Dangerous arrogance

Zuma calls for a speedy Second Coming

2014-12-28 10:35

Durban - Addressing a group of elderly people at a Christmas gathering at his Nkandla homestead, President Jacob Zuma called on Christian priests to pray to God to send Jesus back to Earth because of the many sins in the country.

According to the Sunday Times, Zuma had been speaking off the cuff on Saturday and claimed there were many churches in the country “sinning too much”.

“The sins we have today are more than those that Jesus came to salvage. I ask the priests to ask God to send His son to come back again to cleanse our sins,” he said.

“He [God] must send him [Jesus] again. This time we won’t crucify him,” he added.

 

(Abstract from News 24)

 

Upon reading this news clip today I was left with a sense of utter dread at the arrogance and ignorance of Zuma’s dealing with God. His words show not only that he has no understanding of the salvation we have in Christ, but that he also has no idea of Who God is.

 

Pondering on this, I could not help to ask myself how many others do exactly the same. On a daily basis, people ‘deal’ with God in this way. 

 

• Some call themselves His followers but will also embrace beliefs such as reincarnation or Buddhism.
• Some will gladly embrace His ‘Christian principles’ into their school or institution or personal life yet vehemently reject Christ Himself.
• Many happily enjoy ‘Christmas’ and fun nativity plays and the like, but will have nothing to do with the God of Christmas.
• Sadly, many who also call themselves followers of Christ will continue to live a worldly life contradictory to His guidelines.
• Many preach and teach in His Name yet make reckless statements which they claim to be God’s truth.
• And many such as Zuma will just make statements that show that they have no idea…and don’t care.
  
  

I could go on with this list I suppose, but we should be careful to condemn the actions and words of Zuma and others as mentioned above, without examining our own hearts before God Almighty. It would do both sincere believers and non-believers good to meditate on the following Scriptures: 

 

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

(Galatians 6:7)

 

“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

(1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

 

“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”

(Matthew 12:36)

 

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.”

(1 Peter 1:16)

 

This past year, the Lord has allowed me to see in people, non-believers but even also in believers, teachers and preachers and even in myself the flaw of easy talking, making claims in the Name of God perhaps just too quickly showing that the fear of the LORD is lacking or starting to lack. I saw non-believers and new-agers laugh and mock at the idea of Christ; believers who have in fact become stagnant in their relationship with and knowledge of God make easy faith statements not backed by their lifestyle and I even saw those of us who have a passion to share the truth of Christ become so occupied with ‘fighting the good fight’ and ‘setting everybody on the right path’ that we lose contact with Christ and storm roll ahead, chopping off heads left right and center in and outside of the body of Christ.

 

Therefore, the above words of Zuma, though sending shivers down my spine, also act as a great reminder to enter the new year with humility before the One Almighty God; to be eager to learn from and listen to Him; to be patient in prayer before I do or say anything, especially and even regarding the smallest act of ministry, for God shall not be mocked.

 

In 2015, may we move and live and minister abiding in Christ and may His glory go forth unto the ends of the earth.

 

Best wishes for 2015,

Lize Dumon

God's journey with an atheist, with you and me

I have just read a most astounding book , ‘Surprised by Joy’ by CS Lewis. I have long known about the book without having any specific knowledge of its contents and have always wanted to read it. Yet, somehow this experience had to wait for just this moment in my life. Looking for a specific book in a bookshop while on holiday, ‘Surprised by Joy’ caught my eye and I knew not to pass it by.

 

Although I am always filled with an eager expectation when embarking on any book by a classic Christian author, I had no idea what God had planned for me in this one!

 

The book made for difficult reading. Lewis’ literary knowledge as well as his philosophical and analytical thought processes and prowess is far beyond my ability! Yet, while a lot of his discussion was a strain to grasp, an equal amount of it I found that I fully understood because I knew it, albeit on a different and more intuitive, emotional heart level.

 

To any person who has a remote interest in and love for literature and or philosophy, I would highly recommend reading this book which takes its reader on a whirlwind tour through the greatest authors and philosophers throughout the centuries (although this is not at all the purpose of this book.)

 

Enough said about that, I would like to share with you the message which the book so profoundly impressed on me. It is not a new message, yet its truth was reawakened in my heart.

 

Just yesterday I wrote a small devotion on my face book page, ‘Growing in Christ with Lize Dumon’ about our responsibility to know, discern, follow and obey God’s guidelines for us. Although this is undeniable, it is not the way to God or Jesus Christ; rather, it is taking ‘hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.’ (Philippians 3:12) for we do not find God, He finds us and He finds us and meets us where we are.

 

Observing SC Lewis’ journey from Atheist to Christian as told in ‘Surprised by Joy’, I was left anew with an overwhelming relief of a burden lifted from our shoulders for no matter what we still lack or what struggles we are still fighting, irrespective of the arrogance or ignorance or lack or follies or even self-centeredness or pride of our faith, God finds us there and will not leave us there! Equally true is that once He has our attention, He will never force us or remove from us our free will of choice. Yet, He will continue to call and peel and reveal one day at a time…

 

After reading Lewis’ book, I understand and hold close to my heart afresh the following promises of grace:

 

“…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

 

As CS Lewis did, may you surrender your king to Him when He brings you to checkmate and may you consequently find that in losing your life, you have actually gained it in Him!!

Having read 'Surprised by Joy', I am also reminded again of a longing in my heart, a longing indeed of my soul to not only be known by God Almighty, but to know Him more and more.

 

For all my ramblings here, I can just pray, “Thank you Father for your love and for Jesus Christ and for life in Him. Thank you for being the great I AM and for interfering in my life. Amen.”

God's new for you and for me

“He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

(Revelation 21:5)

There have never been any words that we needed to be trustworthy and true more than these five words spoken by the One who sits on the throne of all thrones. In them are hidden the very core of our greatest need, our greatest desire…to be released from a place of struggle. In them is the essence of our hope…a new beginning. 

Let us brainstorm straight into the concept. What are the things that you and I desperately need to be made new?

At this time of the year energy levels are the first to come to mind but as I let my thoughts run through my own life as well as the lives of those around me whether family, friend or mere acquaintance, the list comes quicker than I can type…

Finances

Relationships

Hopes

Health

Opportunities

Inspiration

Courage

Vision

Plans

Emotions

Thoughts

Actions

Habits

Lifestyles

Strength

Motivations

Attitudes

… the list is infinitive.

Should we have to rely on ourselves for these to be renewed, our inability would soon cause us to despair. Should the ability for these things to be renewed cease to exist at all, we would find ourselves trapped in a pit of hopelessness, desperation and darkness. 

