Be My Witnesses (Part Three)

Good morning.

Paul encouraged the Colossians: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone,” (Colossians 4:5, 6).

This is what sowing seed, as we mentioned in part one of this series, is all about. We must be on the lookout for opportunities. When we do things to benefit ourselves, we make the most of every opportunity. The business person will see an opportunity for sales and will do his utmost to make the most of it. A lady would see an opportunity to hang out in the lovely new outfit she’d bought and will make the most of it. A reporter would see the opportunity for a front page story and would make the most of it. If we’re at all opportunistic, we’ll spot opportunities and use them.

In order for such opportunism to be used to fullest extent, we need to be interested in the opportunity. If secular opportunities are of interest to you, you’re bound to make the most of them. How about the Kingdom of God? Are you really interested in it? Is it of concern to you that those working with you, those playing sport with you, those shopping with you, etc. are going to hell except if someone leads them to Jesus? Unless we are concerned about lost souls, we’ll never break out of our selfish lifestyles. We need to surrender to the Holy Spirit, so we could devote our time and energy to winning souls.

I have some lovely guidelines on how to lead people to the Lord, which I’ll make available here soon, but a good beginning is to make use of every opportunity to wet someone’s appetite towards Jesus’ love. It does take a measure of courage and boldness though, but once you’ve started it becomes easier every time and once you’ve got into the habit of looking for opportunities, the Holy Spirit will put them on your way and give you the words to say. He is constantly looking out for willing servants.

When one of my staff members mentioned to me the hardships she and her family goes through, I said that, if she accepts Jesus as her saviour, He can help her carry the burdens and also protect and heal her and her family if she would pray for them. Every so often, when she complains about something else, I remind her of what I’ve said. Another staff member asked me how it was that I’d become a pharmacist and in my answer it came out that I don’t particularly want to be one, but the career does give me much opportunity to pray. Our conversation then turned to believing in Jesus. When I was complimented on the success of the pharmacy since I’ve started managing it, I was able to tell that without lots of prayer going into it, I would not have been able to do it. This makes people aware of Jesus and prepares the way to lead them to Him.

All we need to do is to tell a total stranger in the queue at the supermarket that Jesus loves them, to publicly give the Lord the glory for your successes, to offer Jesus as the solution to people’s problems, to tell people at work about the miracles Jesus did for you. When conversations at work go in the direction of the spiritual, make sure that you tell them the Bible version. Just be sure not to become religious, but to stay practical and logical. We need to make the gospel attractive.

Lord, give me courage to make the most of every opportunity to sow seeds towards salvation.

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Be My Witnesses (Part Two)

Good morning.

To be an effective and dedicated witness for Jesus depends on a few things. While the disciples were with Jesus, they enthusiastically did what He’d given them to do in terms of witnessing and miracles. It was as if they’d tried to please Him like good students at school would please their teacher. The disciples were under Jesus’ supervision and were able to return to Him for feedback on how they fared (e.g. Matthew 17:15-21). A good example we see in Luke 10:1-20 where He sent out the seventy-two to prepare the way for Him. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name,’” (V17).

But when Jesus died, the disciples’ anchor was gone. They had nobody to impress anymore, nobody to give feedback to, nobody to ask for feedback – they were powerless. While Jesus was alive and with them, He was their power and they relied on Him, which is why Jesus encouraged them in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit took Jesus’ place for feedback and encouragement.

When we live for ourselves and are subject to embarrassment, fear of opinions and fear of persecution, such as losing our jobs, we will have no power to witness. Like the disciples of Jesus we need to depend on the Holy Spirit for power. When our relationship with the Lord is of such a nature that we don’t care what we feel or go through, as long as the Lord is pleased (impressed) by our obedience and faith, witnessing will come easily and we’ll know the Lord will look after us whilst we witness. If we lose our jobs, if we get thrown into jail and even if we are killed for our faith, we’ll know the Lord is in control of our lives. That is why that family of missionaries, of some years ago, were able to sing worship songs to the Lord while they were buried alive and the dad’s voice was the last one to be heard.

