HEALING VS GOD’S PLAN.

Is it me, or are the months flying by before our eyes? May has been such a busy month. Most of it was spent in the USA with family, so this post is coming in just in the nick of time! The topic of conversation is something that I have been wanting to talk about on this blog ever since I heard the news of a beauty influencer, by the name of Jessica Pettway who passed away in March due to a misdiagnosis of fibroids. She was someone I had watched and followed over the years, but ever since I went on a somewhat permanent social media hiatus, I had been out of the loop and missed that she was even sick. So when I saw the news that this 36 year old had passed away leaving behind her husband and two young children, my spirit was disturbed, and I couldn’t shake this sadness. I learned that she was a Christian, and during her cervical cancer diagnosis, she had made public videos declaring that she believed that God would heal her and this would be part of her testimony. Sadly to say that wasn’t the case. The more I thought about it, the more disturbed I became. I thought to myself, what does something like this do to someone’s faith? I have no doubt she prayed with her family for healing, and others prayed for her. The bible says that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Jesus even said that if we pray for anything and believe we’ve received it, it will be ours!(Mark 11:24)

So if we pray for healing and don’t receive it, what does that mean? I thought about non-believers who would have followed her and seen her faith despite her diagnosis. I am sure they would have been inspired by her courage, maybe even pursuaded to believe in her God. What would they think about God now that she was gone? I struggled to make it make sense as a believer! But even in my disappointment and sadness for her and her family, I was 100% certain that God was still good! I just didn’t know how to explain it to someone, and that bothered me. Nobody even asked me or challenged me about it, but I knew that if I was ever in a situation where I still had to explain the goodness of God through tragedy, I would have found it hard to, and I am always reminded of the need to be able to explain the reason for the hope that I have.

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I was then reminded of my mum, who has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis which is a long-term condition that causes pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints. As she gets older, the pain seems to be more intense, leaving her at times unable to attend to herself without assistance. I remember when she first became a Christian. I think she thought that she would not suffer and God would heal her. But as time went on and her pain intensified, she began to question God’s goodness. She didn’t even have to say it, I knew she felt it. It was almost as if she believed that God was punishing her, or worse, that God didn’t care for her like He did for others. I didn’t blame her for thinking that. If you don’t understand who God is, you won’t see Him as a good God when you go through your trials. The bible doesn’t say that life will be perfect when you accept Jesus into your heart. We live in a fallen world under the influence of the evil one. All you have to do is turn on the news or scroll social media to see the injustice in this world. But what the bible does promise is eternal life and peace. A peace unlike the peace given from the world. This peace that comes from Jesus is the peace that keeps us afloat in a turbulent sea. JOHN 14:27 “PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU; MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU. NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES DO I GIVE TO YOU. LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET THEM BE AFRAID.”

I asked my pastor what he thought about it, and he directed me to Job from the bible. Job was a man said to be blameless in the eyes of God, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. God had blessed him with a large family. He was the richest man in his entire area, yet he still gave offerings to God. He never let money corrupt his heart. Then, one day, Satan came before God and challenged Jobs character, claiming the only reason why he feared God was because of all that he had. If God took it away, then Job would curse God. So God allowed Satan to test him, with only one condition, that Satan was not allowed to harm him physically, but he had free reign to do whatever he wanted with whatever he possessed. Of course, Satan did his worst to Job, killing all his children and taking away his riches by killing his livestock, farmhands, and servants. In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God, instead he fell to the ground in worship and said JOB 1:21 HE SAID, “I CAME NAKED FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB, AND I WILL BE NAKED WHEN I LEAVE. THE LORD GAVE ME WHAT I HAD, AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN IT AWAY. PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD!” It was clear that Job understood who God was. Then I started to think about if I understood who God was, could I have that same conviction as Job?

I’ve always heard that it’s never good to plan too far ahead because God might suprise you. God’s plan for your life might not always be in line with what you plan for your life. We can pray for a long, fruitful life here on earth, but that is not guaranteed. Sometimes we forget that we are here for a short time, this world is not our home. Our assurance comes from knowing Jesus and the promise of eternal life for all who believe. If God takes us back to Him early, could that mean that our work here on earth is finished, or are we to take it as punishment? Job remembered that everything he had, God had given him. Even in his grief, he still knew the goodness of God. Ultimately, as a believer, we want to submit to our Fathers will. His way is always better, even if we can not see it at the time.

I started to think about what life actually meant to me. How attached I was to the things I knew and the routine of my life. If I got sick and God didn’t heal me, would I curse God or praise Him anyway? Then I started to think about my life before I knew Jesus. How everything was dark and meaningless. If I had been sick then. Never knowing Jesus. Dying in my sin. Forever separated from the Father! I felt a wave of fear and dread come over me. I realised that God will always be good because He called me to Him, and He chose me. He saved me from death. Jesus paid the price I couldn’t by shedding His blood for me. He has given me more than I could have ever dreamed of by that one act alone! For that reason, God will always be good! If I get sick tomorrow, God is good. If I lose a loved one, God is good. If I lose my job, God is good. If I lose my home, God is good. GOD. IS. GOOD. PSALMS 34:8″OH, TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD; BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO TRUSTS IN HIM!”

If you are a believer, death is not bad. It’s the people that you leave behind that suffer the most. But the comfort we have is knowing that we will not be separated from them forever. It is just a short time. If we are still here on this earth, that means that we have an assignment to complete, and we have a purpose. Going home to be with the Lord is exactly that; going home to a place that Jesus prepared for you. How beautiful to know that is what awaits you. How comforting for a family like The Pettways who are left behind. Maybe they might not see it now because the grief is still raw, and we that are left behind have to sort through life and find a new normal without the ones we’ve lost. But I pray that they find the peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray that they draw closer to God PSALMS 34:18 “THE LORD IS CLOSE TO THE BROKENHEARTED AND HE SAVES THOSE CRUSHED IN SPIRIT.”

Through the good times and the bad times, God will forever remain good. Whatever you suffer through now, whether it’s sickness or struggling financially, whatever your trial is, just know that it will not be forever. When we enter into heaven, there will be no sickness, no tears, no pain, just joy! Our riches await us in heaven, so keep your eyes focused on things from above! My wish is to be like Job. Someone who, when grief, knocks at my door, I will fall to my face and declare through tears, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD!”

THOU SHALL NOT JUDGE?

This month has been a whirlwind of emotions, feelings, and thoughts. I started off the month knowing what I wanted to talk about, but after a conversation that was a constant trigger to me, I decided it’s time I got something off my chest! Every day, we make decisions in our lives, judgement calls as some may refer to it; the key word being judgement. We are all guilty of it in some shape or form. Sadly, I am noticing this growing trend amongst “Christians” who are condemning other believers who cast judgement, picking scripture out of context to enforce this narrative that only God can judge. This same narrative, I hear from non believers who like to throw scripture back at christians (the same scripture taken out of context) telling us we have no right to enforce our views upon them. To be honest, they kinda have a point. But when I hear my brothers and sisters in Christ using this same argument, I get angry!

I have noticed a pattern. When Christians don’t like being “judged,” it’s usually because they are doing something they shouldn’t and don’t want to be called out on it. The call of our flesh is strong, and when we like how our sin makes us feel, we don’t want to come out of it, so we make excuses of why it’s good and convince ourselves that God wouldn’t care about it, we even go as far as saying that we are being led by the Spirit! When someone tries to tell us that we are wrong, we use scripture out of context to make ourselves right and the person trying to help wrong. Once you get to that place, it’s a slippery slope, and you often see people start to descontruct and fall away from the faith. Christ is the best thing that happened to me, but its not easy to walk with Jesus, especially when we live in a world that promotes the love of self and encourages you to do what ever you want if it makes you happy. It’s the opposite of what Jesus tells us. I know the stuff that I did before I found Christ was what made me happy, but it saddened and angered God. Because I don’t live for myself anymore, there is a lot of things I do that if I am honest, I don’t want to do all the time, but my desire to please God is why I do it. Every so often, we have to ask ourselves, who are we living for?

So, let me just start by saying we are not called to judge non-believers. God will judge them fairly when the time comes, so when they shout from their mountain tops that we shouldn’t judge them, I make them right. They don’t know any better. They don’t have the Holy Spirit leading them in the ways of the Lord. We are to be compasionate, like our Father in heaven.

1 CORINTHIANS 5:12-13 IT ISN’T MY RESPONSIBILITY TO JUDGE OUTSIDERS, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILTY TO JUDGE THOSE INSIDE THE CHURCH WHO ARE SINNING. GOD WILL JUDGE THOSE ON THE OUTSIDE; BUT AS THE SCRIPTURES SAY, “YOU MUST REMOVE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOU.”