That is why this verse is balm to our weariness wherever it finds us. They are trustworthy and true and even more importantly, spoken by the Almighty God to and for us!!!!

Let everyone who is weary from a situation, a circumstance, a condition of body, heart or soul feed on these promises of newness from the Bread of Life and drink from the Living Waters:

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19)

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Such is my God, my Father and Jesus Christ. He makes things new! He could have consumed but ‘because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning…”

How many mistakes have we made this year?

How many times have we failed?

How many times have we refused to listen to Him?

How many times have we rebelled?

How many times have we been hurt? 

This morning was new.

Whatever happens today, tomorrow morning will be new. 

…New in God’s compassion for you;

new in His mercies and blessings for you;

new in healing for your hurts;

new in His guidance for your next move…

Therefore, stop this very minute to dwell on what has taken place today or yesterday or yesteryear. Stop looking at your current situation with despair and rather turn to God with an expectation for Him to act on His words that are trustworthy and true and sing with the Psalmist:

“And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” (Psalm 40:3)

To me personally, this year has been one of great achievements in Christ yet also great challenges. The process of being transformed by the Spirit to the likeness of the Son is often a painful and difficult one. Yet, as I have turned to and trusted upon my awesome God, He has continued to hold me close to His heart, giving me the ability and strength and joy to enter each new day, time and time again. 

I praise Him with a new song for today in my heart!!

And as today is drawing to an end, I am looking forward to newness of life with Him tomorrow! How about you? 

God bless,

Lize

Love essential

This Sunday, I was sitting in church. The preacher was talking about the wide road to destruction and the narrow road to everlasting life. He urged us to take stock of our lives and to make sure that we are indeed on the narrow road leading to life. He was sure that there had to be at least some who thought that they were on the narrow road but who were actually on the wide road. Other people also spoke, some sharing a Word and some giving their testimonies.


As I sat looking at the congregation and all those speaking, it struck me that we are all on a mission to convert each other. Probably secure to various measures in the fact that we ourselves must be on the narrow road to life, we set out to convince the others around us of their short comings which to us are showing of them knowingly or unknowingly being on the wide road to destruction. In this and in the love of the Lord we are very sincere.


Yet, as I considered all of us, I was aware of the irony in that each one of us there was sure of our being on the right road and yet we were at the same time perhaps ignorant of our own trespasses against each other. I knew the hurts, wounds and harm many of us in church on Sunday have caused our fellow Christians in church and non-Christians outside the church, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In this I don't think any of us there were without guilt.  Sincere in our love for Christ, sincere to save each other yet at the same time hurtful to each other.


And I thought, what a wretched people we are. This is the very reason many choose to withdraw from church and live out their love for God away from the hurtfulness of others. I have myself experienced the urge to flee.


But this is not God's will, not the answer and I know that very well.


So, like Paul, I asked the question - WHO WOULD SAVE A WRETCHED PEOPLE LIKE US?


And again, his answer was still the only one - "Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25)


The only hope, through Christ, is love.


Not our carnal love for each other, but the love which is a fruit of the Spirit of God. The ONLY thing that can bind us together in spite of our hurtfulness, in spite of our failures, in spite of our ignorance and in spite of our sins is love for one another for "love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). It does not excuse sin, it does not approve of sin. Rather, it bears with one another so that Proverbs 19:11 becomes true in our lives - "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence."


Jesus said, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." (John 15:12)


God the Father and Jesus Christ who are One, loved an unlovable people. A people covered and drowned in sin. He loved them to the point of giving His life so that they may have life and life in Him. Now His command is for us to love as He has loved.


"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Gal 5:6)


"If I ... have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Cor 13:1)


"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13)


"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." (1 John 3:11)


"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." (1 John 3:21-23)


Walking out of church on Sunday I had only one sure knowledge...that we need the grace and mercy of God's love and that we should seek to love with the love that can only come from God, through the love of Christ and the indwelling of His Spirit.


God is love.
We love because he first loved us.



Until next week,
God bless!

Love or fear, what compels the bride of Christ?

On my wall I have a framed quote that says:

"Strength is vital for winning many of the spiritual battles of life, especially the drawn-out battles. We need the Spirit of might and power in order to prevail."

I so agree with that but I do also believe that actually, we need the Holy Spirit for winning any spiritual battle in life! And while indeed some battles are long and drawn-out, tapping all our energy, others are sudden, short and so fierce that they can blow us off our feet.


Whether our battle is long or short, it is a stark reminder that we have an enemy and he has but one purpose - to separate us from God and from the life that there is in Christ. In a way, he has already failed in this purpose because in Christ nothing can separate us from the love of God. Christ has opened a door for us into the loving presence of God the Father and Satan cannot change this. Yet, Satan can and will still play with our minds by doing everything in his power to convince us that in some way we can be disqualified to enter through this Door that is Christ or that indeed we can and will be rejected by Christ if we are not good enough or we do not meet a certain list of requirements. Should we at any time believe this, we have no choice but to give up. To stop the fight. To loose all hope. Our battle is lost.


Have you ever been in such a place? A place where you suddenly wondered whether you are indeed accepted by Christ? A place where the accuser has accused you? Where he has brought before you the list of requirements that you fail to meet in order to be accepted in Christ?


In Zechariah 3:1 we see him trying to accuse Joshua the high priest before God. "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him."


Satan bargained on God acting like a chief commander in an army. A chief commander operates on two principles - authority and fear. Indeed he has the highest authority in the army and therefore if he says jump, you jump or you face the terrible consequences. You always obey the chief commander. You fear him and his authority and what he can do or be ordered to be done to you. You know that unless you obey, you are going to be crashed. If Satan can convince us that this is the character of God, he is halfway there to win his battle against us. We will either be of the mind that because we have failed somewhere in someway whether intentionally or unintentionally, we will face grave consequences and be disqualified for God's service and love or we will obey out of fear. Where there is fear, there is no love. We might obey God but our obedience will have little to do with a love for God.


Jesus also placed a high priority on obedience, but it was always connected to love. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15). And again in verse 23 "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."


I don't believe Jesus' attitude when He said these words was that of the chief commander - IF, then you WILL. I don't think He spoke these words as a whip to beat His disciples into obedience. Obedience is not so much a requirement as it is the response of a loving heart. The love comes first and the loving heart delights to obey.


Yes, God also operates on two principles of which indeed authority is one, but the second is not fear, it is love!


Let me give you some equations:


Authority + fear = intimidation and condemnation
Authority + love = invitation and conviction


Intimidation says: You better do!
Invitation says: Come and follow!