Romans 6:8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” V11: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” We do not live for ourselves anymore since we’ve died with Christ. We’ve died to sin such as self-centredness, materialism and self-gratification and we live for Jesus. Therefore, if we’re filled with the Holy Spirit and totally in love with Jesus in such a way that we would give Him anything He requires, witnessing would come easily. We would love as Jesus loves and see those lost souls, that are going to hell, as Jesus sees them and it would burden our souls as it does Jesus’ soul. Once we’ve come to the point of loving like Jesus loves – unselfishly – we would find it impossible not to tell of His love.

Apart from sacrificing His life on the cross, Jesus sacrificed His life for the salvation of others while he was on earth. He didn’t consider Himself in the least. “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,’” (Matthew 8:19, 20). Jesus poured out His everything for others and ever since the book of Acts, many others have done the same.

How about you and I?

Lord, help me to so seriously love you that I would give myself for others.

In our next message we’ll give practical advice about witnessing.

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Be My Witnesses (Part One)

Good morning.

Under the title ‘Fear of Man’ we’ve started to talk about making a difference and, if we do it, that we may be persecuted as a result. We basically concluded that in certain countries, with so-called religious freedom, we will be persecuted if we do the Lord’s work as he would like it done. Paul told Timothy:  “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Once again the Lord has prepared the way in the Bible for those who would be prepared to go beyond religion to be an active soldier for Christ. The Bible is actually cleverly written and if we make it our business to know it, the Holy Spirit will use that knowledge to guide us and keep us safe. The Lord works by means of His Word and responds to His Word when used in prayer and in service.

Jesus told His disciples when He sent them out: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves,” (Matthew 10:16). What He tells us, His disciples, here is that we must carefully listen to how the Holy Spirit wants to reach a soul, i.e. walk in the Spirit. Remember we are in a war. Unsaved souls currently belong to the world and the world belongs to the devil that makes every effort to protect his property, which is why Christians get persecuted. Satan continuously puts structures into place that give him a mandate to persecute Christians. Communism in China e.g. prohibits Christianity and so does Islam in the Muslim countries. In the western world political correctness is his latest strategy. Even though religious freedom exists, political correctness demands that human rights be protected. Clever, isn’t it?

But the Lord is the God of the universe. He is almighty, all-knowing and much craftier than the devil could be, only in an honourable way, and has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us. The devil will never come to a person and say: “Boo, I’m the devil and I don’t want you to follow God.” He comes in very sly ways. In the same way the Lord’s disciples must depend on the Holy Spirit in being clever and crafty in the way we witness to people.

We need to keep in mind that it’s not our job to convince people to follow the Lord, but that of the Holy Spirit. All we need to do initially is to sow the seed. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” For every soul that gets saved, many seeds have been planted in their hearts. You may witness to someone and then move on, whilst continuing to intercede for him. A little later the Lord sends someone else to witness to the person, who waters the seed and so it continues until the person gets saved. Sometimes it’s someone close to you and you do most of the sowing and watering, but it’s still the Lord who brings the person to salvation. When the person is ready, the Lord will send someone in for the harvest.

In order to limit persecution we need to obey the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples to witness. Don’t preach - tell your story. You can tell what you’ve witnessed in your own salvation and Christian life, in that of someone else or of some miracle you’ve observed. Whilst doing this you can weave a whole teaching, with scripture quotations galore, into it, but telling it in the first person as a story makes it a testimony and not preaching. Isn’t it crafty?

Lord, show me how to be crafty in my witnessing.

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What’s in a Name?

Good morning.

The following is very close to my heart.

When we choose names for our children, we take much care to choose names that would make them proud one day. The interesting thing is that every creature in human society has a name. Nobody is just called ‘human’. Imagine we didn’t have names and were called: “Human, could you please come here” or “how are you today, human?” Not even our pets are just called ‘dog’ or ‘cat’ or ‘bird’.

Something that has bothered me for some time is that many Christians call the Lord ‘God’. As we are human, so He is God, but that is no more His name than our name is ‘human’. He is in actual fact not the only god on earth. There are many gods. The Muslims’ god is called Allah, the Buddhists’ god is called Buddha, etc. At least these religions call their gods by their name. But when many Christians talk about the Lord, they talk about ‘God’ and when they talk to Him they call Him God. I regularly even hear Christians praying ‘in the name of God’, even though the Bible teaches us to pray in the name of Jesus.