I guess I could leave that verse right there and go about my merry way, but let’s go deeper. Paul addressing the church of Corinth about sexual immorality going on within the community is pretty tame to what we see happening within churches today. But his judgement still stands today for us as believers. He was what some would call harsh and definitely would be amongst those condemned as being too judgemental in todays standards. But he stood on business as the young folks like to say. He had no problems calling out sin and enforcing church discipline. If Paul thought it was good to do it, why is it so hard to do it today? Why do churches run from correction? Correction is good. There are so many good verses in the bible about the wisdom of correction, one of them being PROVERBS 3:11-12 “MY CHILD, DON’T REJECT THE LORD’S DISCIPLINE, AND DON’T BE UPSET WHEN HE CORRECTS YOU. FOR THE LORD CORRECTS THOSE HE LOVES, JUST AS A FATHER CORRECTS A CHILD IN WHOM HE DELIGHTS.” These verses are a comfort to me. They humble me and keep me at my knees before God. One thing is certain, we will always need correction, and I will always welcome it!

This world has started to affect the churches. This idea that we can’t call something wrong is causing us to become luke warm. The fear of losing numbers has overtaken the fear of God. Churches have become a money cow and pastors refuse to risk being out of pocket, so they prefer to stay silent and make the Word more agreeable. Now churches have become motivational ted talk centres that refuse to mention the word “SIN.” So, now, when the Word clearly instructs us to pass judgement and correct, we are being told that it’s not christian-like. We are being silenced by our very own community! You can’t make this up!

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MATTHEW 7:1-2 “DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS, AND YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED. FOR YOU WILL BE TREATED AS YOU TREAT OTHERS. THE STANDARD YOU USE IN JUDGING IS THE STANDARD BY WHICH YOU WILL BE JUDGED.” I am sure we are all familiar with this verse. This is a popular verse used not only by believers but also non-believers to enforce the narrative that we can’t judge them. The mistake often made is to stop at verse two and not continue reading. We are not told not to judge but to be careful how we judge. There is a correct way to do it, which we rarely see done successfully. When done incorrectly, it is dangerous and damaging to ones faith. I have heard many stories from fellow believers who have been hurt and left broken by it. So when they find themselves in a situation that would call for correction, they tend not to be responsive to wisdom and are usually left triggered and become very defensive. Judgement becomes a bad word, and correction is never accepted. We all fall short of glory, that’s why we need mercy and grace daily. The Word tells us we are sinners, imperfect beings with bodies who still respond to the call of sin. We all have different struggles, but they are still struggles all the same. When we serve the one who is perfect and Holy, anything that falls short of that standard is sin. It would do us well to remember that when we cast judgement on others, and that is what the verse in Matthew continues on to say. Before we judge others and point out their short comings, make sure your house is in check first. MATTHEW 7:3-5 “AND WHY WORRY ABOUT A SPECK IN YOUR FRIEND’S EYE WHEN YOU HAVE A LOG IN YOUR OWN? HOW CAN YOU THINK OF SAYING TO YOUR FRIEND, ‘LET ME HELP YOU GET RID OF THAT SPECK IN YOUR EYE,’ WHEN YOU CAN’T SEE PAST THE LOG IN YOUR OWN EYE? HYPOCRITE! FIRST GET RID OF THE LOG IN YOUR OWN EYE; THEN YOU WILL SEE WELL ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH THE SPECK IN YOUR FRIEND’S EYE.” Jesus doesn’t tell us to not help our friend, but to make sure we sort out our own problems so we can see better to help our friend! Because the measure we use to judge our friend will be the same measure used against us.

Maybe this is all a sign that we are not reading our bibles enough. Have our feelings become the ultimate decider on what is true? These are things I often ponder when in conversations with fellow believers. Everybody wants to do Christianity their way. Why has following the Word become outdated and irrelevant within the faith? The flesh seems to be winning over the Spirit these days. The Word is good for instruction, rubuke, and correction. We should be as dependant on it as we are oxygen, for it is life!

GALATIANS 6:1-3 “DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IF ANOTHER BELIEVER IS OERCOME BY SOME SIN, YOU WHO ARE GODLY SHOULD GENTLY AND HUMBLY HELP THAT PERSON BACK ONTO THE RIGHT PATH. AND BE CAREFUL NOT TO FALL INTO THE SAME TEMPTATION YOURSELF. SHARE EACH OTHER’S BURDENS, AND IN THIS WAY OBEY THE LAW OF CHRIST.”

Are you gentle? Are you humble? When you are helping your brother or sister, what is your heart saying? We are called to do everything in love, and that includes our righteous judgement. Our judgement should be helping to bring people back into repentance, but instead, we are bringing condemnation without grace or mercy. That is wrong. I would never respond to that kind of correction because it is not fruitful. What is beautiful about the bible is that we get clear instructions on how to deal with these issues within the church. From dealing with someone who is repentant to someone who continues to live in sin. We have the blueprint in our hands, and that is definitely the goodness of God. Some instructions may seem hard and even unfair, but we serve a God who is fair and just, and we have to trust that His way is good and right. PROVERBS 12:1 “WHOEVER LOVES DISCIPLINE LOVES KNOWLEDGE, BUT HE WHO HATES REPROOF IS STUPID.” Please don’t be stupid.

I could say so much more on this topic and use many more verses of scripture, but you could see it all for yourself if you only picked up your bible more. The lack of knowledge amongst Christians is gonna be what destroys us. We are called to judge the body of Christ, the church! If you as a believer have a problem with that, then I would ask you to do a heart check and ask yourself who’s voice have you been listening to, because it sure isn’t our Father in heaven. Stop letting your feelings be what leads you. Go back to the Word and find out what God says about it. So when your brother or sister comes to you about something you are doing, you will know whether it is from God and is true. Judgement is helpful, and correction is good!

HEBREWS 12:11 “FOR THE MOMENT ALL DISCIPLINE SEEMS PAINFUL RATHER THAN PLEASANT, BUT LATER IT YIELDS THE PEACEFUL FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY IT.”

GRATITUDE.

It feels like we are flying through the year. It’s March already! This is the month where we celebrate what Jesus did on the cross for us. I chose to call this months post “gratitude” because sometimes I think we can easily forget the magnitude of the cross and what it meant to have Jesus defeat death. As followers of Christ, we sometimes get caught up in the cycle of life; looking after the family, working but never feeling like it’s enough, making sure the kids get to school on time, wondering why the cost of groceries keep going up but your money stays the same. So many things can weigh us down, and we forget about the power of the cross! We start to complain about life being hard, how everything is bad, bad, bad! We come to church on Sunday feeling the stress of the week, singing the worship songs on auto pilot, and trying hard to listen to the message given and resonate with the words spoken. We stop living like we believe God because life is just too hard!

Well, I am here to tell you that life is hard! In fact, Jesus never said following Him would be easy. The bible tells us that there will be trials and tribulations that we must endure to the end! Even Psalms 23 tells us that we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death! What sets us apart from the rest of the world is that we don’t walk through times of danger, scarcity, and the unknown alone, for God is with us! He is the cloud by day and the fire by night, and He goes before us and follows us. Because of God’s love for us, we don’t need to fear or be weighed down with anxiety because life is hard. Our strength to endure comes from the Lord.

Sometimes, we can be guilty of thinking too much about what we don’t have, feeling like we are being punished because the desires of our hearts have not been met. We complain, and we obsess about what we feel we lack, and we forget about what we already have, the best gift of all; salvation! We complain so much that we become ungrateful. We act like spoilt kids when we don’t get our way. What saddens me is that we have become entitled when we don’t even deserve all that God has sacrificed for us! God gave us His one and only begotten son as payment for our sins. Jesus knowingly gave His life as a ransom for us. He chose to die a horrific death because He knew that was the only way we could ever have a relationship with God. God gave us the ultimate sacrifice, and here we moan when we don’t get what we want! God doesn’t have to do another thing for us! He has done enough already, but he still blesses us, even though we are ungrateful, because we serve a good God who loves us like no other!