Condemnation comes from the enemy and it separates from God.
Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit and it draws to God.


Did Joshua have dirty clothes? Was he guilty of sin? Could a 'Chief Commander' punish him severely? Yes. "Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel." Is there something in your life that could resemble these dirty clothes? Is there still some sin in your life? Is there a 'requirement' put on you that you still don't 'meet'? If you are still alive and still walking this earth, I bet you have. I certainly have even though I love the Lord with all my heart!


So what will our 'Chief Commander" do with us? Will He crack His whip? Will He threaten us? What did He do with Joshua?


"The angel said to those who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, 'See, I have taken away your sin and I will put rich garments on you.'


Mercy. Love. 


Not -  'If you will not take of those filthy clothes and walk in my ways you will have to suffer the consequences'


Pardon. Grace.


And only then came the words: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.'"


You think Joshua would choose to walk in God's ways? Bathed in the love of God, love would have him do none other.


What is my whole point with this post? I want to encourage you dear friend, when the attack comes, when Satan comes like the thief in the night and beats you over the head with his accusations; when you find yourself filled with fear and confusion, go back to Christ. Cling to His love. Let His love heal you. Let His love convict you. Let His love move you. Let His love compel you. Let His love guide you. Let His love into your heart and see your heart respond!! See the battle won and your heart filled afresh with the joy of the Lord, your strength!




God bless
Until next time
Lize

Onward Christian soldiers

Onward, Christian soldiers,

Marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus

Going on before

 

Onward, Christian soldiers

Taking up the sword

Slay the enemy, strike them down

Do it all for the Lord

 

Onward, Christian soldiers

Purge out all wrong

Prune and cut until all is well

To Christ does all authority belong

 

But wait, Christian soldiers

Halt your stride

Look about…

Have you struck the bride?

 

Wait Christian soldiers,

Just wait…

Look up again at your Lord

Gone on before…

 

Now, lay down some things

Arrogance for one

Self-righteous confidence another

What is your goal?

 

Onward, Christian soldiers

Truth will not let you stop

Yet, don’t strike that ear

Don’t drive with fear

 

Follow your Lord

Build up with love

And before you strike,

Become very meek

 

What is your goal?

What is your aim?

 

In all you do

Don’t surpass your Lord

In all you do

Follow Him

 

Onwards, Christian soldiers

______

This poem I wrote for us. Teachers, mentors, preachers, Christian bloggers. We all fervently love our Lord, we fight for Him. Each convinced of a light that has been shed for him or her on some or the other Christian aspect, we overflow with confidence and eagerness to share it with the world, to make some kind of difference... for our Lord.

This is good. This is right. We are compelled by our love for Him.

Yet, let us be careful lest we slay each other, lest we cut of ears that Jesus would rather have put back.

Ours is a fine balance between boldness and meekness, steadfastness and openness, firmness and gentleness.

I know this is a strange post this week, but nevertheless, one for thought.

God bless until next week

Lize

Blessed but baffled bride

Have you ever been baffled by what is going on in your life? Have you ever looked up at God with consternation and question marks written all over your face? I know I have! That's why I was so relieved when I recently again met with a woman in the pages of my Bible who was as perplexed at God as I sometimes am. As relieved as I was to be reminded that I am not the only one who can be so baffled in life, I was even more relieved, comforted and strengthened by the message God gave her and I want to share that with you today.

Please turn with me to Luke 1:26.

"In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Yes, I am talking about Mary, a young bride living in a small town in Galilee, preparing for the time when her groom, Joseph, would come to take her to live with him and for their wedding to be consummated. She was just a young woman going about the normal things in life, but nothing in her life was just random! God was actively involved and working in her life! Whilst Mary had found favor in the eyes of Joseph, I wonder whether she realized how favored she was in the eyes of God! This is the exact message the angel brings her - you are highly favored by God.

As Mary, we are also just normal people living out the daily realities of our own lives. And yet, as with Mary, there is nothing random about our lives. God is also intensely involved in our lives. He also has a special plan and a specific purpose for each one of us. We too are highly favored in His eyes.

How did Mary react to this message of great blessing and favor?

"Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be."

Mary was troubled and greatly so! The Greek word here translated as 'wondered' means to literally bring together different reasons and to reckon up the reasons. I can just read her mind - Have I done something wrong? Is something wrong? Is something bad going to happen? Is this a good thing? What does God want? What could He want from me?!? Does He want me to do something? What does it mean that I am highly favored? Why am I being highly favored?

Let's admit it. We also sometimes wonder what kind of greeting God has given us. We know that He loves us and has chosen and blessed us but we don't always understand His plans with or for us. What is His purpose? What does He want? What is He doing in my life? What could He want from me or with me? What does He want me to do? 

The angel's words to Mary is also God's response to our questions: "Do not be afraid...you have found favor with God."

Dear friend, whatever is going on in your live and however strange things may seem, God is for you. His favor is on you. Whatever He is doing, whatever He is asking, it is good and it is meant to prosper you, not to bring you harm. He does not intervene and concern Himself with your life in order to crash you. On the contrary, listen to what the angel told Mary:

"You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High...his kingdom will never end"

Mary would give birth to the Son of God - the Messiah who would save a lost world, who would further the Kingdom of God and reign forever! The King of kings and Lord of lords! How big is that?? How blessed is that?

Do you realize that God's purpose for us is exactly that? Mary would literally give birth to the Son of God but spiritually the Son of God is also birthed in us. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells in us. He lives in us. As the Holy Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Christ, we bear His fruit, showing the character of Christ. And now, through us, He shows His love and compassion to a lost world. Through us He invites others to also come and taste that He is good! How blessed and favored we are!!

But Mary was still not convinced. She was as baffled as ever:

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

How are we reacting to what God wants to do in and through us? Maybe we are also wondering how this can be.

How will this be since I am...

• but a mere sinner
• only a failure
• of weak faith
• so angry and hurt I cannot forgive
• so entangled in addiction I cannot hope to break free
• too fearful
• not good enough
• too young or too old
• too inexperienced
• in a hopeless situation

What is it that God is putting before you today that you are asking...'How will this be?' Let God answer you and me as He answered Mary:

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...For nothing is impossible with God."

It is not you. It is not I. It is God in you. It is God in me. He will work forgiveness in our hearts, He will clothe us with righteousness, He will give us the necessary measure of faith, He will give us the strength and the courage, He will equip us and give us the ability. He. The Son of God. Christ in you and in me.

