Salt Changing the Earth (Part 6)

God wants us to do the maximum we can as individuals: help in the local church as well as fervently pray for and sacrificially support missions and international evangelism and discipleship. We can give money, prayer, and physical support, but most of all, we need to be available for the Lord to send us wherever He wants. He has called many men and women to do great things, but some sit in comfort, disobedient, simply because their local leaders are not preparing them for the work of the ministry, challenging and sending them. If we equip all members of a local congregation for ministry tasks, then send them, the local church will soon see a big change. Volunteering does not mean everybody planning their own work. Project leaders coordinate the volunteers to meet the project’s needs under guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There must also be urgency about it. Jesus said in John 9:4, 5: “‘As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’” He also said in John 14:12: “‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.’”

Because He said we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), the words in John 9:4, 5 above apply to us as well. The night is coming. We can’t live for ourselves anymore. We need to realize that we don’t need all our things and comfort. If we downscale as Jesus told the rich young ruler in Mark 10, we will see how much time and energy we have to be the salt of the earth.

There is much to fight for, much to teach. For example, the children in many countries are becoming a serious problem to society, schools, and the government because of a lack of discipline. We as Christians have learned from the Bible how to bring up our children. The Lord has also risen up anointed authors on child rearing. If we would get out of our comfort zones and make the world aware of the need to train parents properly in child rearing, respect, and discipline, the world would be a different place in the next generation.

As Peter said, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins” (2 Peter 1:4-9). (To be continued)

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Salt Changing the Earth (Part 5)

Next we should act. We should make a noise about the sepsis that is so evident on the earth. For instance, when the homosexuals feel they are being discriminated against, they complain. Even more so, Christians should be in the news all the time for speaking out against wrongs. We could write to the newspapers, file complaints with our congressmen, speak out at parent-teacher meetings, and tack posters on notice boards. We could even arrange peaceful, orderly protests and marches if the Lord directs. There are so many ways in which we could stir the consciences of the world and make them aware of sin and righteousness. If we do this, we give the Holy Spirit the mandate to do what He was sent for. “‘When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8).

The Lord has gifted many Christian authors to write books that could help a lot of people find solutions to their problems, to have a bit of light in their darkness of understanding. We should promote such books as well as television and radio programs that have answers to life’s mysteries. The Lord said we are the light of the world because the world is in darkness. They don’t understand life. They don’t have much wisdom because true wisdom comes only from the Lord.

We are the light of the world because we have access to and are filled with the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom of life: the Holy Spirit. Only God has the answers to life. Only from Him come joy and peace, and we have access to them. We can hear from the Lord and shed light on people’s understanding, or we can refer them to sources of godly light (books and so on). Whatever the case; “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

This is where faith comes in. If we are salt and light, we will act accordingly and God can use us as He has used Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Jesus, etc. If we believe the Lord can do it and we are worthy in Christ to do it with Him, we will have the sufficient motivation.

Christians seem to have an attitude of, “We do our thing, the world does their thing, and we do not interfere.” Who is the Lord of heaven and earth? Whose children are we?

In the parable of the servants, who is the household of the Master who went away? Is it only the Church? Why would Jesus then command the same servants to be the salt of the earth? God wants to be glorified; He wants the world to see His power and His glory, because He wants them to come into the Kingdom as well. That is why He did so many mighty deeds in Israel and why Jesus did so many miracles. If we focus only on our little local church and our needs, or even only our town, we make only a slight change over a long period of time. How then will the world be reached, the earth changed?

Imagine that Jesus came to earth and settled in a local church. There He preached every Sunday and did everything routinely as local churches do, only loving the members and meeting their needs. How would that have made a difference to the world and the earth?

Each individual needs a global vision in addition to a local vision. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said to the one hundred and twenty, gathered in the upper room: “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.”