Often, we find ourselves walking a thin line between the standards of the world and the standards of God. We live in a world opposed to the message of the Gospel, and we can sometimes get drawn into what the culture tells us we should have, instead of what God wants us to have, the two can often be very different! PSALMS 37:25 “ONCE I WAS YOUNG, AND NOW I AM OLD. YET I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE GODLY ABANDONED OR THEIR CHILDREN BEGGING FOR BREAD.” This verse has stuck in my head of late, and I think it has been a powerful reminder that I have everything I need. I haven’t been anxious about anything in particular, but I think it’s verses like this that keep me humble and thankful. They remind me of how blessed I am! There was a point where the things I didn’t have became almost like an idol in my life. One of my desires was to have my own house, the idea of living alone became the most important thing, so important that I became sad when I saw others living the life I wanted, what I thought I deserved. I almost started to think that maybe God was punishing me because my dream felt unattainable. It made me ungrateful, and I stopped noticing all the ways God was blessing me in my life, I just took everything I had for granted. Then, one day, God revealed my heart to me, and I was repentant! Every morning, I opened my eyes to see a new day, and I was grateful. Every day, my body didn’t fail me in some way. I was grateful. Every day, I never had to worry about what I was gonna eat, I was grateful. Every time I never had to stress about my bills, I was grateful. Every night I went to bed, I knew I had a roof over my head, and I was grateful. All the things that seemed so small and insignificant, I knew somewhere out there someone else was not so blessed. When I realised what I had made an idol of, only served me, I felt selfish. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying it’s bad to ask God to fulfil the desires of your heart, He pretty much tells us to ask, and we shall receive. But it becomes an issue when our hearts desires become a stumbling block for us. MATTHEW 6:33 “SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE, AND LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED.” Notice it say’s NEED, not want!

Since the begining of man we have been ungrateful, and it all started on that fateful day when Eve convinced her husband Adam to consume the only fruit forbidden to them, because she was conviced by the serpant that God was holding out on them, when the reality was God had given them Eden, He had given them everything! It really is in our nature to question the goodness of God, to be unsatisfied. But yet God still overlooks that part of us because of the depths of His love for us we will never comprehend! So He hatched a plan, a plan He already had in motion before the fruit was consumed by the man and woman in the garden. He knew the nature of man who He created, a flaw you may say, but it was the only way He could create us to exprience love, love that came from having the freedom to choose. So He honoured their choice to be separated from Him and banished Adam and Eve from Eden, cursing the land as punishment. From that point on, men grew evil and cold, murder tainted the land. But God watched on reaching out to those who still called on Him. Until the only God fearing man remained, and God instructed Noah to build an ark because the evilness that grew angered Him, and He saw that nobody but Noah and His family were righteous enough, so he plunged the earth back into the depths of the water He seperated it from. Starting again, the great reset.

As the land became dry and life began to spring from the ground, God made a promise with a rainbow to Noah, never to flood the earth again. As man once again populated the earth, so did evil. But God still remained faithful to those who were faithful to him, His chosen people Israel. But even Israel would fall into temptation time and time again, so God would choose people and raise them up to prophesy on His behalf. But still, Israel were hard headed and refused to listen. Then He sent them the law through Moses, a law that was meant to show them their sin, a law that they could never follow because of their nature, a law that was meant to bring them to repentance, but never did. All this setting the stage for His plan to save us from our sin, the plan from the beginning. Then, one day, a child was born, a virgin birth, concieved by the Spirit of God. Gods plan wrapped in flesh, His promise now a reality. The child named Jesus full of wisdom grew into a man, and this man filled with the Holy Spirit preached a message of repentence. He called on all who knew they were sinners, and He taught them about the Kingdom of God, about faith, hope, and love. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and freed the demon possessed. He was God incarnate. Come down from His mighty thrown to be a lowly servant to an ungrateful nation. He was the plan from the very beginning. He knew we would never be able to make ourselves right. We failed every test given, and we could never pay what was owed. So He chose to pay our debt for us. Jesus drank the cup that was given, and He gave His life on the cross, beaten, humiliated, disgraced, nailed to the wood born of a tree, a reminder of a tree that once produced fruit forbidden to man.

But death was not the end, Jesus defeated death, and on the third day, the tomb He was buried in was now empty! Jesus is alive! Sending out His disciples to spread the good news to all nations, He left us with the gift of the Holy Spirit in His absence, promising to return for His final judgement. Now that He paid our debt, we all recieve the free gift of God’s grace, and all we have to do is repent and accept Jesus Christ into our hearts as Lord and saviour, believing in the finished work of the cross. This is what reconciles us back to our father in heaven, and that is all He ever wanted, not to have us separated from Him. It’s the greatest love story ever told! And because I accepted Jesus, I get to be a part of that love story. Eternal life is something that I find hard to fathom, but it is mine, and it is worth more than gold! Salvation means we are being saved from something and that something is judgement, the wrath of God when Jesus returns. God never breaks a promise, so rest assured, judgement will come. The question is, where will you find yourself?

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11 “SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE WILL BOW- IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH- AND EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.”

So this is a friendly reminder that God has given you everything, He has given you Jesus! He has given you everything you need, and your treasures await you in heaven. So keep your eyes focused on things from above. Everything else is just noise. Tune it out. It will give you contentment when you have abundance and contentment when you lack. Be grateful because you are saved! And that is more important than anything on this earth. God bless you all, and Happy Ressurection Sunday.

SINGLE BUT NOT LONELY.

Since it’s the month of February, the month when us singles are reminded of our singleness, I thought, why not do a post about being single as a Christian. If you scroll back to my first year of blogging, I spoke about my celibacy and my desire to follow God and abstain. I had just grasped the importance of purity, and I was all in! Coming from a world that encourages sexual liberty and freedom, you can be sure I was waist deep init before the Lord saved me. So, for me to then decide to go cold turkey was a big deal, and cemented my faith because I was truly convicted that sex outside of marriage was wrong. I am happy to say I have never stumbled in that department, I still remain celibate on my journey. Speaking over the few years with other Christians, it’s been very interesting to see how they feel about dating and celibacy. It became very clear, very quickly, how not all were as convicted as me. Now, I understand that the desires of the flesh can be strong in this area, so it takes a strong will to live a life of celibacy when we live in a world where everything is overly sexualised. But God gives us this instruction for a reason, not because He hates us or doesn’t want us to have fun, but because He wants and knows what’s best for us! I definitely didn’t need convincing of this because I could look back at my promiscuity and see the damage it had done to me spiritually, not to mention physically. I could have avoided so much trauma and bad life decisions if I had only done it His way instead of my own, but you know what they say about hindsight!

I used to be the queen of online dating when I was in the world. I always wanted relationships and was on a constant pursuit of love. But because of the lack of value I had for myself, I found myself in situationships promising the boys sex in exchange for love, as the boys promised me love in exchange for sex. A very poor transaction that is still in circulation today. So of course, when I became a Christian, I still wanted a relationship but now I had to do it differently, so I joined up to the Christian dating sites thinking that it would be very different this time. Oh, was I wrong! There were a lot of non Christian “christians,” and a lot of guys were just looking for a “good” girl. When you have to start asking guys who Jesus is on a christian dating site, you know you have a problem. It all became very triggering, reminding me of my past life, and I felt like God say “leave online dating alone.”

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So here I was back to square one, wanting a relationship but being unsuccessful in finding one. I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to find out what it meant to be in a relationship, a healthy God breathed relationship. It occurred to me that I had no idea! I still had a worldly view of what a relationship was, what a role of a husband and wife was, what marriage was! I had to go back to the word of God to see what He said about it. When I truly understood Gods view of marriage, I got scared and decided maybe marriage wasn’t for me! Just like we have to die to ourselves when it comes to the Lord, I realised I would have to do the same with my husband, and that made me uncomfortable. It seemed hard, and I couldn’t understand what I was getting out of it. The word “submit” kept creeping up, and the idea of it felt wrong! Submission wasn’t the bad guy, but my warped idea of submission was. The culture had defiled the word and its meaning. God showed me that being a Christian was centred around submission, and I had to submit to God first! And that was what I had committed to do. So, if I could submit to God, He also required me to submit to my husband. If I had a problem with that, I clearly still had some work to do when it came to submitting to my Father in heaven. I knew then that I had no business looking for a relationship until I got the most important relationship right first.

Sometimes, our desire to find a partner can almost become an idol in our lives. We become willing to throw wisdom aside in our impatience, forgetting that the Lord’s way and timing are always better. We become so consumed with no longer being single, no longer being treated like the sad spare wheel among our married friends that we stop listening to His voice, we stop including Him in the selection process in fear that He may turn away the only person that has shown us interest in what seems like forever. We start to entertain the wrong people, then find ourselves in compromising postions down the line, that all could of been avoided if we just trusted in the Lord our God and not leaned on our own understanding. GENESIS 2:18 THEN THE LORD GOD SAID, “IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE MAN TO BE ALONE. I WILL MAKE A HELPER WHO IS JUST RIGHT FOR HIM.” God never wanted us to be alone. Finding someone to become one flesh with is the way God intended it. But in this evil world we live in, where satan is working overtime to draw us away from God, we have to be vigilant and don’t let our desires become more important than pleasing our Father.