He asks only one thing from us. The one thing which Mary gave..."I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

The word 'servant' in this context carries the meaning of someone who willingly and wholly submits to the will of another. Mary willingly and wholly submitted to the will of God in her life even though she must have realized it was not going to be an easy ride. She stood the chance to be rejected, shamed and even stoned. She had no idea what this journey would entail or where it would take her. Yet, she believed. She trusted. She submitted. She surrendered. She gave a willing heart.

And that was all God needed to work a miracle in her life. That is all He needs to work the miracle in our lives, in your life.

 

For nothing is impossible with God.

 

Dear highly favored but baffled bride, just give God your willing heart.

 

Be blessed, be highly favored
Until next time
Lize

Choose!

Dear friends


King Solomon said that there is a time for everything..."a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build..." (Ecc 3:2b-3) Concerning all things spiritual, the writer of Hebrews also said there is a time to be fed milk and a time to move on, grow up and be fed meat. (Hebrews 6)


Indeed there is a time when we need to be reminded and taught about God's unconditional love, His mercy and grace. We need to know without doubt that we can come before the Thrown of Grace just as we are and that we will never be turned away. We need to hear the Good News about salvation, redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation.


When we are weary with life's struggles and our wounds are deep and raw, we need to be able to come to the cross and receive healing and restoration. We need to know that Christ came to bind up our broken hearts,  to comfort those who mourn and to give us a spirit of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Oh how we need that hope! When we are caught up in addictions and when we are bound by chains that are hard to break, we need to hear that Christ came to set the captives free.


But there comes a time when it is time to move on...beyond the cross.


There is a time that when we only tell people about all these things and about God's abounding love, it is not to their advantage. Rather, the feeling that all will eventually 'be ok' because God will 'let it turn out ok' in fact keeps them in the very place that God does not want them to be. Thus, there is a time when some meaty truth with the sharpness of a double edged sword needs to be spoken.


Jesus Himself often spoke a seemingly harsh word to the people. It is one of these that I want to bring before you today:

"...anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

(Matthew 10:38)

I don't know about you, but to me these are pretty harsh words. According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon the word 'worthy' in this passage specifically shows to being 'worthy of one's fellowship and of the blessings that go with it'. So in fact Jesus is telling his disciples that if anyone, including us, do not take up his cross and follow Him, he or she is not worthy of Christ's fellowship and not worthy of the blessings that are to be found in Him.

This is a different message concerning the cross than the one we have made it, the one we very much love! For we have come to view the cross mostly as a place of refuge, a place of comfort, a place of 'all will be ok', a place where Jesus suffered and thus made everything ok for us.

Yet, when Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, the cross had only one meaning and one message. They knew exactly what Jesus meant when He said this. The cross was a merciless instrument of death. The cross had no other purpose. It wasn't a place of comfort and safety. It wasn't some irritation or burden that one had to live with and bear in life. It was a method and an instrument to execute people.

Jesus was saying that unless in my life there is some kind of execution, I am not worthy of His fellowship, not worthy to share in His blessings.

When Jesus says something, we take notice. When He says it twice, we should not only take notice, we should take it very seriously. Jesus repeated these hard words in Matthew 16:24 -

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

This time round, Jesus shed a little more light on WHO is to be executed on that cross....SELF.


Jesus took up His cross, walked all the way to Golgotha and was executed. Following Him as He commands us, we have to take up our cross and walk up right up to Golgotha and be executed too.


Paul did not say in vain, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live..."

You see dear friend, what we invariably want is to come to the cross, receive forgiveness and redemption and salvation and healing and restoration and acceptance and then move around the cross and come to the place of newness of life, of abundant life and joy and victory and great blessing.

Jesus is saying, the way to move on beyond the cross is to get up on the cross. It is as we die on that cross that we will find Him come alive in us. As we die to our life, we will find His life. While 'I' am still alive, I cannot imagine the new life, the new thing. It is only as we die that the new life is born in us and the impossible becomes possible. That is why on both occasions Jesus also followed up the above words with the following:

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25)

Death is never an easy matter. Crucifixion is a most painful death...it involves immense suffering.

We should expect dying to self to be most painful and to involve immense suffering. Yet, that is exactly what must happen and take place if we want to be worthy of Jesus' fellowship and the blessings waiting beyond the cross.

Let us just quickly ask ourselves the question - who is this self that needs to be crucified? We know from Scripture that it is the sinful desires of our flesh. Please let me say that the desires of our flesh is only and always sinful. Our flesh is not capable of good and righteous and commendable desires. That is why we have to be reborn of the Spirit before we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and produce the good works that were predestined for us.

So dear friend. What is that one thing or that many things that Jesus is asking you to put up on the cross?

Unforgiveness

Hatred

Rage

Jealousy

Sexual immorality

Selfish ambition

Drunkenness

Orgies

Envy

Idolatry

The list can go on and on can't it? Please add to it anything the Holy Spirit points out to you.

As we read and recognize those things we are holding dear to us (yes that is indeed what we are doing) we immediately know the pain that would accompany the death of it! The rich young ruler also recognized the pain and loss of putting that one thing on the cross. He came to Jesus because he wanted to inherit eternal life. He wanted to inherit the Kingdom of God. So he asks Jesus what he has to do. Jesus tells him the one thing that he has not yet put up on that cross. "Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Luke 18:22). This man, having already obeyed such a large part of the Law, would not  put this one thing on the cross. He would not die to this one thing. It saddened him to think that he would have to give this one thing up and, instead of following Jesus, he ended up walking away from Him. Please note that we do not see Jesus begging him to stay, trying to convince him of the greatness of what he is missing out on. No, Jesus spoke the sharp truth, put before him the cross and let him choose.

Perhaps you and I have also come to Christ. Perhaps you and I also want to inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Then Jesus will ask us to get up on the cross. Now, as we realize the immensity of what is asked of us, we are put to the choice explained in Deuteronomy 30:11 onwards. Allow me to state it here. It says nothing else but what Jesus confirmed in Matthew 10 and 16:

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach...the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands...then you will live...But if your heart turns away and  you are not obedient...I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed."

I urge myself and I urge you:

SURRENDER.

CHOOSE LIFE.

BEYOND THE PAIN OF THE CROSS IS THE JOY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN YOU.

CHOOSE.

Until next week

God bless and lots of love in Christ

Lize

 



God at work in the midst of dreams

God can restore our vision and our dreams where they’ve been lost. He can bring His truth to bear upon the lies of discouragement. He can also give assurance of a promising future. Any vision for the future that is full of failure and empty hope is not from God (Jeremiah 23:16).