This was the first church representing all the true churches ever to exist until Jesus comes again. He doesn’t tell them to witness first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth as it is often preached from the pulpit: first your town, then your county, then your country and then the earth. He tells them all to be His witnesses everywhere, at the same time. This is why the Holy Spirit soon scattered them all over the known world and called Paul to evangelize the gentiles. He probably also allowed an attack on Paul and Barnabas’ relationship, causing them to have an argument as recorded in Acts 15:36-41, so they could split up. (To be continued)

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Salt Changing the Earth (Part 4)

Salt also preserves.

Any food treated with salt is protected against decay. Salt was especially used in the days before freezers and modern preservatives.

Christians, who are salt, should preserve values, life, joy, peace, and especially the stronghold that the Kingdom of God has in an area or country. If we apply the principles described above and act as salt that preserves, Christianity will survive in our area. A stronghold is a position of strength. Christianity has the stronghold in countries such as England, the United States, and South Africa, while Islam has the stronghold in countries such as Pakistan and Arabia.

The preserving function of Christians being salt is an active process. Most corruption and decay took place because the church was asleep and passive at the time, or just did not fight hard enough. I’m thinking of things like the legalization of abortion and the removal of the Bible and prayer from the schools. We need to fight. For example, pornography was kept out of the South African family stores because the Christians launched a huge offensive against it when pornography became legal after the 1994 government change.

One of the issues we should preserve is our freedom of individuality and expression. The controversial issue of political correctness is something that we as “salt” Christians should challenge in the spiritual realms. Political correctness is possibly one of the major causes of spiritual apathy among Christians, because it can lead to fear of persecution. Instead of Christians challenging, rebuking, preaching, and training in righteousness, many have become cautious, do-not-disturb Christians. They hear a social gospel in a church that acts as a social club rather than a training center for spiritual soldiers.

Political correctness seems to be a tool designed in the supernatural realm to prevent Christians from evangelizing. From the perspective of political correctness, evangelism imposes religion and therefore offends. Unfortunately, in reality, this only seems to apply to Christianity and allows non-Christian religions to flourish. It is a breeding ground for ungodliness. We should seek the Lord to show us how we could challenge it and persevere in the spiritual battle until we get results.

We want to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). In the midst of setbacks, trials, temptations, and persecutions, Paul kept the faith that God can make a difference.

We should fight the good fight on God’s behalf to preserve His values on this earth, keeping the faith that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). Being salt demands that we spend much time with God in prayer and it commands us to take up our authority in faith. How do we then actively preserve what is important for an abundant life? When meat is covered with salt, the salt interferes with the natural process of decay and changes the logical course that the meat would have taken. In the same way, we as Christians should interfere with the process of decay and change the logical course that the earth would take.

We do this in a number of ways. We should pray without ceasing. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16b, The Amplified Bible). We should focus our prayer away from ourselves and on that which needs change. We should pray fervently for that which the Lord told us to pray about. (To be continued)

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Salt Changing the Earth (Part 3)

Where did Jesus get His power? It was not because He was God. He spent His nights in prayer, hearing from the Father about how to deal with the issues awaiting Him. Then during the day, He did exactly as He was told. He said in John 5:19, “‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’”

Where did Jesus see what His father was doing? Can it be that He saw it while He was in heaven? I’m convinced that He saw His Father in the Spirit while He was praying. God then illustrated what Jesus was supposed to do during His ministry the following day. He probably would have heard something like: “Jesus, today you will meet a blind man. You must spit in the sand, make mud and put it on his eyes. It is imperative that you tell him to go and wash his face in the Pool of Siloam.” Had Jesus have done it in a different way, it probably would not have worked.

He also said in John 5:30, “‘By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.’” Where did Jesus hear? He heard through prayer during the night.

How did Jesus pray? We find the ultimate example in Luke 22:44: “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” This prayer was in Gethsemane and certainly was the ultimate of prayers, but I believe it was typical of all His prayers: earnest and heartfelt.