1 CORINTHIANS 7:32-34 “I WANT YOU TO BE FREE FROM THE CONCERNS OF THIS LIFE. AN UNMARRIED MAN CAN SPEND HIS TIME DOING THE LORD’S WORK AND THINKING HOW TO PLEASE HIM. BUT A MARRIED MAN HAS TO THINK ABOUT HIS EARTHLY RESPONSIBILITIES AND HOW TO PLEASE HIS WIFE. HIS INTERESTS ARE DIVIDED. IN THE SAME WAY, A WOMAN WHO IS NO LONGER MARRIED OR HAS NEVER BEEN MARRIED CAN BE DEVOTED TO THE LORD AND HOLY IN BODY AND IN SPIRIT. BUT A MARRIED WOMAN HAS TO THINK ABOUT HER EARTHLY RESPONSIBILITIES AND HOW TO PLEASE HER HUSBAND.”

Paul talks about singleness as being a gift. Not because he believes everyone should remain single, but because of the relationship singleness cultivates with God. Being single is a time we can grow in our faith, a time to get to know Jesus and understand who we are because of Him, all without the distractions that relationships bring. It’s a time to ground ourselves in Him and His word, a time to mature spiritually. When we become affirmed in Him, we start to date better. Why? Because we start to operate under His will instead of our own. We hunger to please Him, so we honour Him in our choices. Satan struggles to turn our heads because the Lord has our hearts. Bad relationships draw us away from God. Good relationships draw us closer to God. It’s like that one friend who, every time they get into a new relationship, you never hear from them again until they find themselves back to being single. That’s us when we are not grounded in God. When we marry, our priorities change. As the scripture says, we have earthly responsibilities. In the end, we are here to serve. God first, then each other. We sometimes get confused and become self-serving. Our flesh is constantly crying out to us to put ourselves first. But it’s the Holy Spirit that guides us away from ourselves. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in other areas of our lives, why not in our dating?

I know that when you get to a certain age, dating seems impossible. To be honest, I feel like I might have a calling to be single because at 41, my dating life is non existant. My desire has always been to find a husband, have the kids, and all the trimmings that come with it. This time of celibacy and growth in the Lord has renewed my mind on marriage, and now I feel more ready than ever to submit! I actually can not wait to find that man who I can wholly submit to because they wholly submit to God! They have to love the Lord and be willing to love me like Christ loved the church, I mean, He did die for the church. It doesn’t get much better than that! But at the same time, I am willing to wait on God, I don’t feel pressured. Even if a husband is not what God has for me, will I curse Him? will that make Him not good? of course not! God is good regardless because I have eternal life in His son Jesus! It would only mean that God wants me undistracted because I have kingdom work to do. I can still find joy in that!

So, am I lonely? The answer, in short, is no. When I was in the world, I felt the seasons of loneliness, the longing for someone to love me. It was an intense sadness. But I truly found love when I found Jesus. He took my loneliness away and gave me a feeling of completeness that I never knew I could experience by myself. This is the most content I have been single… ever! Like I said, I still would like to be married, but that desire is not the same, and I feel more neutral about it. If it comes, I will be happy, and if it doesn’t come, I will be happy. My desire to please God is greater than finding a husband. I want to be intentional about everything I do, and that includes dating. I don’t want to date for the sake of dating. I am not sure what that looks like for me, but I feel sure for now that it doesn’t include online dating just yet.

To all my singles out there, have patience and trust God with your heart. He will not break it. Let God fulfil you instead of looking for someone else to do that. If you want to date, then date! But keep God in your dating, He always knows best. Remember to test the spirits and look to the fruit they produce. If you don’t want to marry, that’s fine too. Being single and serving the Lord with all your heart is not bad. It is a beautiful thing! So don’t let this season get you down, focus on God, and pray about what you want. Be specific. It helps you to know what you actually want in a partner. Trust that in His perfect timing, when we pray for good things that please God, He will fullfill and we shall receive!

THE CULTURE VS THE WORD.

Is it still acceptable to say Happy New Year? 2024 is only nine days old, and it has gotten off to a wild start in terms of the Church and what I have been seeing in the media. God is definitely not playing with His Church! Jesus is coming for His bride, and He requires her to be spotless! As saddening as it has been to see leaders fall off, in one way, I’m happy because I want false teachers to be exposed and their minsitries to be put to an end. I’m sad because the number of people whose faith will be scattered because of these accusations. It reminds me of the parable that Jesus gives in Matthew, about how the servants eager to pull up weeds, were warned that in doing so would result in rooting out the wheat as well, and because of this they should let them grow together until the harvest.

Now, we see churches with no reverence for God, treating places of worship like the club. It is getting out of hand, and honestly, I am upset! Instead of the pursuit to please God, it has now turned into the pursuit to please the culture. I hate the word “culture” because, to me, it means the world. The culture will be the death of you! The culture tells you that God’s way is wrong, the culture tells you to live by your flesh! So, in order to please the culture, now, we have to change the Word of God to fit the way of the culture. Now, we say the Word of God is outdated, and we have to speak in the way of culture so that we can draw the culture in. Remember, we live in an inclusive world, so not only are we changing the standards of God to fit the culture, we are affirming what God says is sin to be inclusive of the culture. Now, the Church looks just like the world. Again, I say the culture will be the death of you!

JAMES 4:4-5 “YOU ADULTERERS! DON’T YOU REALIZE THAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD MAKES YOU AN ENEMY OF GOD? I SAY IT AGAIN: IF YOU WANT TO BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD, YOU MAKE YOURSELF AN ENEMY OF GOD. DO YOU THINK THE SCRIPTURES HAVE NO MEANING? THEY SAY THAT GOD IS PASSIONATE THAT THE SPIRIT HE HAS PLACED WITHIN US SHOULD BE FAITHFUL TO HIM.”

God is so clear in His Word, and the fact that people twist it to fit their evil desires makes me sick. We are in the time when people have itching ears, and instead of humbling themselves before God, they instead search for “teachers” who speak to the desires of their flesh. There is no fear of God. Instead, they fear the loss of popularity or the riches that aligning with the culture brings. They sing praises with their lips, but their hearts are far from God! Because we live in a world that esteems man higher than God, this mindset trickles into our churches, and now these leaders have gone from being the mouth peice of God to God themselves! Now, bibles remain unopened, and people carry it as a prop to Church, and instead, whatever is preached at the front of the Church becomes the Word of God. Without the knowledge of God’s Word, we perish! The bible talks about a great falling away, and it’s honestly not hard to see! With people deconstructing every week (it seems), it is clear that the heart issue behind it all is evil. People no longer want to be Holy. They no longer want to be righteous. They just want to be happy and do what feels good! The bible warns us of our evil hearts and how our desires can not be trusted. But because the people don’t open their bibles, they think God is leading them and can no longer discern the voice of God. They say, loosen up, don’t be so serious, stop being a judgemental Christian! Well, I say judgement starts in the house of the Lord! We are called to give righteous judgement. Yes, there are ways to do it, but we must do it all the same.

God tells us to live decent lives for all to see because we belong to the day, He also tells us to not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but rather expose them! So why participate in things that look evil? All to draw people to your church? How about we draw people to Jesus? What we have to do to get people into our churches is what we will have to continue to do to keep them! If Jesus is not what is pulling people into your church, He definitely won’t keep them! So you can’t boast about your numbers of Church antendees if Jesus is not even invited to the meetings!

God set us apart for a reason! We are the salt of the earth, the light of the world! We are different! Why would you want to look like the world? People of the world should look at Christians and see Jesus. If we look like the world, we have now lost our taste, and as the Word says, if salt loses it’s taste it is useless. The time of persecution draws near, and the real chosen ones of God will be left standing! The culture will ask us to choose. We can’t serve two masters. Some people think they can have the culture and have God, but we serve a jealous God who wants an exclusive relationship with us. MATTHEW 6:24-26 “NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS, FOR EITHER HE WILL HATE THE ONE AND LOVE THE OTHER, OR HE WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE ONE AND DESPISE THE OTHER. YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MONEY.”

If you are a part of a church that looks to the culture instead of Jesus, run for your life! Your very soul depends on it! If the message preached at your church doesn’t direct you to Jesus, run for your life! It’s time to find a new church. God left us His word for correction, for instruction, to teach us, and to equip us to do every good work. It’s not an outdated book that needs a refresh to make it applicable for 2024. It is truth, and it is unchanging like the mighty God we serve! 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 “ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD AND IS USEFUL TO TEACH US WHAT IS TRUE AND TO MAKE US REALIZE WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR LIVES. IT CORRECTS US WHEN WE ARE WRONG AND TEACHES US TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT. GOD USES IT TO PREPARE AND EQUIP HIS PEOPLE TO DO EVERY GOOD WORK.”