Let’s stand together in prayer asking God to bring us hope to dream again and a new level of encouragement to our lives!

(copied from Stormie Omartian's Face Book page)



I have been wanting to write this post for some time now and today is the day I share with you the God stories behind my book 'Bride Adorned'. They are stories of God's faithfulness in giving us dreams, in planting seeds in our hearts, of connecting people with each other and putting together puzzle pieces to form the most beautiful of pictures beyond our greatest expectations. I hope that through reading these 'back stories', you will find new hope to dream YOUR dreams in the presence of our awesome God.

One woman's dream for her family
Sylvia Mashego came into my life quite some years ago when I was looking for two new cleaning ladies for the lodge. Weary of the troubles that come with employees embedded in the belief of the ancestors, I contacted a pastor friend who has a church in the middle of one of our rural communities. I asked him if he had two ladies in his congregation who would be interested in the job.  A couple of days later he contacted me with the good news that indeed he had found two such ladies although he wasn't so sure about the one lady because she was perhaps a bit too old...that lady turned out to be Sylvia Mashego, a lady to whom, many years later I would dedicate my first Christian book!

In the two years that Sylvia was in my permanent employment before she retired, she proved herself to be like a mother to me in the faith...strong, solid and steadfast. Yet, it was her own story and dreams for her family that perhaps ministered to me the most. Sylvia grew up in a family of sangoma's - traditional healers rooted in the belief of the ancestors. When Sylvia was in grade 7, Christian evangelists visited her school and on that day, she gave her heart to Jesus. Needless to say her family was hugely upset. Her mother warned her that she would die because she was turning her back on the ancestors. Her calm answer was, "No mother, I will not die, I will live but you will die." From that day on, Sylvia had a dream for her family...that they will not suffer the second death. She did not fight them. She did not force them. She prayed for them...diligently and faithfully and continually. In this way, her mother accepted Christ as her savior before she passed away. Also her sister, a sangoma, renounced her faith in the ancestors and accepted Christ before she too passed away. Sylvia's third sister is still alive and she is still a sangoma and Sylvia is, so many years on, still faithfully praying her dream for her sister. In my opinion, Sylvia is a most radiant bride of Christ!

A dream lost and found
One of Satan's schemes to keep me from living the life God has called me to, was to put his lie to me that I am not worthy of being used of God or just not good enough. For much of my earlier years I have believed this lie causing me to loose the hope of dreams fulfilled. Yet, at times, these shut-away dreams would suddenly show up in my heart again. At one such time, I wrote a short story about a woman who was reading through a Christian magazine. In this magazine there was an article about how God had given and fulfilled the dreams of various women. This caused the main character of the story to wrestle with God, asking Him about her own unfulfilled dreams. Did she have a calling? Would He use her? Looking at her book shelf she even asked Him...could she ever write a book? How would she even know to fill one page with words, let alone a whole book? After wrestling with God, the woman came to a place of peace and surrender when her eyes fell on these words in an add on the back page of the magazine she was reading: "Keep your focus on the Lord and know that nothing can take away His plans for you...not your insecurities or failures or anything in your past. Don't give up and He will bring His plans for you into fruition."


Of course all of this was about me and all of it, including the magazine article the woman was reading and the words on the back cover that brought her peace and hope, was true. After writing this short story in 2010, I forgot about it altogether until 4 years later when I published my first Christian book - 'Bride Adorned'! And yes, I have learned that indeed I cannot even fill one page with words, but that God gives the words and as I pen them down, they start filling page after beautiful page!



Weaving with wavering dreams, fear, failure and willing jars of clay.
The following encounter of God's ability to use and bring together and make something beautiful from what we perceive as ashes, will never cease to amaze me. Before I started to work on my book, I used to facilitate various women's Bible studies in our small town. Lyndsay Finney was one of the amazing ladies who joined and continued to attend several of these Bible studies. Lyndsay was a relatively 'young' or 'recent' Christian. She was ever eager to learn and grow in the knowledge of our Lord. At one time she shared with us that she sensed that God was calling her to more, perhaps even to ministry, yet she wasn't sure how or what and, to her opinion, she was still a too 'young' Christian. I used to tell her that I think she is more ready than she thinks she is.

Also during this time, I organized an event called the "United face of Christian Women in Hoedspruit". The very idea was to unite the Christian women from across the various Christian churches in the area. Lyndsay was one of the few women who attended this conference. Yes, it was very poorly attended. To my opinion, it was a disappointment and a failure. Cried many tears over it and learned many lessons from it.

Fast forward about two or three years on, I was working on the manuscript for my book when Lyndsay walked into the office where I was sitting. Upon her question about what I was doing, I told her about my manuscript. I also mentioned that I was in need of someone who could help me check my English since I was writing my book in English but my home language is indeed Afrikaans. Lyndsay looked at me and said, "I could help you with that..."

Little did she know, little did we know...God was working His divine plan! Lyndsay ended up not only editing my English grammar but the whole of the content! She was more than perfect for the job! In her own eagerness to learn and grow, she asked just the right questions and challenged me just enough to ensure quality and clarity of content. And she knew exactly how to unlock my potential to the fullest. How? She told me that what helped her was the picture she had before her of my ability as a communicator which she had witnessed that day at that conference some years ago, which I had written off as a failure. That very event was what enabled her to keep on pushing until what she saw that day, became evident also in my writing.

And guess what, 'Bride Adorned' was as much the result of her hard work and mentoring skills as it was of mine. This woman who thought that she was too young a Christian to be of mighty use to her God! At my book launch she gave a mighty testimony of how she came to love and be used of Christ.

All God needs to fulfill dreams is a willing, loving, eager heart!

Seeds from God
Five years ago, in 2009, I received my first invitation to act as a speaker at a Christian women's camp. The topic given me: Bride, Bridegroom, Bliss. I spoke about our identity as the Bride of Christ but also about the pain and struggles so evident in our lives and yet so contradictory to the image we have of a radiant blissfully happy bride. I continued on to point out what an amazing Bridegroom we have...One that gave His life to give us beauty instead of ashes...One that suffered so that we could have restoration and healing and One that came alongside us in the form of the Holy Spirit to help us on our journey so that indeed we could be that radiant all-glorious bride amidst life's trials.

Upon finishing my presentation, a lady stood up and said that she had a Word for me - she saw seeds that are covered up with cotton wool as to preserve them for a later stage. I wasn't very familiar with prophesying at that point in my life and I couldn't make any sense of it and completely and utterly forgot about it.