Jesus could do nothing without relying on His father. How about us? “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing’” (John 15:5). As Jesus needed His Father, so we need Him. As we remain in Him and He in us, what fruit will we bear? The fruit He bore, the same power He exercised, the same difference He made. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16b Amplified Bible). That is how we should pray.

Some issues can be resolved only through prayer. We couldn’t physically do much about the falling airplanes. Concerning certain other issues, though, James said in his epistle that faith without works is dead. Jesus did not only pray against the deception of the Pharisees and teachers of the law; He also confronted them, exposing Himself to persecution and the risk of being killed. These confrontations eventually lead to His death. If we want to be like Jesus we must also be courageous and confront the wrongs in life. This means we have to risk unpopularity, even within the church.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” And in 2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

I have lately become increasingly aware of the words “correct” and “rebuke” in the above passages. How much of these are still being done within the church? If good works demand holiness, then people, who are being prepared for good works, need teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. This will bring them in line with the Lord who is the author of good works. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Correcting and rebuking is not nice or easy. We fear rejection, but if we don’t rebuke and correct, people tend to compromise. Many people live in sin and are not confronted any more. This result is that the church is weakened because of unrighteousness.

The fear of persecution and rejection causes the church to live in compromise with the world. She became acceptable to the world and even to the enemy, since she does not make people aware of sin and holiness anymore and is therefore not a threat to anyone. The Holy Spirit wants to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8), and needs the church to work with Him.

The same applies if the church does not correct or rebuke the government. Without correction, the government tends to be led by the carnal nature and evil forces. Our battle against sin and corruption must be intense and focused.

As a family, we love watching movies and have often found great spiritual lessons in them. One day we were watching an action movie involving spies. My wife commented, “Despite the danger and against all odds, these heroes just don’t give up.” How many of us resist evil passionately, against all odds, until we accomplish what we set out to do? The general approach seems to be “I’ll do something as long as it doesn’t affect me personally.”

We need always to work with the Lord under His direction. If we rebuke because the Lord told us to and we do it the way He directs us, it will bear authority and manifest change. The Lord wants us to be channels of His power. If we are available, He is more than willing to teach us how to be different, how to swim against the streams of popularity and accepted behavior, even of popular Christian beliefs. He would love to raise a salt army that would make a sick earth whole through his power. During the storm Jesus told the disciples:

“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (Matthew 8:26).

Jesus made two points in this passage. First, by saying, “You of little faith,” he implied that they should have spoken to the elements. They should have commanded the storm themselves, giving Jesus’ power a channel to work through. He expected them to exercise their faith and the spoken word so that He could solve the problem through them.

The second thing Jesus did was to command the wind and waves to calm down. Everything Jesus did was through commands, from the creation until the end of His ministry. He prayed through the night to get rhema; the living word or revelation instructions from the Father, and then He gave His commands. This means that He received the instructions from the Father, which gave Jesus the faith He needed that the Father will back His commands with His power, simply because it was the Father in the first place who told Him what to do. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 KJV). If we hear from God what He wants us to do, we will have the faith that He will back us up and do what we ask or command, since we do what the Almighty expects of us: His will.

How can we be salt on the earth and clean out its sepsis? First we need to become aware of God's concern for this sick earth. We need to focus away from our carnal thoughts, doubts, fear, and hatred and adopt His compassion and thoughts.

Then we need to have faith. We need to believe that He can and wants to deal with this sepsis. We need the faith to believe we can be His channels. Then we need to spend much time in prayer and fasting to bring every situation before God and hear from Him how he'd like to deal with it. Last, once we know how to deal with it, we need to command His will into every situation as Jesus did.

There is no record of Jesus publicly begging the Father to heal somebody. He rebuked and commanded. So if the sepsis of this earth becomes a concern to you, isolate yourself to God, get the rhema solution to the problem, and then command it into the heavens and onto the earth. “‘What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.’” (Matthew 10:27).