I’m very passionate about the Word of God if you can’t tell. My fear, when I became a Christian, was being led astray. I believe the Holy Spirit revealed the need to know the Word when I became a believer, so I immersed myself in the Word, and because of the renewing of the mind, my faith became unshakeable! I was all in as soon as I accepted Jesus into my life, and I have never regretted that decision. The enemy has never been able to lure me away. With new years, come new year resolutions. I decided not to do any, I just want to be open to whatever God has for me this year. But a suggestion to you reading this little blog is to open up that bible collecting dust that every year you keep promising to read more. If you are a believer and you read your bible regularly, may God continue to burn that fire within and keep you hungry for His Word! If you are unsure of what you believe, and you stumbled onto this post by God’s divine appointment, this is your calling to go and read one. I know you see what is going on in the world, I know you have questions, I know things don’t make sense. Trust and believe what will make sense is the God breathed words written in that ancient book that people have told you is irrelevant!

I don’t know where 2024 is going to lead us, but wherever it leads us, stay true to God and know that He will keep us safe and hide us from whatever scheme the enemy has for us. Stay prayerful because I believe this year will require it more than ever. Let’s await with eager anticipation for all that Jesus has for us this year. We got work to do!

1 THESSALONIANS 5:19-23 “DO NOT STIFLE THE HOLY SPIRIT. DO NOT SCOFF AT PROPHECIES, BUT TEST EVERYTHING THAT IS SAID. HOLD ON TO WHAT IS GOOD. STAY AWAY FROM EVERY KIND OF EVIL. NOW MAY THE GOD OF PEACE MAKE YOU HOLY IN EVERY WAY, AND MAY YOUR WHOLE SPIRIT AND SOUL AND BODY BE KEPT BLAMELESS UNTIL OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST COMES AGAIN.” Amen.

BE GOOD SOIL.

We made it to the end of the year! And what a year it’s been. I hope 2023 has been good to you. As we approach the last weeks of the year, it got me thinking about growth and the kind of Christian I want to be, going into 2024. I think it’s something we should always be asking ourselves! The bible tells us that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. To me, that means I need to constantly check myself and my faith because faith without works is dead. We have to become doers of the Word, not just hearers! When we first hear the good news of Jesus, we all experience something that seems to take root in us, a hope that we never knew before. Initially, we feel this change that takes place, and we desire to be the person that we were created to be. But what happens after the Word is planted within us? Do we just go back to life as we know it? Do we let the world continue to consume us?

The bible says that if we love God, we must obey his commandments. Obedience is very important in our relationship with God. Our relationship with God is much more than just turning up to church on a Sunday. We can’t treat God casually and think that our relationship with Him will grow with minimal effort on our part. The closer we draw to Him is, the closer He will draw to us. Honestly, it’s the same with any relationship we have. What we put in is what we get back. If we don’t tend to the people in our lives, our relatonships with them would never grow deep. So why do we struggle to tend to our relationship with God like we do with our friends or our partners? The parable of the sower has been on my mind of recent. I think I have firsthand seen different examples of this parable this year, and it really resonated with me. It can be so easy for the enemy to come in and snatch away God’s Word, for many are called, but few are chosen. The parable talks about four different kinds of people who hear the Word. This post, I hope, is to help you figure out what person you are! And if you are really looking to see growth in 2024, I pray that this will help you to tend to your relationship and grow closer to God!

MATTHEW 13:3-4 HE TOLD MANY STORIES IN THE FORM OF PARABLES SUCH AS THIS ONE: “LISTEN! A FARMER WENT OUT TO PLANT SOME SEEDS. AS HE SCATTERED THEM ACROSS HIS FIELD, SOME SEEDS FELL ON A FOOTPATH, AND THE BIRDS CAME AND ATE THEM.” The first person who hears the Word is like a footpath. The Word can not take root because there is no soil. This means that this person lacks understanding when they hear the message of the Kingdom of God. Because of this, the evil one comes and snatches away the Word from that person.

MATTHEW 13:5-6 “OTHER SEEDS FELL ON SHALLOW SOIL WITH UNDERLYING ROCK. THE SEEDS SPROUTED QUICKLY BECAUSE THE SOIL WAS SHALLOW. BUT THE PLANTS SOON WILTED UNDER THE HOT SUN, AND SINCE THEY DIDN’T HAVE DEEP ROOTS, THEY DIED.” The second person who hears the Word is like shallow soil. This person immediately recieves the Word with joy and for a short time will seem like there is potential for growth in their walk with God, but because they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for being believers.

MATTHEW 13:7 “OTHER SEEDS FELL AMONG THORNS THAT GREW UP AND CHOKED OUT THE TENDER PLANTS.” The third person who hears the Word is like a bed of thorns. This person hears the Word, but very quickly, the message is crowed out by the worries of this life and lure of wealth, the wanting of everything under the sun. Because of this, the Word is unfruitful.

MATTHEW 13:8 “STILL OTHER SEEDS FELL ON FERTILE SOIL, AND THEY PRODUCED A CROP THAT WAS THIRTY, SIXTY, AND EVEN A HUNDRED TIMES AS MUCH AS HAD BEEN PLANTED!” The fourth person who hears the Word is like good soil. This person hears the Word and understands it. The Word becomes deep rooted within them, and they bear the fruit that produces a harvest that is beyond their wildest dreams.

Now we have gone through the different kinds of people who receive the message of the Kingdom, which one are you?

I can not stress how important it is to tend to your “Garden”, make sure you are good soil. Make sure there is nothing that is gonna uproot what has been planted. Being a believer makes you fruitful. There is an expectation for growth to see a harvest! We can not be believers who are unfruitful. The message of Jesus is meant to change us from the inside out. The Word of God renews our minds. It causes us to want to live a Holy and righteous life, it changes our hearts and our desires. When we are truly changed, we work for God’s kingdom, not because we have to; because our works don’t save us, but because it is a result of our faith, our faith produces good works.

This world is a trap. It promises us so much but really has nothing to offer us. The bible promises us that if we seek the kingdom first, everything else will be added to us. More than our minds could ever comprehend. Knowing that God doesn’t lie, we can trust that His Word is true, He will do what He says!

Put God first in 2024. I promise you that you won’t regret it. Get rid of whoever, or whatever, is holding you back from drawing closer to Him. Think about the things that have happened in your life since first hearing the Word. The fire that was set a blaze when you first discovered who God was and what that truly meant to you. Now, see all the birds that have been devouring your seeds. Whether it’s dressed up as a new job opportunity, or a new relationship, something that on the surface can seem like a God send, is usually a distraction from the enemy to take up more time, the time you planned to use to initially spend time with God in your secret place or to attend that bible study you promised yourself. I promise you, God wouldn’t bring something into your life that takes you away from Him. MATTHEW 6:24 “NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS. EITHER YOU WILL HATE ONE AND LOVE THE OTHER, OR YOU WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE ONE AND DESPISE THE OTHER. YOU CANNOT SERVE BOTH GOD AND MONEY.” This world is always pushing us to want more, to see the having of things as what makes us worthy. But the more we have is, the more we desire. It’s this endless cycle and pursuit of happiness that causes us to turn away from our creator. But remember, all these things we chase are temporary, but what God offers us is eternal!

As we prepare for the obligatory New years resolution, I encourage you to add God to your list. God has a plan for all of us. Some of us are walking in His plan already, and the fruit is plentiful. God bless you if you are good soil! May your crops continue to multiply. If you recognise that your soil needs some help, then seek out the farmer, seek out God, and ask for His help! Spend time with Him in His Word, He will water you. Ask your community of believers for help and advice. Make a conscious effort to remove a distraction and replace it with God. Create the habits that draw you close, and He will draw close to you!

Thank you for reading and journeying with me this year. I pray that this blog has blessed you as much as writing it has blessed me. May the good Lord continue to bless you, and may you always remain hungry for Him! As we prepare for the festivities of Christmas, let’s never forget the reason for the season, JESUS! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2024.

FISHING IN YOUR POND.

I have spent the last few weeks talking and thinking about what it means to be a Christian and my purpose; the point of it all! It has led me to have some interesting conversations with other believers, who have made me delve deeper into understanding why we even exist. We all know about Jesus, and we all know that because of Him, we are reconciled back to the Father through the wonderful gift of grace, which cost nothing but our faith in Jesus Christ, and His death on the cross to absolve our sins. Hallelujah, we cry! Salvation is ours! But what next? Now, we work out our salvation on the narrow road, trying, and at times failing, to resist the temptations placed in our way by the evil one, all while we try our best to keep our eyes focused on Jesus! But what next?