Why is this important? What does it matter what we call Him and for that matter, what is His name then? It is all about intimacy, a personal relationship and a personal touch. We will never call someone ‘human’, since it does not happen, but there are many men who would disrespectfully call their wives ‘woman’ or a child would be called ‘child’. Until we know someone better we stick to the formal title, such as Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so, but when we become friends we usually call one another by name.

The Lord introduced Himself to Moses as follows: “God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations,” (Exodus 3:15). The Hebrew for ‘The LORD’ is ‘Jehovah’, which means (the) self Existent or eternal. His name is ‘the Lord’ and that is how we should address Him.

Calling the Lord ‘God’ is equally impersonal to calling one another ‘human’, ‘child’, ‘woman’ and ‘man’. If those serving dead gods have enough respect to call their gods by name, shouldn’t we love our Lord even more? Although the Lord Jesus is God, His name is Jesus which is the Greek version of the Hebrew, Joshua, and which means ‘Jehovah saves’ or ‘Saviour’. Therefore, every time we call Him Jesus, we call salvation. Jesus encouraged us on many occasions to ask in His name, for it will bring us salvation from whatever we need it from. It’s not only because Jesus is the son of God, but because His name is Jesus – Saviour.

Religion talks about God and do things in the name of God. A personal, intimate and loving relationship calls for intimate communication, i.e. to be on first-name basis, just as we as humans would do.

May I put a challenge before you? Unlearn the habit of calling the Lord ‘God’ and start calling Him ‘Lord’ or ‘the Lord’, depending on the sentence, and see what difference it makes to your relationship with Him and to your spiritual life.

Lord, I’d love to be intimate with you.

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Fear of Man (Part Two)

Good morning.

When we reached out to the people of the night in Cape Town some years ago, we had a growing outreach team. After youth on Friday nights we would have drinks and snacks in the coffee bar and then I would lead a team of about forty plus young people to witness on the streets, especially in front of the many night clubs in the surrounding areas. We also took teams in buses to other night clubs further on. We’ve had amazing times, seeing mighty works of the Lord, but this landed me in front of the elders of the church.

“How can you take our young people in our buses to the night clubs in the middle of the night..?” Then they listed all the carnal fears and dangers and the potential image damage to the church. By the wisdom of the Holy Spirit I made them understand that we were doing the Lord’s work and He was looking after us, which He did. “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say,” (Luke 12:11, 12). After they had grilled me, the head pastor came over to encourage me saying: “If you’ve survived this one, Henry, you’ll survive anything.”

One day, more recently in another church in England, while I helped out at youth one night, I happened to get into conversation with three ten year old girls. One girl was opening her heart to me in a code language we both spoke. I realised this was a divine appointment and settled in on their level, sharing the Lord’s wisdom with her as the Holy Spirit led me, to put her troubled heart at ease. Lo and behold, next thing I became aware of is the person in charge towering over me with fire in her eyes, trying to hint me away from the girls. Since I was busy with the Lord’s business and had a divine appointment, I ignored her and continued with what the Lord had in mind. She eventually became verbal and I had to end the conversation. Needless to say, I received the usual grilling.

Whose work are we doing, church, when we are so scared of what man can do to us? In the first example the church leaders were scared of the possibility that somebody may sue the church if something happens to some of the young people, and they were concerned about the image of the church. What would people think of the church, should they find out their young people hang out around night clubs?

In the second example the church also was afraid. What would happen if people find out that a man, who already had married children himself, had a conversation with a ten-year-old in public where everybody could see them. What could happen to the church – maybe a law suit?

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe,” (Proverbs 29:25). These were only two examples, but can you see where the church is headed? We’re compromising with the world! In Hebrews 11:36-38 we read: “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated - of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Does it sound as if they were concerned about their image or what men can do to them?

Lord, my rewards are waiting. Help be to obey at all cost!

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Fear of Man (Part One)

Good morning.