What do you think will happen to this sick earth if all the millions of Christians do this on a daily basis? (To be continued)

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Salt Changing the Earth (Part Two)

If one studies the efficiency of Christianity in the past twenty centuries, she sees the discrepancies between Jesus’ intentions for us and the reality of the world. Christians seem to have been losing all the way. Countries that Paul evangelized are now largely heathen, everywhere the earth is in chaos, and a very small part of it is truly evangelized. Even in Christian countries, a vast majority of the nation has little or no knowledge of Christ and the Bible. Secularism and other religions have overtaken Christianity in popularity. Christians rely on doctors rather than on Jesus' power for healing, let alone driving out demons and raising the dead. There are many other things Jesus did that we do not touch. Why? It is because today's disciples don't have faith in Jesus.

            “‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you’” (Matthew 17:20). And in Luke 17:6: “‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it will obey you.’”

I have heard many spiritual explanations of this passage, but I think Jesus meant it literally. It fits the effect we should have on the earth. But many of us don’t even have faith as small as a mustard seed. We often pray with a “what if” in the backs of our minds. We are afraid of making fools of ourselves. We simply don’t trust God. If we did, we would see a much different earth. We rely on our own resources, so occupied with ourselves that we simply don’t bother. The condition of the world doesn’t affect us in our comfortable, materialistic cocoon, so why would we worry about being salt? In many ways, the church has become a social club, a controlling power to manipulate people, a moneymaking business or emotional showbiz.

Jesus said in the John 14:13 that anything we ask of Him, He will do. What is this “anything?” Is it our personal wants and needs? I don’t think so. These will be cared for automatically if we get busy with His Kingdom issues (Matthew 6:25-34). If we, however, identify a situation in the earth that needs changing, we need to go before Jesus in prayer and fasting and ask Him what we should command. Once we hear from Him how to go about it, we need to take authority over the spirit behind the situation and then command that which we have heard from God. He will then solve the situation. Obviously, this would demand from us dedicated prayer and separation for God. Believe me, I have seen many issues resolved as a result of taking authority and have also heard testimonies to that effect.

Some years ago my wife, Julia, and I became aware of a number of airplane crashes, one after the other, within a few weeks. I asked, “Why this trend, Lord?” I then saw a vision of a cloud of demons forcing an airplane down as if playing games. The devil’s purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). We decided to take authority in the spiritual realm against these activities, and the accidents stopped. Then we started to look for other trends to pray against. There are many such issues that God can deal with in the natural, political, and social realms. What about the political situations in countries like Zimbabwe, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the health situation in Zimbabwe, or poverty in many countries? When we pray for them, how do we pray?  (To be continued)

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Salt Changing the Earth

Good day dear friend

If you would kindly forgive me for not being active with this blog I would really appreciate it. The reason being that the Lord asked me to start publishing and marketing the books I'm deriving from all my writings. This is what kept me busy all these months.

It is, however, time to start getting active on the blog again, so I will work hard at getting a post at least once a week.

Salt Changing the Earth

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. (Matthew 5:13)

In this passage, Jesus spoke to His disciples. In John 17:20, He also prayed for His disciples,

but not for only them. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” We can therefore assume that these teachings are for all who believe in Jesus—that’s us. We are the salt of the earth.

We know that salt makes us thirsty, so our lifestyle and speech should cause people to become thirsty for our life and our Savior. Salt also gives flavor to food, so our lifestyle should have such a flavor that people desire it.

There is more to it though.

Salt serves excellently as an antiseptic.

As a pharmacist, I have recognized the antiseptic properties of salt. If you swim in the sea with a septic sore a number of times, it usually heals. Saltwater rinses help to cure some mouth ulcers. Sniffing a solution of saltwater rinses the sinuses, clearing away mucus and disinfecting the sinuses, thereby getting rid of sinusitis in no time. 

“You are the salt of the earth.” Notice that the passage includes the word “earth,” not “world.” I believe the Lord wants us, His disciples, to be the antiseptic of the earth. It is the purpose of Satan to make the earth sick, to cause sepsis in every possible area of the earth's set-up or mechanism. I don't have to tell you how upside down everything is on earth, from the politics right down to nature. The sepsis of the earth needs salt as an antiseptic to cure it, and we as Christians are that salt.