While that might seem like work enough, it doesn’t end there. If I am honest, I have spent the last four years worrying about MYSELF, MY walk, MY struggles, MY growth, and MY relationship with God. Don’t get me wrong, that is exactly what I should be doing, but God requires more from me. I have learned to love God with all my heart and all my soul, but now it’s time to love my neighbour as myself! Part of loving my neighbour is sharing the good news of the Gospel, something that I haven’t been doing as well. It’s easy to meet fellow believers and talk about the goodness of God. It takes no effort to engage with each other when we share our love for Jesus. But when we have to explain the reason for our hope to someone who has no idea of who Jesus is and often has no interest in finding out, our mouth suddenly becomes dry, and we stumble on our words, praying that we don’t get asked something theological because we don’t have all the answers! When I think about sharing the gospel, most times I picture myself standing on a street corner, talking loudly about Jesus to strangers who look at me like I have lost the plot, or shout out abuse at me. The thought alone doesn’t make me want to run and grab my bible and make my way to the local town centre. The first thing this fear highlights is my pride, my worry of how I will be perceived by others, or just my fear of persecution. A reason why I am forever reminding myself of 2 TIMOTHY 1:7 “FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR AND TIMIDITY, BUT OF POWER, LOVE, AND SELF-DISCIPLINE.”

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

I then told myself to slow down and take one step at a time. I asked myself, what does sharing the good news of the Gospel really look like for me? Then, my sea suddenly became a pond! All this time, I was picturing myself talking to strangers, and my sea felt too big and overwhelming! Now, I saw all the people I knew, whether friends or colleagues, and now my sea turned into a manageable pond that wasn’t as frightening! It’s no secret that I live for Jesus now. I am constantly reminded of how much I have changed, becoming someone seen by some as wise and full of truth, and others, as a former shell of myself who is no longer fun! Well, you can’t please them all, and that’s fine by me. My faithfulness to God’s word, and how my faith gets me through lifes difficulties, has made it easier for me to naturally get into conversation about what I believe, but I know I haven’t been intentional with most of those conversations.

MATTHEW 28:18-19 “THEREFORE, GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. TEACH THESE NEW DISCIPLES TO OBEY ALL THE COMMANDS I HAVE GIVEN YOU. AND BE SURE OF THIS: I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE.” The great commision Jesus left to His disciples in His day is also for His disciples today! And if you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, then you too are a disciple. We have a mission to go and make new believers and teach them to obey God’s commands. If you have wondered what your purpose in this life is, then look no further. You have found it! Too many Christians do not think this is their resposibility, they think this is reserved for others, but no, we all have a job to do. We need to stop living a life that is dead, wake up! You have risen from death into life! This new life you have been given is not to be wasted. It’s to be fruitful, to be made to be a blessing to others. It’s not about what God gives you, and what you can take from your brothers and sisters in Christ, but instead, it’s about what you can give to God and how you can meet the needs of others! This is why churches remain stagnant because people only attend, thinking about what they can get from it or what the pastor can do for them. Only a few come thinking about how they can serve the church. When we attend church thinking about how we can serve others, only then will we see and start to live out what it truly means to walk with one another, the Christian who is devoted to each other, the ones who love and do life together, true brotherly love!

So now that you know your calling, what will you do about it? Because in the end, if we are only hearers of the word and not doers, we are only deceiving ourselves.

The topic of evangelism has been coming up at my church recently. My church wanting to equip the flock to be able to carry out the great commission has been very enlightening for me. Like I said before, the idea of sharing the Gospel filled me with fear. But now I see it so differently. I was reminded of the story in the Gospel of Luke chapter 8, when Jesus healed a demon-possessed man and sent the demons into a herd of pigs. After the man had been healed, as Jesus was preparing to head back to the other side of the lake, the man begged to go with Him. But Jesus said no. LUKE 8:39 “NO, GO BACK TO YOUR FAMILY, AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU.” SO HE WENT THROUGH THE TOWN PROCLAIMING THE GREAT THINGS JESUS HAD DONE FOR HIM.” Imagine wanting to follow Jesus and his disciples, but being told no, but instead, to just go and tell the people you know, your family, about the great things God has done for you!? Wow! This really blew my mind and made me think differently about what evangelism meant. All the time, I thought it meant that before I could do anything, I had to become a scholar overnight, having read all 66 books in the bible. I thought I had to understand everything in the bible so that I could debate anyone who challenged my faith! I definitely wasn’t a scholar, and I know I didn’t understand everything, I’ve only been walking with the Lord for four years, I just wasn’t qualified! But Jesus says you are qualified because your testimony is your good news! He says, “Go and tell your family about what God has done for you!” You don’t have to be a scholar. You don’t have to know or understand everything. So what, if you meet someone who seems to know more and wants to challenge your belief, because the one thing they can’t debate is your testimony, your experience with God! You will never lose talking about what God has done for you.

My church challenged me to be able to give my testimony in three minutes. It really was a challenge to condense it because I am a natural born waffler. But I mangaged to, and now I will be able to share it with people without fear of losing their attention, and giving them the highlights opens up the door for questions and genuine interest. I really encourage you to do the same. So start with your family, share with your friends, your colleagues, work your way down the list of the people in your life, and before you know it, it will become so natural that you too will be going through your town proclaiming all the good things Jesus has done for you!

When Jesus says, follow me and I will make you a fisher of men, all we need to do is make our way to our own personal ponds, our family, our friends, the people that we have V.I.P access to in our lives, and fish! Keep talking and sharing about the goodness of God, pray for them, and live a life that is holy and righteous. Live a life that speaks of Jesus, and just let the Holy Spirit do the rest. You will be surprised when you ask people who they think Jesus is. The answers will make you realise how misimformed people really are. My mum came to Christ through me and my walk with God, I know this works, God used me without me even knowing what was happening!

So be encouraged, my brothers and sisters. Your testimony is unique. Your testimony is powerful! Go and share what God has done for you confidently and boldly! And remember, you can be sure of this, that He is with you always, even to the end of the ages.

Thank you, Lord, thank you, God, for you are good, for you are love

Forever faithful, full of grace, God of mercy in this place

King of kings, Lord of all, the Alpha and Omega, my cornerstone

The right side of the Father, where you wait, my advocate, who prepares my place

The hearts of men, you know them all, no river too wide, no mountain too tall

Nowhere to hide, for all things you see, from the beginning of time to eternity

Then, one day, when it’s time to rest, I’ll sit and hope I’ve done my best

Faithful servant, righteous and true, is who I hope I’ll be to you.

Cerise Vidal.

THE ABANDONED CHILD.

I’ve been noticing something within the body of Christ that is becoming more and more concerning. The lack of unity, the lack of oneness! Instead of living as part of the body of Christ, some of us are living like an abandoned child! Like we don’t belong! Why? What is really going on? I am genuinely confused. When I was part of the world, I could say I lived like I was abandoned. I had no guidance. Yes, I had a mother who did her best, but she too didn’t know God, so it was the blind leading the blind. I was living doing what I felt was right for me, making up my own rules as I went along. Yes, I had friends, but they definitely didn’t know any better than me. They, too, were swayed by the culture.

Something that is abandoned can mean to be forsaken or deserted, but it can also mean for something to be unrestrained, uncontrolled, and uninhibited. Yes, yes, and yes! That was my life before Christ. When I accepted Jesus into my heart, He scooped me up out of that deserted place I was in and He joined me to His body, and for the first time, I had a deep sense of belonging to something greater than myself! I quickly discovered that I wasn’t alone, and God’s plan for me was not to do His will by myself, but as part of a body of believers working together. So it wasn’t a surprise that the first thing He convicted me about was church and being part of a community! I had already had this false idea of church and Christians in general, but it was reading His word that challenged my feelings, and I accepted that God was right! Now, almost 4 years in, I know that I can’t be a Christian without being part of the body. It’s more than just attending church on a Sunday. It’s doing life together the rest of the week. Too many Christians believe that their relationship with God is all they need. They don’t have to add people to the mix. Their alone time with God is sufficient enough to see them through! What a big fat lie from the enemy! The enemy loves to keep you separated from the body so that you don’t work as you should. You take longer to complete the assignment that God gave you! And in that time of separation, he gets to work sowing seeds of doubt, making you more corruptible. Before you know it, you are drifting further and further away from Christ, and now you can no longer discern the voice of God from what you feel in your heart.

There are many reasons why Christians avoid attending the church and being a part of the community. Sometimes it’s complicated, people have been hurt before! It’s hard to trust when you have experienced trauma at the hands of the very people that are meant to safeguard you, the people that you trust to be the instruments of God. The other reason for people staying away is because it’s easier to live in your sin without accountability! You hold people at arms length because you don’t want anyone to speak into your life. You don’t want to be told to stop doing what you have grown to love doing. You have convinced yourself it’s ok. You are doing just fine as you keep telling yourself that God’s grace is sufficient enough. Thank you, God, that it is! But we mustn’t abuse it either. Another thing I have noticed is how easily offence has settled into the hearts of the Church. Someone doesn’t like how they were spoken to, or someone doesn’t like how they weren’t spoken to, either way, offence is taken, and the heart is hardened. Imagine a church that follows a ministry that promotes forgiveness and reconciliation but doesn’t have the grace to extend it to their brothers and sisters! What a joke!