The other day our church had a few short term missionaries from the church testifying about their trip to Rumania. They told of the drug problem and of the young people sleeping in the sewers. Mission work generally seems to focus on the poor and the needy in other countries and usually on the material provision for such people, along with which the gospel is preached. As they were speaking, my thoughts went to our country, the UK, and other similar countries in affluent Europe. Because of the wealth of our country and her peers in Europe, real poverty isn’t a problem and wherever people are poor due to misadministration of their funds, some missions do meet their needs for food.

A question then came up in my heart; what about the souls of the other residents of our own country? How are they hearing of the gospel? Most people in this country have a good life due to either enough work or the social care structure, so they have no need for physical care and therefore their need for spiritual care seems to be ignored. It seems not to matter that they’re headed for hell.

Every so often we get reports of Christians being persecuted in the UK when they try to testify, pray for someone or lead somebody to the Lord. My wife works for care houses run by Christians and supported by a local church, but because they are government funded they are not allowed to share the gospel or pray with the residents. Whenever I share the gospel at work I can sense some sniggering at me. It probably happens to more of us. Maybe this is why we are reluctant to share the gospel – we fear persecution.

At more than one occasion I heard someone during a church service praising the Lord for our religious freedom and lack of persecution, and then I asked myself why we have a lack of persecution. If, at a few isolate cases of doing the Lord’s will people got persecuted, what will happen if we “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)? Persecution may become rife if we start to obey relentlessly, but souls will be saved and Christianity will grow much more rapidly. The first church was violently persecuted, but it didn’t stop them from spreading the gospel and they grew rapidly and so is the current persecuted church. Some years ago we met some members of the underground church in China. I suggested that they pray for Communism to fall so they could get religious freedom. Their reaction was quite adamant: “No, for it is persecution that keeps the church active and alive.” When people got imprisoned for their faith, they simply saw it as a new opportunity to spread the gospel.

Having religious freedom and external peace is a dangerous sign, since “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12). If we are not persecuted it means we are not a threat to the devil and his people. Persecution doesn’t necessarily mean the loss of general religious freedom, but it could be. Fact is, people go to hell in their millions and the Lord is concerned about it. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest,’” (Matthew 9:36-38). How are we going to answer before Him one day, since we must obey God more than we do men? We will continue tomorrow.

Lord, please prepare me to tolerate persecution for the gospel’s sake.

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Forget It!

Good morning.

All of us have a past. We’ve done things we regret and would like to forget. Sometimes we cringe as we think back of the embarrassing, ridiculous things we’ve done. This often makes us feel unworthy – how can such a fool as I help other people, lead others to the Lord. What would they think of someone like me?

Satan, the accuser of the brothers as he is called in Revelation 12:10, will make it his business to accuse you of your past and we need to resist him as we do with all other temptations. We can get a good idea of how he works when we look at bullies in action. “Ha, ha loser, you think you are so and so, but you are just a piece of dirt. Look what you’ve done and now you want to be cool!” When this low class creep tries to bully you and make you feel worthless, pick up the Bible and read in e.g. Psalm 139 what the King of kings thinks of you. “For You have possessed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvellous and my soul knows it very well,” (Psalm 139:13, 14).

But it still happens; we still make mistakes and still feel like fools. We do sin and then consider ourselves unworthy. Satan uses this to encourage us to give up. It’s much easier to live a mediocre, non-challenging Christian life, than to always feel guilty when we made a mistake in our pursuit to be like Jesus and to make a difference in this world, with the view to build God’s Kingdom. In Philippians 3 Pauls told of his ambition to be like Jesus and the battle he had to fight in reaching that dream. Then he said in verses 12 to 14: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The enemy of our souls will try and stop us to become like Jesus. He uses crafty techniques to make us only passive followers of men and religion in various ways. If we dare to stand out and become active, he will accuse us and make us feel guilty about our weaknesses, so we can give up and become passive. Our sins are forgiven. If we confess it a thousand times a day, it is forgiven every time, but every time we will be accused. I’ve had to learn to forget what is behind, also what happened seconds ago, for if I ponder about it I waste precious time I could have used to pray, witness, worship and do whatever is needed to become like Jesus.

Jesus had a hard time; the apostles had a hard time. You only need to read Hebrews 11 and 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 to see the cost of becoming like Jesus through faith. The persecuted church has it hard. Why should we have it easy?