Three years later, we were going through some tough financial times when a friend treated me to a cup of coffee to encourage me. While we were chatting, this friend who also has a prophetic gifting, looked at me and said, "Lize, God says that you are going to write a book." I wasn't sure what to make of this - I certainly had no such plans but I couldn't get it out of my head and suddenly found that it had dropped right into my heart and 'Bride Adorned' was birthed.

One year into working on the book, I randomly decided to attend an evening service in a church close to our home. The pastor came to me after the service and said, "Lize, the Lord wants me to tell you that the seed is in the soil and you must not worry, He will give the growth." I was so relieved because we were still struggling financially and my husband had just planted a new crop and we needed good growth and a good harvest desperately! I had no thought about the previous completely forgotten prophesy about the seeds!

Then, as I was looking for guidance from the Lord as to what publishing process to follow for my manuscript, I met again with the lady who gave me the prophecy about the seeds and she reminded me of that! It took me off my feet when I suddenly remembered and realized that indeed that first presentation five years before had grown into a proper book - 'Bride Adorned' - for that presentation contained the core and the foundation for my book! And then suddenly I thought of the pastor telling me the seed is in the soil! I was writing the manuscript at the time!

About a week after this revelation, I was having tea with a new friend. I told her about my book and she looked at me and, without knowing any of this detail, she said "Lize, there was seed in the soil, it has grown to a tender young plant but now that plant will wither if you do not act on it."

She and God had my attention and I wasted no time in publishing 'Bride Adorned'.

There are so many many more back stories to tell but there is not enough time and space. From all this I want to encourage you - if we love God, He will indeed give us dreams in accordance with His plans for us. As in my case, it may take years of waiting and wrestling and surrender and growing and not understanding before the time is right for those dreams to be put into  fruition, but during all this, CLING TO GOD AND STAY WITH HIM! HE KNOWS THE PLANS HE HAS FOR YOU...AND THEY ARE GOOD AS HE IS GOOD!

Before you leave, share in my joy and celebration: 

GIVE AWAY!!!

TO CELEBRATE THE 1000th PAGEVIEW OF MY BLOG

I AM GIVING AWAY

A COPY OF MY BOOK 'BRIDE ADORNED'

TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT

WITH THEIR NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS.

I WILL CONFIRM YOUR GIVE AWAY AND POST YOUR BOOK TO YOU FOR FREE. ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY TO GOD FOR WORKING IN AND THROUGH ME ALSO HERE ON MY BLOG.

God bless and until next week

Lize

How good are you at waiting?

Two weeks ago I started with a wonderful on-line Bible study. Eager to learn and grow and curious to see what topic or aspect will be dealt with next, I can barely wait for that rare time of quiet and peace when I can indulge myself in the study. For those that really want to dig deep the study offers lots of extra exercises and, not wanting to miss anything, I enthusiastically do them all.


Well, this week there was this box on the side which read:


"What are your symptoms...there are recognizable (telltale) symptoms of 'waiting on God'"


Right here I got super excited because yes, I find myself in a place where I am eagerly waiting on God! I am waiting for Him to show me what next, what is He preparing me for or what great thing does He want me to do for Him now that my book is finished. This is so timely! I couldn't wait to read on and recognize the symptoms of one eagerly awaiting something big from God. I almost didn't read this introductory sentence to the end, but I did and it brought me down to earth real quick for the full sentence read:


"What are your symptoms...there are recognizable (telltale) symptoms of 'waiting on God' but not very patiently."


This definitely spoiled it for me a bit. This wasn't for me. I wanted the box with the symptoms of someone on her way to something great! Should I read on? I did. I will not tell you what the symptoms are. They are not things of beauty, honor and dignity and...it would be too embarrassing. They all fitted me. They fitted me so well that I was completely shocked, dismayed and shamed. I could not believe it. I was struck dumb. God certainly had my attention! I was shaken. All I could manage was "Lord, this is me...I am so sorry!"


God was not done yet. He never plans to harm us, to have us wriggling in the mud and mire. His plans are always to prosper us, to build us up in Him. The very next exercise told me to do a Bible search on 'waiting on God' and to record my findings. Quite reluctantly I decided to go about it by doing a word search for 'waiting'. I am so glad I did!


The different Hebrew and Greek words which are all translated in our English Bibles as 'waiting' opened up a whole new understanding of the concept for me and hopefully it will also change my bad attitude in this regard! Let me share with you some of the meanings of the different words translated as 'waiting' or 'wait', all in relation to waiting on God.


First of all, 'waiting' indicates to wait, to hope, to expect and to eagerly look for. This is waiting whilst being convinced and sure of the fact that the very thing you are waiting for will come to pass. It reminds me of Joseph who was so sure of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bring their descendants into the Promised Land, that even on his death bed he gave instructions that when the time would come for this promise to be fulfilled, they would take his bones with them into the Promised Land. He never saw the promise fulfilled, but he fully expected it to happen...and it did! When we wait on God and time passes and it seems that God is tarrying regarding the thing we are waiting for, do we loose hope that He will ever fulfill His promise? How easily we loose our first, eager expectation.


A further meaning of the word is 'to collect, 'to bind together' and 'to be collected'. This is perhaps the one meaning that struck me the most and made me think hard about what happens to me in the waiting process. To be collected means that we keep it all together in a situation. My question was...what would I need to keep together in my waiting process? Almost immediately I was reminded of the meaning of the word 'abide'. It means 'not to depart'. Jesus told us to abide in Him. In our time of waiting we must stay with Christ. We must bind ourselves to Him so to speak. Looking at my own life I realize that often, when the waiting gets too long, I tend to depart from my position in Christ and run around trying to make things happen on my own. With the resulting distance between me and my Lord, Satan's darts of doubt, envy, bitterness, hopelessness, dismay, despair and the like start hitting me left, right and center. Instead of 'being collected', I start falling apart. Oh sweet the moment each time I realize my mistake, turn and fall right back into His loving arms.


Another application that spoke to my heart was 'to endure, to persist, to be steadfast, to hold one's ground, to remain standing, to be upright and to stand firm'. Does not Ephesians 6:11 say, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes"? And verse 13, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." I think that we are especially vulnerable to Satan's schemes in our times of waiting, when God seems to be quiet. Without the armor of God, we will not be able to stay upright but rather we will be slain by the enemy. Only with our focus steadfastly set on Christ and His faithfulness and love, will we endure the enemy's onslaught while we wait on the Lord.


