More of Jesus, Less of Me He must increase, but I must decrease

When you stand before a giant

The other day, while getting ready to take Josua, my 16 month old son, to the day care centre, I saw something interesting. I opened the front door for him and he started making his way towards the car. A couple of steps from the door, he encountered a hairy beast: our Bouvier des Flandres. He was in a dangerous situation. The dog is large enough to look him straight in the eye, and she has a significant advantage in both weight and number of teeth (in her defense, she is a very friendly beast who would not think of harming him). Josua followed his instincts, turned around, and rushed towards me as fast as his short legs could carry him.

I picked him up and held him tight until he calmed down. Then I put him down, took his hand, and started walking towards the car. Suddenly he was two metres tall. He walked as if he owned the place and everyone was subject to his command. He didn't even look at the dog again.

You see, the fact that his hand was in mine gave him access to two things:

1. My authority over the dog. He knew that if she scared him again I would reprimand her and she would listen to me.
2. The business end of my boot. He knew that if the dog should choose not to listen to me and try to do him harm, I would defend him with everything I had in me.

Then I realised that we often find ourselves in the same position. We sometimes stand before giants who seem much larger and stronger than us. If we choose to run to our Father, He is there to take our hand, and the giants will not dare to go against His authority.

Psalm 18:29 For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall

Let us stop trying to face the enemy alone, and put our hands in the hand of our Father who cannot wait to rescue us from danger.

Do we believe the Word of God?

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

Many times in the past, after talking to fellow believers about God's work in creating the universe, I've felt shocked and disgusted. It's amazing how many people say that they believe the Word of God, while believing that humans, who by the way were created in God's image, developed from a blob on a rock to what we are now over millions of years, and that the planets and stars are the result of some random explosion.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now if you think that this is another of my creation rants, I promise not to say much more about it, except that it is obvious that what the Word says about creation, and what some Christians believe are two different things.

Now, if you decide that a certain part of the Word of God is not true, how do you decide which parts are true? If a Christian man decides that it is not a bad thing to lust after other women, while Jesus clearly said that it is nothing but adultery, is he not acting as if all scripture has not been inspired by God (2 Tim 3)?

So if the part about lust is not valid, should we believe the Bible when it says that Jesus is the only way to the Father? Are we then not building our own theology that suits our own sinful beliefs?

Our culture has taught us so many things that are contradictory to the Word of God. We steal tax money from the government, we tell people who choose to live a homosexual lifestyle that it is not a sin, we ignore the poor. The Word is clear about all these things, yet we choose to tear those pages from our Bibles to make ourselves rich or not to offend people.

Let's get back to the basics. God gave us His Word for a reason. The Holy Spirit inspired the people who wrote the Bible so that we might know God's will. This Book is the user manual for the human race. Let's use it figure out what how we should live our lives to the glory of our King.

What are you busy with?

2 Sam 11:1-5 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “ Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.

In this passage we read that it was the custom of the kings to go out to battle in the spring, but that David sent his army out to fight while he stayed at home. While he was walking on the roof of his palace, probably bored, he saw Bathsheba and chose to commit adultery with her.

If David was on the battlefield with his army, where a king should have been, he certainly would not have been tempted to commit a sin that caused so much heartache and shame.

I believe that it is often in times of boredom, when we are just sitting around, up to no good, that the devil has the best opportunity to tempt us. When we have no purpose, we start looking for excitement, and tend to make stupid choices on how to occupy ourselves. Have you ever seen a situation where children spend time alone at home during the school holidays with nothing to do? Chances are very good that they will get into trouble.

So how can we make sure that we don't fall into this trap?

Firstly, we need to find God's purpose for our lives. He has a calling for each of us, and we need to find out what it is, so that we can focus our energy on the work that He has for us.

Secondly, it will happen from time to time that we have "dead" time. If we don't purposefully fill this time with constructive things, we can easily fall into a trap set by the enemy. I believe that reading the Word is a great way to occupy these times.

Let us focus on the things of God, so that we can be effective in the work that He has for us.

Col 3:1,2 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Dead but alive

Joh 11:25-26 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Just over a year ago my friend Arno went to be with the Lord after a battle with cancer. During his last year with us, we watched as the cancer slowly but surely devoured his body until it finally gave in. In situations like these we tend to say things like "he lost the battle with cancer", or "he lost his life", but anybody who was close to him during this process could see that these two statements are far removed from the truth.

You see, Arno came to understand a very important principle: you are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. As his body grew weaker, we could see his spirit grow stronger and take over command of his life. And a spirit that has accepted the redemption of Christ, and is stronger than the body it lives in, is a beautiful thing.

As the illness progressed, Arno became more focused on Christ. He always loved the Lord, but his love for Christ became so strong during his last year with us that it was an awesome sight to see. You could not have a conversation with him without him steering it in the direction of his Saviour. He grabbed every opportunity to be a witness for the Lord. As his body became weaker, the real Arno was revealed. I believe that in his life, Romans 8:19 was fulfilled:

Rom 8:19 For creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known

Arno is dearly missed by his friends and family, but I believe that he has taught us a valuable lesson in what we really are. The flesh that we allow to determine our lives is not the real us. It is only our home on earth. To allow our flesh to rule our lives is like driving a car without touching the steering wheel, allowing the vehicle instead of the driver to determine the direction. This can only end in disaster.