But the end is sweet. Paul said: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing,” (2 Timothy 4:7, 8).

Lord, I want to be like Jesus at all cost!

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Shine Jesus Shine... (Part Three and important)

Good morning.

Today I have a hard word to bring. The Lord said to me he’d like to shed His light on us so we can search ourselves. I’ve spent most of yesterday praying that the Lord will show us in what areas our attitudes are not in line with His will.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23, 24). Maybe today we could pray the same. Do we grieve the Holy Spirit?

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” (John 8:12). The key condition in this promise of Jesus is ‘whoever follows me’. Who do we follow? I’ve seen many churches in my lifetime copying other churches and all kinds of revival movements. I hear regularly from individuals who would admire other individuals and their ministry, i.e. lift them up. One often hears of so and so who is/was such a wonderful man of God. When certain pastors are invited to speak at a particular event, the speaker’s credentials are listed. Who do we follow? What would these individuals have been without Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s anointing? Why do we focus on the individuals and give praise to them? Pastors and leaders are there to train, guide and support us in our calling, but we should not admire or obey man. We should follow Jesus through the Holy Spirit in us, obeying Him on a daily basis and give Him all the glory. We have discussed the gift of discerning of spirits in a previous message. We should discern whether it is the Holy Spirit guiding us or is it men.

If you are a pastor or in leadership yourself, what is the motive behind your actions? Do the people get stirred up emotionally so we could say we had a wonderful service and you could grow in popularity? Do you compromise the Word of God so you could preach what the people would like to hear, or do you preach truth, conviction, obedience and life? “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths,” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). It’s so easy to fall for the temptation to please people, for pastors are dependent on their tithes and offerings.

When you think of yourself - as pastor, a leader or just a Christian - are you pleased with yourself and what you’ve accomplished and do you enjoy the attention of people, or do you pass praise on to the Lord? Are we looking at the world, seeing the need for Jesus and make every effort to bring the light of Jesus to them, sacrificing ourselves in the process, or do we live self-indulgent lives, justifying ourselves that we deserve the comfort.

We can go on and on, getting to issues such as the rich who will have difficulty to enter heaven etc. but I’ll leave it here. Allow the light of Jesus to show you your attitude and your level of obedience, for “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few,” (Matthew 9:37), and “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 7:21).

Lord, please break through my self-righteousness and show me who I am.

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Shine Jesus Shine... (Part Two)

Good morning.

Jesus said: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness,” (John 12:46), and “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” (John 8:12).

The devil’s purpose is to envelop men in darkness, to blind them so they cannot see their own condition. Some are blinded by self and all they can see are themselves, others are blinded by success, money, fame, lust, pleasure, religions and so on up to the extreme of the occult and intense spiritual darkness. Many who call themselves Christians are even blinded by religion, i.e. they are so religious they have no idea what Jesus is like.

“You are the light of the world... let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 5:14-16). We are to bring Jesus’ light to the people. Through what we do and say people’s darkness needs to be exposed. They need to see who they are and they need to recognise how the devil has blinded and deceived them. This would happen if we start praying for them. I became aware of a dear brother’s battle against sin and, before I did anything, the Lord prompted me to intercede intensely for him – continuous, passionate prayer. This opened his eyes to see his condition and also to see what the Holy Spirit brought to his attention through me; which in its own is wisdom from the Lord and thus light. The light of Jesus was shed on him. As a result of the Lord’s light and power he progresses well – praise be to Jesus. The Lord also prompted me to pray intensely for the salvation of some people I regularly see and I look forward to the results.

Through our love in word and actions, together with our obvious relationship with the Lord, the light of Jesus will illuminate the lives of those around us. Unless people realise what they’re like by seeing their sin, they will not come to Jesus. Once they see and accept Jesus, they have the light and during the rest of their walk with the Lord, His light will continuously make them aware of those issues in their lives that hinder their relationship with Him, providing they are close enough to Him and care enough to see what He tries to show them.

In the light of Jesus that emits from us, sinners will also see who He is in us. If we walk close with the Lord and depend daily on Him, the world will see His authority, anointing, love, joy, wisdom, peace, strength etc. emitting from us and they will recognise we are different. Some will honour us for it and others will persecute us. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognised that they had been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13).