In contrast to the application of being upright and remain standing, the very next word I looked up carried the meaning of sitting down, to be set, to dwell, to have one's abode, to inhabit and to 'marry'. I was intrigued by the opposites within the word 'waiting' and yes, this one really got my attention because of the possible meaning of 'marry'. Did I not write a book about a bride? Pondering on this one, I had the picture of a bride inhabiting and making her abode so to speak in her new home. She settled into her new home...the home of her husband. It became her dwelling place too. The context in which this specific word was used, was when Naomi told Ruth to wait and see how things would turn out with Boas when he went to discuss the matter of marriage with their first kinsman-redeemer. While I wait on my Groom to work His plan in my life, I must remember that I am His beloved bride and my dwelling place is with Him. I am set at His feet while I wait.


Because of our tendency to wear ourselves out, to try and work and force our own results and make things happen when it seems that God is taking too long, the next meaning of the word 'waiting' was like balm to the weary soul - to sink down, to drop, relax, to let drop, to let go, to be quiet and to show oneself slack. When we have done everything to secure something we want without success, when we have worked ourselves into a frenzy without the desired results, when we don't know what else we can do, when we are tired...let us hear the tender but firm word of our Lord, "Relax, let it go and be quiet, it is in My hands."


Psalm 37:7 says, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways..." But we can all testify to the fact that waiting is no easy task. Can you guess the possible meanings of the original Hebrew word for 'wait' used in Psalm 37? It means to twist, whirl, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained, suffering torture, wait longingly, bring forth, to be brought forth or to be born. This is how our waiting often feels doesn't it. This is certainly how I am feeling at the moment. I hate being in the place I am. I find waiting on the Lord for His guidance and direction extremely hard. I suffer torture from feelings of self-doubt whispered into my heart by my arch-enemy...yet, I know and can perceive that through this difficult time of waiting, God is bringing forth something - a constantly being renewed me.


Let me conclude with just one more possible meaning - to receive or to accept.


Dear friend, as we wait on the Lord for His promises to be fulfilled in our lives, let us remember that we have already received the greatest of all - Him. He is with us. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. While we wait, He is there. He is here. Accept Him afresh into your heart and be strengthened to wait for Him in faith and trust.


Until next week
God bless


Lize

A new life, a new identity...

"...a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church."

(Ephesians 5:31-32)

In many countries, including South Africa where I live, it is the custom for a bride to take on the surname of her husband. Once you are legally married, you get a new name and you get a new ID document indicating your new name. I love this tradition. I think it shows something of God's intention with the union of two people in marriage.

"God created man as male and female with the capacity to know each other and to become one. The essence was and still is for a man and a wife to enjoy each other in love - they are companions, sharing their lives with each other and giving themselves to each other. Two individuals become united and interconnected in love. They become one. Two people from different families become one unit and start a new life together."
(from 'Bride Adorned')

I used to be Lize Barkhuizen, but upon marrying my husband, I became Lize Dumon. I was still the same Lize and yet I was also a different Lize! I did not as before my marriage, represent only myself or maybe my family of birth. I now represented a new family unit and this new family unit had its own way of doing things, it had its own rhythm. Though neither of us lost our individual identities, we now had a shared identity. In many cases, 'I' now made place for 'we' - in our house we liked to do things this or that way; we liked to go to Kruger Park for holidays; we attended a certain church; we handled conflict in specific way; we had a preferred way to spend our week-ends and so on. Our focus was less and less to forward our individual interests, but the interest of our new family unit, especially when children became part of that unit.

 

You see, though in many ways I was still the same and still acted the same and felt the same...these started to give way to a new way of acting and being. Lize Barkhuizen had to learn to be Lize Dumon. Lize Barkhuizen could be a bit selfish but Lize Dumon had to take into account the likings of her husband. Lize Barkhuizen had a home with her parents but Lize Dumon had to create a home for her husband and kids. Lize Barkhuizen could hide in a private relationship with God, but Lize Dumon had to become bold and share this relationship with her husband and very importantly her children. Lize Barkhuizen loved to be on her own immerged in a book, but Lize Dumon goes on fishing trips with her husband and three boys. Lize Barkhuizen stood for Lize Barkhuizen. The order in Lize Barkhuizen's life was - Lize and then parents and siblings. The order in Lize Dumon's life is - Jan, Lize, Francois, Dewald and Eben. You get my drift. I am still Lize...but I am now Dumon. In this new family unit that was formed, I could not stay Lize Barkhuizen. I had to fully embrace my new identity, my new life, my new future. And though my new identity came with my union in marriage to my husband...the change in me came with years of living within this unity. I had to learn so many things over the years...keeping house, handling conflict, raising kids...I am still learning after almost 21 years!

Dear friend, it is the same with us and Christ. Before we were united with Christ, we were sinners. We are all born in sin. We all start out as sinners...whether we are born into the Christian faith or outside of the Christian faith, we belong to the fallen race of the first Adam. We belong to the family unit of Adam who sinned and thus became a sinner. You and I could call ourselves Lize (use your own name) Sinner. It says perfectly who we were. People who lived according to our sinful nature, who determined right and wrong according to our sinful nature, who lived for self...sinful self.

Oh but there was such grace and love and mercy in God the Father! He offered Lize  and ......... (use your own name) Sinner a marriage proposal. He offered to marry us to His Son, Jesus Christ who Himself was willing to pay the highest bride price for us! We could leave behind our father's house (Satan) and start a new life with our Groom. We could put off the old self and leave behind the old identity ........ Sinner, and take on the identity of our Groom....Christ.

Lize Sinner cannot and will not be found in the Kingdom of Heaven. She cannot be united with Christ and continue to support the ways of her previous life...the ways of fallen Adam....the ways of Satan. No, she now identifies with her Groom...Jesus Christ and He offers her all He has...redemption, forgiveness, righteousness...holiness.

Is it even possible to take on such a new different identity? Yes, thanks to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.

Is this instantaneous? Our new identity...yes, absolutely. From the moment that we accept His offer of love and give our hearts to Christ, He gives us His Spirit to show that we now belong to Him. Do we instantaneously know how to live our new lives? No. The Holy Spirit starts a process of sanctification in us and, as in our earthly marriages it asks a lifetime of learning and maturing into your role, this is a process that will continue until the day we pass on to eternal life.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:11-14)

Oh, the love of our Groom! The love of Christ! Will I, because a work is still being done in me, cling to my old identity and name and be in this unity as Lize Sinner, showing an alliance to my father's house, with the fallen Adam and with Satan, or will I joyfully and with praise and with thanks take on the Name of my Groom, of my new Husband? And by taking the name of  Saint, will I not rather acknowledge the truth of the actual meaning of the word - 'now consecrated and separated and belonging to God'? I became Mrs Dumon upon legally marrying my husband and I immediately took on his name. I did not wait until I was perfect in 'being' his wife and the mom of his children...why...I would still not be able to call myself Mrs Dumon if that was the criteria!! I became Christ's bride upon accepting His offer of love and receiving His Holy Spirit. You have been given the right to call yourself His, also called a saint - consecrated and separated unto God. John 1:12 says, "Yet, to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

You have a new identity, a new unity, a new family...acknowledge that with praise. In Christ you are a saintly bride. Don't hesitate any longer to accept His Name and your new identity. In His sight, you are blameless...not yet made perfect...but accepted as His beautiful and much loved bride.