ACTS 2:46 “EVERY DAY THEY CONTINUED TO MEET TOGETHER IN THE TEMPLE COURTS. THEY BROKE BREAD IN THEIR HOMES AND ATE TOGETHER WITH GLAD AND SINCERE HEARTS,” Imagine meeting with the people from your church everyday! Some of us can only muster 2 hours on a Sunday, we tell each other we are just too busy in our weeks to give anymore time. Church becomes secondary, and our 9-5 jobs and family duties take precedence. God is no longer first, and we become Cain instead of Abel, not giving God our first fruits, not honouring Him the way He deserves. In the book of Acts, the believers devoted themselves to fellowship, to breaking of bread, to prayer. They were together always, they had everything in common, they gave to anyone who had need, even if it meant selling their possessions and property! They were devoted to each other, which, in my opinion, was just an overflow of their devotion to God. So God added to their number DAILY those who were being saved! As we sit in our half filled churches, praying for chairs to be filled, asking for a move from God, lets ask ourselves if we are truly devoted to the body the way that is described in Acts! Maybe there, we may find our answer and our solution. I know we live in a different age to the believers of the bible, but I believe we can still uphold the same sincerity, devotion, and favour that has been left as a blueprint for us today.

Whether you want to accept it or not, you are part of the body! You are called to work together with the body, not separate from them. Imagine if someone chopped off your big toe, although the big toe is no longer a functioning part of the body, it is still your big toe, it just doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, it no longer fulfills it’s purpose! Don’t be the discarded part that doesn’t function the way it was designed to because you don’t want to be a part of the body. Jesus has one body, and He is the head! You don’t get to be your own body, separated from everyone else. You don’t get to be casual with the body either. You can’t step in and out when it suits you or when you feel like it. Be devoted. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it to honour your Father in heaven. MATTHEW 22:37-39 “JESUS REPLIED: LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. THIS IS THE FIRST AND GREATEST COMMANDMENT. AND THE SECOND IS LIKE IT: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” When asked which was the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus gave what on the surface may seem simple. But when we look at what it takes to love our neighbour, we see that it’s far from simple. People are hard work, so trust me when I say I get the draw to want to take Jesus without the body!

Although the body is made up of different people from different walks of life, it’s these differences that make being a part of a community so enriching. Regardless of our differences, we have so much in common, Jesus! Jesus is who unites us, who binds us, who draws us together in harmony. The body is the people who edify us, who encourage us daily, who petition us to God. When we disassociate ourselves from others, we miss out on the fullness of what God has for us. Blessings upon blessings!! If you are deliberately avoiding being a part of the body, then I emplore you to check your heart position! Yes, it’s a heart issue. Ask God to search your heart and to remove what offends Him. Trust me when I say you not wanting to tolerate the body is offensive! You are not forgotten, and you are definitely not abandoned, so please stop living like it. You have a job to do, like we all have, but your job is to work in harmony with the rest of us! Just like the big toe works in harmony with the other toes to bring balance. The big toe is useless if it is removed from the foot, but do you know what happens to the body without the big toe? Absolutely nothing! The foot learns to balance without the big toe and continues on, while the big toe is disgarded to the rubbish heap. That’s a word for someone, I’m sure!

EPHESIANS 4:15-16 “INSTEAD, WE WILL SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE, GROWING IN EVERY WAY MORE AND MORE LIKE CHRIST, WHO IS THE HEAD OF HIS BODY, THE CHURCH. HE MAKES THE WHOLE BODY FIT TOGETHER PERFECTLY. AS EACH PART DOES ITS OWN SPECIAL WORK, IT HELPS THE OTHER PARTS GROW, SO THAT THE WHOLE BODY IS HEALTHY AND GROWING AND FULL OF LOVE.” Yes, we all have our own special work to do, but do you see how our own work affects the growth of others? Do you see how you contribute to the health of others and the love that fills us up? There is no mission that is separate from the body. We are one! PERIOD. Let’s start acting like it. Let’s show the world what it means to truly love one another, to have Christ as the head. It’s the way we treat each other, the way we devote ourselves to each other, that is what will bring people to want to know who this Jesus is who we serve and worship. And God will add to us, just like He did in Acts! Because in the end, isn’t this what it’s all about? Not me, not you, but spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and making disciples. That is the great commission! That is why we labour together as one body under Christ! As the saying goes, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

MAN OR GOD?

Before God shakes up your life, I find He tends to bring all the scum to the surface. He forces you to clean house before He can take you to that next level. The things He brings to the surface can be messy, but it’s nesscersary if you want to see the glory of God in your life. I got to thinking about that mess and how that mess that nobody expects to see can affect those around you. This week, I found myself exposed to someone’s mess. I saw how that mess affected someone impressionable. In my disappointment, I was reminded that man is not God. We can not place people in positions only reserved for God no matter what their title is. Man will never be perfect! Only Jesus holds that title! I know I am stating the obvious, but it’s so easy to place people on pedestals. When they fall off, not only do they do damage to themselves, but to others who are witnesses to the fall. Very quickly, we see where people place their faith. If your faith is affected by the fall of man, there you will find who the God you serve really is.

In the last few years alone, there have been many notable men of faith who have fallen from grace. These men have had huge ministries and overseen thousands of people. So when their evil deeds were exposed, the damage was not only done to themselves, but to many people who trusted and followed their ministries. A lot of people left the faith because of their transgressions. These are good examples of people who placed their faith in man instead of God! I understand God’s judgment for people in such positions. If you lead yourself into eternal damnation that’s on you, but if you take the flock with you, then that’s even worse. The bible talks about being aware of wolves in sheeps clothing, not being led astray. It also warns us that not many will endure to the end when Jesus returns. It’s a scary thought!

This post is a reminder of where our faith should be placed so that we don’t fall away. 1 JOHN 1:8 “IF WE CLAIM TO BE WITHOUT SIN, WE DECEIVE OURSELVES AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US.” We are all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. Yes, even Mary from church who always brings in the baked goods every Sunday; with the big beaming smile on her face, even she is a sinner! That includes your favourite pastor. So if someone tells you that they can’t be included in this list, the Word makes them a liar! Trust me when I say the acceptance that nobody is perfect is what is gonna keep you grounded, especially when you are new to faith. With the knowledge that we are sinful, we should forever be at the feet of our Father thanking Him for His great demonstration of love, sending Christ to die for all of us even though we are sinners. So why place our faith in someone who is imperfect? It’s disappointing when someone we felt could do no wrong is revealed to be a deceiver. We mourn for the loss of that person, but that loss should drive us deeper into the arms of Jesus. Because the loss should humble us, showing us how easy it is to stumble. It reveals our deep need for Jesus because we can’t do this life without Him!

If you go to church just for your pastor or because you like the worship, you are gonna find yourself at a crossroads if scandal falls upon your church or someone causes offence. If you think about the church hurt that people experience, the damage that it does to people who never want to step foot in a church again. These people grow a distrust at the mention of God. When, in fact, it has nothing to do with God! It’s not a reflection of who Jesus is. It begs the question, did you ever know God? Were you ever a friend of Jesus? ROMANS 10:17 “CONSEQUENTLY, FAITH COMES FROM HEARING THE MESSAGE, AND THE MESSAGE IS HEARD THROUGH THE WORD ABOUT CHRIST.” Our faith comes from hearing the word. The bible is where our faith pours out. We must read the word so our faith is so strong that when we see people fall away, our feet dig deeper into the foundation that we built-up our faith upon. We can’t stay a float on the faith of others, that will not carry us through this life. The enemy will quickly devour us. That’s why we have a relational God. He wants to walk side by side each of us, just as He did with Adam in the Garden of Eden.

To the people that hold respected positions in ministry, beware of the enemy lurking in the shadows, waiting to bring you to your doom. It may sound dramatic, but really, it isn’t. The enemy would love to tear you down because he knows he can maximise the damage, two birds with one stone! JAMES 1:15 “THEN, AFTER DESIRE HAS CONCEIVED, IT GIVES BIRTH TO SIN; AND SIN, WHEN IT IS FULL-GROWN, GIVES BIRTH TO DEATH.” He can’t force us to do anything that isn’t in our hearts already. All he does is speak to the desires of our flesh, he has no power over us! Greater is He in you than he in the world. So when you are behind closed doors indulging in whatever your vice may be, don’t forget that you are only decieving yourself! You can hide from your brothers and sisters, but you can’t hide from God, He sees you. PSALM 69:5 “YOU, GOD, KNOW MY FOLLY; MY GUILT IS NOT HIDDEN FROM YOU.”