Jesus said three interesting things on the topic:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18, 19).

“All power” means He has power or authority over every other power or authority in heaven, which is the sky above us, the universe, and God's dwelling, and the earth. Because He has that power, we must go and make disciples who can be channels of that power. We must channel His power to rule over corruption, crime, unstable families, political violence, natural disasters, and so forth. Mark recorded Jesus’ final words as follows: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18). I believe that if Jesus had time, he would have listed all the powers that believers would be able to exercise.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:12, 13).

Jesus exercised power over sickness, political leaders, nature, and finance. He promised that anyone with faith in Him would do the same and even greater things than He did. The examples in the Bible such as the calming of the storm, Jesus walking calmly through a crowd about to stone Him, and His wisdom in shutting the mouths of the political and religious powers of the time are all examples of what His disciples can do in a much greater measure.

(To be continued)

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Are You in Jesus?

The other day during our children’s outreach we were discussing Noah. I asked the children (and adults present) who of them never do anything wrong. Obviously nobody could claim it. I then explained to the children that in Noah’s time God had to destroy all sin on earth, simply because He could not tolerate it any more. I then asked them who would survive if God had to do it again today. After the children have contemplated for a while, one lad answered: “Jesus”. He hit the nail right on the head. God is going to destroy all sin again, and only Jesus and those who are in Him are going to be saved.

We read in Ephesians 1:3-4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

Christ is blessed and chosen, and those who are in Him are going along for the ride.

But it is not only a ride, and staying in Christ is not automatic. Our actions and choices determine whether we are in Christ.

From John 15:4-7 it is clear that it is possible to leave Jesus (get out of Him) and do your own thing: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me,” (verse 4). We said just now that we are not only in along for the ride – we need to bear fruit. Judged by these words of His, Jesus assumed it to be obvious that His disciples will have a desire to bear fruit, for He gives us direction regarding the condition for bearing fruit – those who desire to bear fruit must remain in Him.

Then we read in verse 5:  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Again Jesus stressed the point that we are to remain in Him if we want to bear fruit, taking it for granted that those interested in Him will have a desire to bear fruit. But then He added that, apart from Him, we are useless, again taking it for granted that we would desire to do something.

We need to search our hearts whether we are motivated to promote the Kingdom of God, and if we are, do we stay in touch with the Holy Spirit and remain in Jesus? It is only in Jesus that we will have what we need to bear effective fruit: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you, (verse 7).” This includes the blessings mentioned in Ephesians 1:3-4 above.

And if we do not desire to bear fruit and because of that do not remain in Jesus, what then: “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned,” (verse 6).

How do you remain in Jesus? How do you actually remain in any relationship? By seeing your friend or spouse once a week for an hour; staring at one another? By just being on the receiving side, only calling on them when you need their help? No, the way any relationship grows is when we are there for one another, spending time together, and helping and supporting one another, making life easier for the other.

The same applies to being in Jesus. He needs us as much as we need Him. The greatest commandment is: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” (Mark 12:30). How do you prove that you love your spouse? By saying every day that you love them? Maybe there is more to it, is there not? Loving your spouse is about doing those things that meet their needs. Does loving Jesus, and being in relationship with Him, entail singing in church with all your heart, soul, mind and strength that you love Him? I do not think so. It is doing with all your heart, soul, mind and strength that which He desires of you for the sake of the Kingdom. It is thinking about Him all the time, wondering what He desires of you next. It is laying down your life in order to proclaim His life (Matthew 10:39).

Are you in Jesus, or are you only concerned with yourself? Do you want to bear much fruit, hearing one day: “well done good and faithful servant”? Or do you want to be “picked up, thrown into the fire and burned”? (John 15:6)

Father, help me to remain in Jesus so I could bear much fruit?