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you,” (John 15:7). I often ask the Lord for His authority and anointing to do my work well and to let my light shine well. If people see the Almighty in us, His name gets glorified. That’s how our light should shine.

Lord, I need to abide in you so my light could shine and you be glorified.

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Shine Jesus Shine... (Part One)

Good morning.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,’” (John 8:12) and in John 9:5 He said “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Now that Jesus is not in the world anymore, He passed the light on: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 5:14-16).

The passage in John 9:5 above is preceded by the following: “We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work,” (John 9:4). It is clear that Jesus felt urgency about the work to be done and He certainly didn’t let grass grow under His feet. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written,” (John 21:25).

Our light shines in any case. We don’t have a choice in it. Jesus said ‘you are the light of the world’. He didn’t say, ‘be the light if you feel like it’. The Lord has pre-planned the works He had in mind for us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” (Ephesians 2:10).

The works Jesus did was in His stride. He basically walked along ‘minding His own business’, so to speak, and then the opportunities for miracles and teaching arose. He, however, was prepared for them, since He started His day in unity with His Father and walked in the Spirit all the time, which is why His works happened to be great. He had great faith.

Our works should also be in our stride. They may not appear to be great to us, but to the Lord they are great. “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward,” (Matthew 10:42). Let us therefore be light to the world. I always try to make people feel special at work - add a little light and joy to their day. When kids’ medicines are collected I say things that lift them up and always call for a high five. The little faces blossom and when they come in next time I can see the expectation in their eyes. When we did street children outreaches in Cape Town, we always played with the kids, causing joy that they would think back on and then remember that Jesus played with them. We may have been some of the rare opportunities of joy and fun for them. I also try and make my adult customers as well as my staff feel special. Whenever the opportunity arises I make known that they need Jesus and that Jesus is special to me, so they know that this joy comes from Jesus. How about you?

We don’t need to necessarily preach the gospel. We could just tell what happened to us, live the joy that is in us, and the light will shine.

Lord, please show me how to let my light shine.

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Are You Speaking Up?

Good morning.

Today we close the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 and chapter 14.

The last gift we need to elaborate a little on is the interpretation of tongues. I think one of the reasons this has faded away during some of our church services is because people don’t have the confidence that it is the Lord speaking and then are not sure whether they should say it. Another reason is that in many churches the leaders want to filter what is said and then those, who receive from the Holy Spirit, finds it too much trouble to have it said.

In 1 Corinthians 14:4, 5 Paul said: “The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.” Then he continued explaining about the benefits of prophesy and interpretation of tongues, which are essentially the same.

When the Holy Spirit wants a word to go out through you, i.e. a prophecy or an interpretation of tongues, a thought will appear in your mind. At first you may think it’s your own, but if it is at all for the encouragement and uplifting of either the church or a possible individual within the church, you could consider it as from the Lord. All you need to do is to start speaking by faith. The Holy Spirit will lead you in what to say and you will be astonished at what comes from your mouth. If this kind of obedience becomes commonplace in the church, not only the speakers will be in awe, but also the hearers and in this way the Lord gets glorified.

A free flow of the Holy Spirit’s ministry will only work if the church leadership encourages it, teaches it so people can know how to go about it, and supports the Word which is received. I.e. if someone brings a word that appears not altogether Biblical due to ignorance, but can clearly be seen as from the Holy Spirit, all the leadership needs to do is to gently put it into context as the Spirit leads (i.e. testing it). Having it filtered beforehand quenches the Spirit of God. “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good,” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). I think some of our churches are going to have much to answer for one day when the Lord opens the books. As you could have seen, the latter paragraph was more aimed at church leaders, so maybe you could bring it to their attention.

Fact is, it is the Holy Spirit who is having a say in the Lords’ body, His congregation of the saints, and if we hinder Him we quench Him and are therefore doing our own thing and not His. If we do not obey when we’re prompted to bring a tongue or interpret it, we’re going to answer for it and if we’re hindered to bring it, those who hindered us will answer. The big enemy of the Lord when it comes to His guidance of His body are rituals and liturgy within the church. We shouldn’t have a specified format and a time limit. We are His and our time is His and He should have freedom of speech.