May we also give control of our lives to our spirits who have been redeemed by Christ, so that the sons of God may be made known.

Do we really believe in judgement?

I recently came across the story of a criminal called Charles Peace, who was sentenced to death in 1879. Just before his execution, the prison chaplain was reading some Bible verses to him that referred to hell. Charles asked him whether he belived what he read, and the chaplain answered "yes". Accounts of his exact words to the chaplain are different, but they all come down to the following: "If I believed what you said you believe, even if England was covered with broken glass, I would crawl across it on hands and knees to save a single soul from an eternity in hell."

This made me wonder whether we actually believe the Bible when it speaks about God's final judgement and the eternal destination of those who refuse to accept Christ as their saviour. It is easy to talk about heaven, and it seems like we think that heaven is the default eternal destination of all people, while the Word is very clear that if you do not accept Jesus Christ you will go to hell.

If we then know that we encounter many people daily who will spend an eternity in pain and suffering without God, how dare we stay silent? Is it more important not to offend them, than to offer them Life?

This is a huge challenge for me, since I am so used to just living for myself, but I can no longer ignore God's call to get off my backside and start doing the job that He has given me in Matthew 28:19 & 20.

If you feel the same challenge, please let me know so that we can start keeping each other accountable in this great responsibility.

What is your temperature?

Rev 3:15, 16 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

This passage makes it very clear that the Lord is disgusted by the fact that some people live lukewarm lives. Most Christians I know would not describe themselves as lukewarm. We like to see ourselves as "hot" people who love the Lord and would do anything to please Him.

I believe that our actions are determined by our hearts, and in my experience it is very easy for us to be deceived into thinking that we are hot, while we are in fact lukewarm. If we spend Sundays serving the Lord, and the rest of the week serving ourselves, we can hardly be accused of being wholly devoted to Him.

We love to say that we serve the Lord, but we hate people, we are lazy, we refuse to help the poor, we don't give God what belongs to Him.

I believe that it is time for each of us to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us if we really love Him, and to light the fire of devotion in our hearts.

Shining your light

For the last day or two I've been thinking about the way we as believers in Christ should act around other people.
A lot of times you will hear people say that you should win people over by making friends with them and making them feel comfortable before sharing the Gospel with them. I believe that there is truth in this statement, but that it can also lead us to a slippery slope. How far should we be willing to go to befriend people who need the Lord? Surely, if we start toying with sin or act in a way that dishonors God, we have been misled by the enemy.
God has not called us to partake in any popularity contests.

1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In Matthew 5 Jesus calls us to be light in the world:

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

A light does not hide in the darkness. It stands out. If you light a candle in a dark room, you cannot help but see the light.

I believe that we should be a blessing to the people who do not know Christ, and that we should not shy away from mingling with them. But our lights should shine. It should be clear that we serve and honour God. We should not compromise the will of God and sin in order to try and pull people closer to Him.

Only if we live holy lives will people realise that we serve a holy God.

I think another important point to look at is the way we treat people. Sometimes we tell people of God's love for them, and then treat them like garbage afterwards. If the world looks at us, do they think "Christians suck" or "God is good" ?

To save a life

Yesterday, I saw the movie "To save a life", and it really touched my heart. I don't want to give away the plot, since I really want you to get hold of it and see it, but one of the characters is a guy who gets treated badly by his best friend, goes through life alone, and ends up taking his own life.

When we hear that a person has ended their own life, we often immediately judge them and say that we can't believe that someone can think that it is the best solution for their problems. I agree that it is not an option, but I believe that we are too quick to say that such a person is weak, without thinking about what could have driven to to such an act.

All around us there are people who go through life sad and lonely. We see them at the office or at church, and might even say "Hi, how are you?" when passing them. My question is: I that person suddenly started telling you how they were really doing, would you even notice? Or if you noticed that they wanted to talk, would you be willing to sit down and listen to a stranger telling you about their worries and sorrow?

It is easy to care about the popular people. We love being around the people who are attractive and smart. It is easy to help them if they are in a difficult situation, because it links us to someone that others want to be around.

But what about the guy who arrives at church in a beat up old car for the first time, wears jeans that should have been replaced a year ago and smells like he hasn't been close to soap and water for three days? Or the girl in your youth group who is obese and has a serious skin problem.

The thing that we find difficult to grasp is that Jesus loves the "outcasts" just as much as He loves the pastor who preaches on TV and gets invited to speak all over the country.

I want to challenge you to do two things in the coming week:

1. See if you can make a plan to see the movie "To save a life".

2. Take time to talk to someone who is seen as an outcast. Ask them about their life. Put in some effort to be a friend to them. If your friends have a problem with the fact that you are spending time with this person, ask yourself whether they should actually be your friends if they have no love for others.

Maybe you can save a life.