The Sin of Missed Opportunities

One day, as the Holy Spirit prompted me to repent of opportunities that I did not pursue faithfully, I became aware of the sin of not being faithful with opportunities the Lord puts on our way.

We read in Colossians 4:5-6 (Amp): “Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.  Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].”

This refers to non Christians, but it applies equally to our interaction with one another.  What opportunities does the Holy Spirit refer to here?  We can call them Divine appointments.  In other words God has an appointment with you to make a difference in somebody's life, with the view to further His Kingdom in that person's life and the lives of those they influence.

Esau despised God's opportunity set out for him.

Holiness means to be set aside for God and we have learned a while ago that God being holy means that He is set aside solely for His purposes.  He has nothing on His agenda but His Kingdom.  Everything He works in and through us is for the sake of His Kingdom.

Therefore every opportunity He brings our way is Him trusting us to do it for the sake of His Kingdom.  This is why Paul urged believers to make the most of every opportunity coming our way.  It pleases the Lord when we obey by faith.

What does it mean to obey by faith?  When you receive a challenge maybe in your job, sport or hobby, you tackle it not necessarily having the required knowledge or skills initially, but by faith you proceed knowing that somehow you will figure it out.  I am sure many of us can identify with the scenario I have pictured here.

If we are able to do this for ourselves, how much more are we able to respond in obedience to an opportunity to help build God's interests, which He lays before us?  It is even easier, since we have the Holy Spirit guiding us in the successful pursuit of the opportunity.

We should consider how much we grieve the Holy Spirit when we, after He has gone to the trouble to prepare the opportunity for us, shove it back in His face so to speak.  How would you feel when someone volunteered to help you accomplish a project, you go through all the trouble to prepare their share for them, relying on their help, and then they let you down because their own interests are more important?

How does the Lord feel when we do it to Him?

What opportunities are we referring to?  These are opportunities to act on behalf of the Lord, since we are His hands, feet and voice.  These could be opportunities to encourage, share your faith, lead someone to the Lord, teach, help, serve, equip, plant a church, and use your gift - anything the Lord needs to build His Kingdom.

The second part of our passage under discussion (verse 6) speaks of how we should go about it.  It mentions graciousness of speech and being seasoned with salt. In my teaching on us being the salt of the earth from the Sermon on the Mount, we have learned that being the salt of the earth brings about tastiness for the Kingdom of God, a thirst for Him, as well as being an antiseptic, a preservative and a purifier of the earth and the condition it is in.  The same applies to the words and the way we address people. Seasoned with salt has to have the same effect as mentioned above.  Our words should create tastiness for the Kingdom of God, a thirst for Him, as well as antisepsis, preservation and purification in the person we address.

·         How often have you obeyed the Holy Spirit when an opportunity came your way?

·         How often have you ignored such opportunities because you had other agendas?  

·         Do you think the Lord will keep you accountable?   

·         Do you think the Lord need you to accomplish His holy purposes with His Kingdom?

·         Are you available?

Lord, I repent of my reluctance to obey you.  Please enable me to hear your voice better and to respond in obedience and faith.

Are you really dead to self?

Who is self?

Who did the disciples consider themselves to be? From their remarks on who is the greatest (An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest – Luke 9:46), the mother of Zebedee’s sons who asked for them to sit on both sides of Jesus when He became king (Matthew 20:20-22) and Peter's attitude of self importance (Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” – Matthew 26:33) we can see that self was initially first and foremost to them. 

    

Even though Jesus did all the miracles and often spoke of His heritage, they still perceived Him from an earthly perspective and because of this perception they sought position in Jesus' expected hierarchy. Self was first on the minds of the disciples until Jesus died for them. This shook them so hard that they went into hiding, not really knowing what to do.

It was only after the Holy Spirit was poured out on them that they understood the spiritual significance of Jesus' purpose for coming to earth. This together with the hours of training they received from Jesus caused a miracle in them - self died. Thereafter only one thing mattered - the Kingdom of God and its King.