Lord, help us to obediently return you to your rightful place in the congregation.

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Be a Babbler!

Good morning.

We continue with the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 and now also chapter 14.

I’d like to elaborate a bit on personal praying in tongues. Like we’ve mentioned in a previous message, it’s a practical way of praying continually as we are instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to do. We are not called the bride of Christ for no reason. I’m a fervent people watcher and have noticed how a woman in love acts towards her man. I’m not only referring to first love, but to true love over many years. She loves to share her life with her man in telling him all kinds of things. She loves being dependent on him and ask for advice. A woman in true love relies on her man and wants him to know it, and the man in love loves it.

The Lord desires the same of His bride. He loves to hear the chatter of His beloved in His ears. He encourages us various times in the Bible to ask of Him and tells us to intercede for one another. He knows we will not always have the words to pray continually, which is why He gifted us with the ability of praying in tongues. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words,” (Romans 8:26).

When I pray in tongues, which I do at every available moment because I’ve discovered its power, I go into real fellowship with the Lord. Verbally I’m not a man of many words, unless the topic is Jesus, so I don’t always know what to say. I therefore keep praying in tongues and as I pray, people’s names or circumstances or Kingdom issues etc. comes to mind. I then mention it in one sentence to the Lord and continue praying in tongues, assuming my praying in tongues would be intercession for those issues. I know that is what the Holy Spirit gave me to pray about.

When I promise I would pray for someone, I quietly pray a verbal prayer there and then and then tell the Lord that, whenever I pray in tongues, I include this person in the prayer. In that way I can’t forget to pray for them. Quite often, even while I’m working, this praying in tongues will deepen in intensity and I would feel the presence of the Lord very real. During those times I always feel like closing my eyes for a few moments and only focus on the prayer. I assume that is when “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words”.

Why did the Lord give us the ability to pray in tongues and instructed us to pray without ceasing or continually? Because He knows the devil finds work for idle hand to do and He therefore wants us to be continuously busy focusing on Him. There were times when I didn’t pray so fervently and it was at times like that when temptation came much quicker and falling for it much easier. I found that if I increase my praying in tongues, I’m not tempted so easily.

I therefore encourage you, if you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit to let me know at discipleliving@gmail.com so I could guide you into it. If you are filled, you do have the ability to pray in tongues. Use it as much as you can.

Lord Jesus, I desire to stay in touch with you non-stop through the Holy Spirit.

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What Did He Say?

Good morning.

We continue with the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 and now also chapter 14.

The church is at war – a very subtle war. I mentioned a few messages ago that some spirit is going to lead every individual, whether we admit it or not. It will either be the Holy Spirit or an evil spirit and this is what the war is about – the control of our souls.

Up to around 380 BC the church was actively led by the Holy Spirit until she was smothered under Roman Catholicism. Through the ages Satan has made every effort to get the church to become a religion, just like all his other religions. Paul called it “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power,” (2 Timothy 3:5). If we look carefully at the church today, we’ll see that there are many commands in the Bible that the church does not follow. We have inherited much incorrect doctrine from the dark ages, somewhat modified it, but continued in its erroneous ways.

Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead the congregation by means of His gifts is one way we could break out of this ‘form of godliness’. Speaking in tongues is usually followed by the interpretation thereof and is just another way of letting the Holy Spirit have His say. In 1 Corinthians 14, which we’ve posted yesterday, Paul gave clear guidance in the practicalities around this. Unfortunately the church’s structures and liturgy, in whatever form, generally hinder the Holy Spirit to have His say. Many times when I received a word from the Lord during worship, I didn’t feel the freedom to bring it, since it wasn’t encouraged. How many others feel the same way? If we as church encourage Holy Spirit participation at every meeting, we will see more obedient Christians participate and as a result a mighty move of God. Have you noticed in 1 Corinthians 14 how Paul assumed active participation by everybody as the norm within the churches? That’s how the church services functioned those days before ungodly man got hold of it.

