What is it that Distance Us from Our Destiny? (Part 2)

It was not only Jesus who had this privilege though.

During His three years of ministry Jesus taught His disciples a lot of theory and practical stuff. They really saw and heard plenty of good knowledge. After three years in the best Bible School ever the disciples were well equipped, but were still puzzled:

“Some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying....,

They kept asking, ‘What does he mean by ..... We don't understand what he is saying,’ (John 16:17, 18).

And then suddenly...:

“Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God."

‘You believe at last!’ Jesus answered,” (John 16:29-31). They  had seen  Jesus in action and heard the magnificent teachings, but it  was all on the outside and observed by the natural man. Eventually they believed in Jesus - after three years in His dynamic presence. This was the moment of their rebirth.

But still they were not ready yet. The day came when Jesus got arrested: “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled,” (Matthew 26:56). Shortly after that we learn that Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus.

In Acts 2 we read that these same weak and powerless disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and then the powerful book, The Acts of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, were written. We read that after the message of that same denier, Peter, the following happened.

“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.’

 “With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day,” (Acts 2:38-41).

What power! What results! How many Christians today can claim such results? And they were ordinary men as we see later in Acts 4:13: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

What has it got to do with you?

You have the choice what you want from life. Paul said: “‘Everything is permissible for me’--but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’- but not everything is constructive,” (1 Corinthians 10:23).

We can therefore choose to, like any good Christian, live a mediocre life by going about our business in privacy. We may even yield to the danger that goes with mediocrity namely the temptation of the three desires:

=The desire to satisfy his flesh. 

=The desire for power.                   

=The desire for material riches.

Why did Jesus not yield to these temptations? It was because He was completely fulfilled in all his desires through the perfect presence of the Holy Spirit. He simply did not need more than that, because the Holy Spirit’s presence and help in accomplishing his purpose for living, finishing what he was sent for, brought complete contentment and satisfaction. How would you like that?

Our second choice therefore is to, just like Jesus, receive and then fulfill our God given desires through the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and then continuously learn from Him, through the Word and his quiet voice in your heart.

The desire to satisfy the flesh will then change to a desire to satisfy the Lord, through service to our neighbor’s flesh. The desire for power will be satisfied by seeing the power of God in action through love. And finally the desire for temporary, earthly riches will be replaced with a desire for heavenly riches.

The more time we spend with the Holy Spirit, the more we will become and act like Jesus.

Why did Jesus speak so strongly against the power of money (Matthew 6:24)? It is because money fulfills the three desires instead of the Holy Spirit. Let us rather invite the Holy Spirit to fill and fulfill us. Then we will be able to finish the race and complete the task given to us (Acts 20:24, 2 Timothy 4:7) .

Please read Acts 19: 1-6. They were believers, but had no power. It must have been obvious, hence why Paul asked them. 

Have you received the Holy Spirit? If not, pray with me now:

“Holy Spirit, I believe in Jesus, but I have no power. Please fill me with your presence and power so that I can have understanding of God’s Word and hear your quiet voice as a guide in my daily life. I undertake to spend lots of time with you, delighting myself in the Lord so that your desires may become my desires”, (Psalm 37:4).

You may not feel anything right now, but just start chatting with the Lord, reading his Word and see what He does for you.

Holy Spirit, I have written, only you can reveal the truth to the reader. Please do so.

What is it that Distance Us from Our Destiny? (Part 1)

Every year we celebrate Jesus' birth, but one thousand nine hundred and eighty six years ago something happened, something that has slipped the attention of many through the ages, but has more significance than His birth. The reason it is often ignored, whilst Christmas is blown out of proportion, is that the latter fits quite comfortably into the enemy's plans. By using Christmas as a smoke screen and keeping everybody involved under the impression they are okay, the evil one can deceive many into a “form of godliness but denying the power thereof,” (2 Timothy 3:5).

What happened 1,986 years ago? John the baptist was preaching at the Jordan River and baptizing people for the remission of their sins.....  “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

“Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased,’” (Matthew 3:13-17).

At that stage Jesus had knowledge. This was proven by the fact that he astonished the Pharisees and teachers of the law with his knowledge already at the age of twelve. He was, therefore, like any good Christian, living quite a mediocre life by going about his business. It is often assumed that He worked as a carpenter, yet He was called rabbi at several occasions during His three years of ministry.

Since nothing of his life between twelve and thirty years of age has been recorded, it can also be assumed that his parents, having been aware of calling, would have had him formally trained as a rabbi. This would have given him credibility with the people. Part of it would have been the training all Jewish boys had as they approached the age of thirteen, the age at which they had their Bar Mitzvah.

