdom Highway is through the re-birth gate. We MUST be born again!!! (This latest events was prompting new thoughts here as I wrote.)

Jesus also said:

“Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it.
“But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straight and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14, Amp)

(WOW!! How like birth that is!!?)

It is the way of the Cross!!!

Because it is narrow, we cannot take a load. We need to stop at the weigh station and unload. This road does not take heavy traffic. We can’t take our junk with us, but need to leave it at the Cross.

Anyhow, that’s the start of my thoughts!! More later!!

BTW, the baby was a GIRL!!!