The purpose of the Sunday message in church is for the Holy Spirit to speak into individual hearts while the revelation from the Word of God flows over them. Many times during the message I receive something from the Holy Spirit, which I’d like to add to the message, wishing I could have an opportunity afterwards to do it.  Some people may have questions regarding the message that would benefit others. In the light of 1 Corinthians 14 I believe the Sunday message should be discussed afterwards, so we could be built up like Paul said in verse 26, be encouraged as in verse 31 and equipped (Ephesians 4:11-16). I realise some would say that this is what home groups are for. It should be applied there as well, but why should the church service be different? How many unbelievers and visitors do we get in home groups? How many people are not able to attend home groups? Why should a church service be formal? The current pastor of the church, in which I grew up, replaced all the church benches with tables and chairs. He was heavily criticised by the religious church goers, but I think it’s wonderful because his people discuss the word of the Lord. “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up,” (1 Corinthians 14:26).

You may not be in a position to change this, but you can pray for your church leaders and also influence them.

If you benefited from this, why don’t you link it to your Facebook or Twitter to make it available to your friends? You can also use the e-mail link to pass it on. Please also pray for the spreading of it to those who need it. Please feel free to ask questions or discuss thoughts.

Use Your Tongues (Part Two)

I’ve been nearly finished with the next message, when the Holy Spirit told me He’d like you to first read the relevant parts of 1 Corinthians 14. It’s somewhat longer than usual, but please keep it in mind in the light of yesterday’s and tomorrow’s messages:

1  Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

2  For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him,   but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

3  On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

4  The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

5  Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

6  Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

7  If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played?

8  And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?

9  So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.

10  There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning,

11  but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

12  So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

13  Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret.

14  For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.

15  What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

16  Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say "Amen" to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?

17  For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

18  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

19  Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

21  In the Law it is written, "By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord."

22  Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

23  If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

24  But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all,

25  the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

26  What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

27  If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.

28  But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

29  Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.

30  If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.

31  For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged,

32  and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

33  For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

36  Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?

37  If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

38  If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

39  So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

40  But all things should be done decently and in order.

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Use Your Tongues (Part One)

Good morning.

We continue with the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:7-10.

When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:4, they “began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” It was the first thing that happened as evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Being born again should naturally be followed by being baptised and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Having received these three gifts enables us to be one with the Lord.

Some Christians haven’t received teaching or revelation about being filled with the Holy Spirit and are therefore either unaware of-, or don’t believe in the power of speaking in tongues. I grew up in a church that neither believed in being filled with the Holy Spirit, nor practiced the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t even preach the need for being born again. But the Lord had a plan for my life, so I was hungry to have it all. He therefore placed people on my path to introduce me to these important aspects of the Kingdom. When I was prayed for to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I chose to believe that I had the ability to speak in tongues, for that is what the Bible said I should have. I still remember how I hesitantly started to make certain noises by faith and, although it felt as if I created them, I chose to believe they were from the Holy Spirit. Soon I was able to speak in tongues. Ever since it had magnificent power in my life, for I pray in tongues most of the time when I don’t speak.

The use of speaking in tongues has two functions. When Paul gave teaching about the use of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14 he mentioned praying in tongues in verse 14. “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.” In verse 18 he said: “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” This indicates that he prayed in tongues. How else will it be possible to “pray without ceasing,” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)?

Secondly, the gift of tongues is a prophetic function within the congregation. The Holy Spirit chose it as one of the ways He wants to communicate with us and, together with the interpretation of tongues, it seems the most ignored of the gifts. I don’t know whether man wants to manipulate or regulate the church services, but the Holy Spirit chose to use whoever He wants to to have a say in the congregation, and if the use of these gifts are ignored or manipulated, we cannot expect to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit during our services. I realise the leaders have a need for order in the church and a fear for false doctrine to enter, but if we have prayed beforehand we need to trust the Lord that He will be in control. His ways may be different from ours, but since He chose the right person for the job, it will be a job well done – according to His will and not ours. Then we’ll see revival.

Holy Spirit, please help us to yield to you.

If you benefited from this, why don’t you link it to your Facebook or Twitter to make it available to your friends? You can also use the e-mail link to pass it on. Please also pray for the spreading of it to those who need it. Please feel free to ask questions or discuss thoughts.