But on that day at the Jordan River, when Jesus decided to be obedient to his heavenly Father and had Himself baptized, He got filled with the Holy Spirit and with the Holy Spirit came the power.....”Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry...” (Matthew 4:1, 2).

Let us just think a moment about these forty days; forty long, lonely days in the tremendous heat of a desert without food or water - and Jesus was just human. Picture yourself in His situation. How would you have experienced it? Following those forty excruciating days came the temptation to the flesh, more than any standard Christian could handle, He was tempted with three desires:

1) The desire to satisfy his flesh.

2) The desire for power.

3) The desire for material riches.

What prevented him to submit to these temptations? It was the power of the Holy Spirit in Him. Through the Spirit He had more and better things to desire and to look forward to,than what Satan had offered Him, and so  have you. You have no need to submit to these same three temptations fired at you all the time.

How long did Jesus have to wait to see the fulfillment of the expectations He had in the Spirit? Not long. From the day He overcame those three basic stumbling blocks of the faith through the power of the Word, many miracles and powerful teachings flowed from his hands and mouth through the power of the Holy Spirit. He simply chose to allow the Holy Spirit's power to work through Him. 

At the time He had much knowledge due to his Jewish training in the Talmud - the Old Testament law and prophets. He could have relied on His knowledge, but together with the Holy Spirit and His intimacy with His Father, came lots of revelation which astonished many people.

It was not only Jesus who had this privilege though. (To be Continued)

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Salt Changing the Earth (Part 7)

Salt purifies

We mentioned earlier that an effective way to get rid of sinusitis is to rinse the sinuses with a solution of salt in lukewarm water. It purifies those canals from all germs and loosens all the muck. We also use saline or salt solution to clean contact lenses.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges (discerns) the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Word, which is living in us and is commanded by us through faith, does the purifying. Jesus said to the disciples: “‘You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3).

The Greek word used in both these references is “logos” (the written Word or Bible) and not “rhema” (the revealed Word as from the Lord). So what is our task as salt? We need to help clean this earth of all the muck doctrines, ideas, and teachings by proclaiming the truth. For this we use the information and guidance in the written Word to replace and eradicate the false doctrines in people’s hearts. It is the written Word—the scriptures—quickened by revelation and power from God through intercessory prayer that will discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

As in advertising, the information must be offered continuously in order for it to gradually replace the incorrect knowledge in people’s minds. This is why lifestyle evangelism (showing Christ through your life) on its own is not enough. We need to preach the Word, in and out of season as we read in 2 Timothy 4:2, 3: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

We need to do this in boldness. Why do lies such as evolution, New Age and the like get away with so much and grow at such an immense rate? It is because there is not much truth resisting it, proving it wrong. Why is there not much truth? It is because there are too few Christians bold enough to proclaim and command truth as a direct counteraction to these lies. We are scared of unpopularity, persecution, and estrangement. It is low priority since we are busy building our own little kingdoms. The amount of time (if any) that we avail for the sake of Kingdom issues is so small that the work has practically no effect.

Political correctness also forms a barrier, since it is easier to have an attitude of “Let them deceive: I don’t care as long as I’m okay. Why should I get involved and risk persecution?” The problem is that when people are indoctrinated from childhood with false beliefs, it is hard to change. The Word of God calls for people who will sacrifice their lives for the sake of truth and not just exercise religion all the time—people who will fight for truth. If we really trust the Lord, we would not be scared to speak up, because He promised to cover for us if we seek His Kingdom.

Every Christian, not just ministers, needs to proclaim truth of the Word of God at all times. This Word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). We need to be courageous, speaking this Word at every opportunity—with colleagues, in the grocery line, with other parents at school, with brothers and sisters at church, with yourself and with the devil (“Listen, Satan, about this temptation, the Word of God says . . .). When we pray, we must also speak the Word to the Lord, because praying His Word releases His power. This demands that we know the Word. The only way to get to know it is through reading and memorizing it. Imagine what little influence false doctrines will have if millions of Christians refute it all the time with the truth.

How do we do it? Once again, get the power and direction from Jesus in private prayer, and then simply proclaim truth wherever He shows you. Will I have the courage? “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). The Greek for spirit is pneuma, which can be translated either as human spirit or Holy Spirit. The new spirit God gave us at rebirth, since our old spirit was dead because of Adam’s sin, is one with the Holy Spirit who is Almighty. So why do we fear?

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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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