We will never be perfect. We will stumble at times, but we must get up each time we fall. We are no longer slaves to sin because of Jesus. His death on the cross broke the power of sin over us. So keep telling yourselves that when sin comes knocking at your door, trust me, it will; just don’t answer. This is not only for people in leadership, but it’s for the whole body. As a body, we are more effective when all parts function. Every part of your body is important, even the smallest of limbs. If someone removed your big toe, you would find it hard to balance. something so small and insignificant can have a great impact on the body if removed. When we function as one unit, we are more effective in doing our kingdom work. JAMES 5:16 ” THEREFORE CONFESS YOUR SINS TO EACH OTHER SO THAT YOU MAY BE HEALED. THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON IS POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE.” Let’s look after the body, pray for your brothers and sisters who are struggling, don’t write them off because God doesn’t write you off with all your imperfections. Repent and ask for help. The devil can’t use what you do in the dark if you bring it to the light!

The easiest way to fall away from faith is to place your faith in man instead of God! Read your bible. I’ll say it again, READ YOUR BIBLE! Get to know the God you serve. You won’t truly know the good news of Jesus if you never hear the word of God! As soon as your faith is tested, you will fall each time because your foundation is built on sand instead of the rock! When you read the word, you get to know God’s voice with the help of the Holy Spirit. No man can come and deceive you. No voice can whisper in your ear something contrary to God’s word. Remember, His sheep know His voice.

Church is a hospital full of the sick. The resident doctor on call is Jesus! We all need a hospital. Even when we may have to wait hours to be seen, we still know the value in waiting for the doctor. Church isn’t any different. As Jesus said himself, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” I think that’s a helpful reminder when dealing with the church. It helps to give grace and show mercy to our brothers and sisters who fall short. It also helps us to remember that we are also in need of a doctor and there is no other better than JESUS!

THE FRUIT OF THE VINE.

Before I came to Christ, it’s sad to say this, but I didn’t have a good impression of what it meant to be a Christian. People I met who claimed to be followers of Jesus weren’t the best examples. They actually made me feel I was better living my life away from Christ! I found non-believers in my life more loving and humbler than the Christians I encountered. Christians can often be depicted as intolerant and judgmental towards anyone who isn’t a part of what seems to be a members-only club, reserved for the chosen ones. This picture is the opposite of the life we are called to live as followers of Jesus. As Christians, we have a standard to live up to! To be “Christ-like” is to understand what Jesus expected from his disciples because that’s what we are when we accept Jesus into our hearts. But what does that mean? Does it mean we come to church on a Sunday for a few hours, get our word from whoever the speaker of the day is, then go home and continue on with whatever “life” looks like for us, then do it all again the following Sunday, showing no evidence of change in our lives? Of course not!

First let’s start with the word “Disciple.” It means to be a student, a learner, a follower. Someone who accepts the leadership of another. So to be a disciple means we follow Christ. We learn from Him and continue to learn from him because we always remain students, we always remain teachable. We turn our backs on our former lives, we change because He changes us. We stay close to Him and give Him all authority over our lives so that He can lead us to eternal life! But how do we know we are true disciples? What is the evidence? Let’s take a look at John 15:1-8, where it talks about Jesus being the true vine.

A vine can produce grapes, and the fruit that is born is of similar nature and quality of the plant from which it comes. We are the branches and Jesus is our vine. And what we put out to the world should reflect His nature. Being a disciple is about producing fruit! We are expected to produce plenty of fruit, and we produce fruit when we remain in Jesus! But what is this Fruit? In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul talks about the fruit of the spirit being love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit is the change that following Christ invokes, the sign that the Holy Spirit is really working in us. We start from producing no fruit but being made clean, purified. Now pruned with the word, we start to produce a little fruit at first, then God tends to us, and we go on to produce plenty! John 15:4 “REMAIN IN ME, AND I WILL REMAIN IN YOU. FOR A BRANCH CANNOT PRODUCE FRUIT IF IT IS SEVERED FROM THE VINE, AND YOU CANNOT BE FRUITFUL UNLESS YOU REMAIN IN ME.” Remember I said we are the branch, so to be severed means not being in a relationship with Christ. It’s not about losing your salvation. It’s more about a loss of fellowship with Him and a loss of reward, which can have a serious effect on our spiritual lives. We can become useless to ourselves, to God, and to other people. Remaining in Jesus is to have a continued relationship of true intimacy with Him. The way we do this is through creating spiritual disciplines, like daily Bible intake, prayer, worship, spending time with Him in our secret place, meditating on His word, and really applying it to our lives. We should also invite the Holy Spirit to work within us. This is how we make Him the true foundation, the root, the vine of our lives. This is how we become fruitful!

JOHN 15:6 “Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.” Sometimes we have to take an honest look at ourselves and see what fruit we are producing. Are we even producing fruit? Or have we turned into the useless branch withering away, waiting to be burned? Remember, fruit isn’t hidden. For example, when we look at a fruit tree, we know whether it’s an apple tree or an orange tree because the fruit is visible. There is no confusion about what fruit you are getting. When people look at us, they should know what fruit we have! They should see Christ in us, and not just at church on Sunday! We are not called to be casual Christians. When we are out in the world, we are called to be the light and salt of the earth. People should be drawn to us like they were drawn to Christ because of our love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!

JOHN 15:7 “BUT IF YOU REMAIN IN ME AND MY WORDS REMAIN IN YOU, YOU MAY ASK FOR ANYTHING YOU WANT, AND IT WILL BE GRANTED!” This is not a one-way relationship. We give ourselves to Him and He gives Himself to us in return! This is what makes us fruitful. God sees the fruit we produce through Christ and He tends to us, designing our paths and being the architect in our lives so that we produce even more fruit! When we move away from Christ, we stop bearing fruit. We stop being useful to the kingdom, we start to wither away spiritually. When we stop remaining in Jesus, we stop being in true alignment with God’s plan. Remember, God has the blueprint for our lives already, but when we come out of alignment, we start drawing up our own plans and hand them over to God, expecting them to be done for us, all because we ask for it in Jesus’ name! We start to treat Him like a genie god, then get mad when wishes are not granted. But when we abide in Him, our plans fit in with the blueprint that God already has for our lives. So now when we pray and ask for what we wish, it will be done for us because we are in alignment.

JOHN 15:8 “WHEN YOU PRODUCE MUCH FRUIT, YOU ARE MY TRUE DISCIPLES. THIS BRINGS GREAT GLORY TO MY FATHER.” Every good thing we do gives glory to the Father. The seeds of encouragement that you plant among your brothers and sisters, the patience you show your neighbor, the acts of kindness that you show strangers, the times when you respond with love when speaking in truth, all this is evidence that we are disciples, not just fans of Jesus! People we meet should be attracted to the light within us, they should want to know why we are so different, what makes us so peculiar. They should want to know how and what caused change in us. That is how I came to Christ. It was finally meeting Christians living life the way God calls us to live. They did nothing special, but through the fruit that they produced I was attracted to them like a moth to a flame. There was a peace that they had, that was a peace that I had never experienced and I knew that nothing money could buy would ever give me that peace. And I knew this because they were not rich, their lives were not perfect, yet I felt desperate to have whatever it was that they had. What they had was JESUS! Their light is what led me down the path to truth. All they did was bear fruit, and in doing so, I am here today, my life completely changed. And that is all we need to do, live a Christ-led life, bearing the fruit that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. And when people want to know our secret, now we get to share the good news that is Jesus Christ! And you didn’t have to go to your local town square screaming aggressively about burning in hell if you didn’t repent.

If you feel that maybe your fruit production needs some improvement, ask Him for what you need. If it’s more patience, pray for it! Just don’t be surprised when He brings someone into your life who tests your patience. Remember that God isn’t a genie, expect to put the work in. Also, look at the spiritual disciplines you have, and if there is a lack of them, commit to spending more time with Him. Remember, the Holy Spirit resides in you, and just like we nourish our bodies with food daily, we must also do the same spiritually. Some of us are spiritually malnourished! Here is my prayer for all of us as we continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Father, we thank you for this day, thank you for allowing us to see another day with you. Each day you give us is a reminder that we have a purpose and assignment to fulfill. Thank you for loving us and choosing us, and thank you for the grace and mercy you show us every day. Help us to become more like you, Lord. Light the fires in our hearts so that we have a renewed hunger for you. Help us to bear good fruit, fruit that not only glorifies you but is nourishing to the people we encounter. May your light continue to shine brightly within us, that it will be a guide to people who seek to know you. Help us to share your goodness boldly with others. Give us a hunger that can only be satisfied by your word. Help us to become better students so we can do great things in your name. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.