Has Jesus died for you? No, that answer came too quickly. After all the teaching the disciples received about what would happen to Jesus, they were still very much focused on self, until the reason why Jesus died and resurrected became reality for each one personally. The stark realization that that which they witnessed during the crucifixion was actually for them personally, made them painfully aware of how petty their self centred attitude was in the light of Jesus' display of ultimate selflessness. If you had to literally stand at the cross during the crucifixion and became aware of your selfishness in the light of Jesus' selflessness, would you have changed?

Only when the Holy Spirit reveals to you the reality of Jesus' sacrifice for you personally, will self die in you and will you walk in the selflessness and power of Jesus. John the Baptist who was already rock bottom in terms of material goods and social status declared that Jesus had to become more and he less.

I ask again; has Jesus died for you in the sense that you are so awed by it that you will gladly shift self out of the way so Jesus could shine instead. Are you so stunned by His sacrifice that you are ashamed of your attitude in life?

Holy Spirit, please fill me with an awareness of Jesus' selflessness so I can become like Him.

Are you dead (part four) to pet sins?

This may be a touchy subject. Let us first define pet sins. A pet sin is something you enjoy, but which is evil in the Lord's eyes. It is usually something we justify ourselves for. The knowledge that we are free in Christ does not help much when it comes to this self justification. Some of us are very aware of this sin, but some don't see anything wrong with what they are doing. We think that God does not mind our pet sins, since we think they are forgiven in Christ and therefore we reckon we are free to sin as well. There are, however, many passages contradicting this self justification of which the following are the most relevant:

1 John 3:5-6: ^“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”

Romans 6:1-4: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

 Romans 6:15-17: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

1 Corinthians 6:12, 13B (Amp): “Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but [is intended] for the Lord, and the Lord [is intended] for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again].” This is written in the context of sexual immorality.

We find a similar passage in 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (Amp) in the context of the believer’s freedom: “All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. Let no one then seek his own good and advantage and profit, but [rather] each one of the other [let him seek the welfare of his neighbour].”

Examples of pet sins are:

Serving Mammon, in other words enjoying and making use of the comfort and enjoyment that money and a materialistic lifestyle brings at the cost of service to the Kingdom of God. It is very convenient to live as you like, avoiding the obvious sins, but only tagging Christianity along as an eternal security measure. The problem is that in this process a serious sin is committed, which is disobedience to the Holy Spirit, since obedience may cause us inconvenience regarding our lifestyle of materialistic comfort.

Sports: An excessive awareness of and participation in sports, either as spectators or athletes at the cost of serving the Kingdom is sin. Again we have self justification here. “I take part to the glory of God.” What you need to ask yourself is what is in your heart. How does your focus benefit and promote God's Kingdom in that souls are saved, people are discipled and educated in God's ways. If you only use yours being a Christian to benefit your sport and the image you portray, you sin. If you put the watching of and participation in sports above the development and usage of your gift to serve the Kingdom, you sin and need to die to this sin.

Yielding to the desires of the sinful nature (the flesh):

These could be greed, dishonesty, anger, selfishness, lust, pornography, vanity, hatred, unforgiveness, corruption, manipulation, etc. There are many demands we receive from our flesh or carnal nature that need to be overcome and die, since they stand in the way of our purity and an unhindered relationship with the Lord, (Galatians 5:16-26) Do not be deceived. God may love you as you are, but without holiness no-one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). The word holiness here means sanctification or being made holy. This is a process. See the series on holiness to be found in the archive to the right of the Word bytes blog in August and September 2014.

Satan and his demons attempt to use these weaknesses in the flesh to make us ineffective and delay God's plan with us. The Lord, however, uses them to form our character and to teach us a victorious life as well as self control (Paul’s thorn – 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). The aim is for the above-mentioned things to die so we could be completely sold out to the Kingdom - or as Isaiah put it in his famous chapter about True Fasting: “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

Lord, please show me my pet sins and help me die to them.