Until next week

God bless

Lize

Bride of Christ: Sinner or Saint?

I am excited about today's post...it is a day late but it is a good one!


My sincere wish is that it will change they way you see yourself forever!


So often you will hear Christians say, "I am but a sinner." Well, I am happy to say to you today:


"YOU ARE WRONG...YOU ARE IN FACT A SAINT!"


Oh I can just see some reading this catching their breath and feeling very uneasy! A saved sinner...yes, but a SAINT...that's a bit arrogant, that's stretching it a bit far, is it not? Because what about my sin...for yes...no Christian can claim that they are without sin, can they? And right here is the dilemma that hinders so many to let go of the identity of a 'sinner' and claim the identity of a 'saint'.


I don't want to beat around the bush today. I want to jump right to Romans 5 because Romans 5:6-11 speaks of us...of Christians. It uses three mighty words to describe us and I want us to have a closer look at them. These words are 'ungodly', 'sinners' and 'enemies'. Let me point out that as described in Romans 5 you cannot be one of these without being the other. If you identify with being a sinner you are also identifying with being ungodly and being an enemy. So, without further ado, allow me to show you the meaning of the original Greek words translated as 'ungodly', 'sinners' and 'enemies' as explained by Strong's concordance with Greek and Hebrew lexicon:


Ungodly - 'asebes' - destitute of reverential awe towards God, condemning God, impious, wicked, bad and immoral.


Sinners - hamartolos - pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked, devoted to sin.


Enemies - echthros- hateful, hostile, hating and opposing.


Oh I hope you are beginning to see light!!! While you might have been thinking that you are showing humility by saying that "I am a mere sinner saved by grace" you were in fact contradicting yourself in the worst way. What you were in fact and at the very least saying was: "I am merely a person who is devoted to sin, especially wicked, pre-eminently sinful and saved by grace." And if you take the identity further as explained in Romans 5 you were in fact saying, "I am merely a person who have no respectful awe towards God but condemns Him. I am bad and immoral, devoted to sin, hateful and opposing of God...but saved by grace."


Is there any truth in the above? Yes, of course. Is this the whole truth? No, of course not. If we stop right here and adopt this sinner-identity we are living a half truth. Take another good look at Romans 5 verses 6,8 and 10 containing the above three words of darkness.


Do you see it?


IT IS WRITTEN IN THE PAST TENSE.


"When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."
"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
"...when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled..."


Show me the bride who walks down the isle hating her husband-to-be, being devoted to all that he hates...why, that is no bride at all!


Dear friend, we all come from that place of hate and opposition regarding God and we are born in a state of wickedness and sinfulness. David said it in Psalm 51:5, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Yet, if you are a Christian, something has changed. You have been reborn of the Spirit. You are a new creation. You are not that sinner anymore! You are not of the first fallen Adam any more. You are now reborn of the second Adam. Surely now you can no longer relate to descriptions such as we saw in the original meanings of the words 'ungodly', 'sinners' and 'enemies'? As I also quoted him in my book, "Bride Adorned", Matthew Henry said it such:


"...the man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things."


This certainly is a description we can relate to, isn't it? We dearly love our Lord Jesus, don't we? Yes! Can you see how this differ from the definition of a sinner? We simply can't love Jesus and call ourselves sinners!!


I know...we still struggle with sin. And because we struggle with sin and we don't know where to put this in the equation, we wrongly hang on to the definition of 'sinner'.


Look at what Peter wrote in his first letter: "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from the sinful desires, which war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:11) To whom did Peter write this letter? To the ungodly sinners and enemies of God living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia? No, he wrote his letter to "God's elect..." And so also Paul and James wrote their letters, wherein they urge the readers thereof to let go of their sinful acts, to the 'churches' and the 'saints'.


So how can it be that the church, the saints, the Christians...the bride of Christ still struggle with sin??? Did Christ not redeem us? Yes! He gave us His Spirit and we were reborn. We were born of the Spirit who restores in us the image of God, teaches us God's ways and guides us on our journey. Where once we were enemies of God and happy in our sinful flesh, we now love God and are engaged in a war against our sinful flesh. For the truth is that the sinful self has not disappeared...he is living in my flesh...but I am not bound to him anymore...I can resist him and submit to the Spirit in me. If the sinful self has evaporated when I was reborn...why then did Paul find it necessary to tell us to "put to death...whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." and to take "off your old self with its practices" and to "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator"?


Dear friend, you and I are not sinners any more. We love God. We agree with Him on what is righteous and good and holy. And we are on a journey where more and more we are being transformed into His likeness. We do no longer think that the sinful desires of our flesh are good and holy. On the contrary, we are now in a battle against the sinful desires of our flesh. Shortly put, we agree with God on what is sin and what is righteous according to His Word. We do not determine these things according to our own ideas and opinions anymore. We follow God and deny ourselves. We do not deliberately continue to sin. We submit to the will of God.


Jesus did not battle against a sinful nature, but He also had to deny Himself and submit to the will of the Father. In the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.


"If it was a battle for our  Lord, it is a battle for us. Yes, we are a new creation in Christ, but as long as we are alive in our earthly bodies, our choice to follow Him and submit our own will to that of God will have to be deliberate and it will be strongly opposed by our sinful nature. It is a fight until the end." (from 'Bride Adorned')


You and I are now saints. We are a saintly bride of Christ.


Do you know what the meaning of the word 'saint' is?
The original Greek word, 'hagios' means 'a most holy thing'
And we know what 'holy' means don't we...it means separated and consecrated unto God.


I don't know about you but, now knowing the full meaning of the word 'sinner', rather than saying I am but a mere sinner saved by grace, I would much rather embrace my new true identity:

"I am a saint, saved by grace, loving of God and Jesus Christ my Lord and ever striving to walk by His Spirit."

Lots of love to all the saints in Jesus Christ.
Lize