Rejoice, oh my soul, even on a grey Monday morning!

“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

(John 10:3b)

This morning my soul woke up a bit slow and somewhat reluctant to be called out into the Monday and week awaiting. Perhaps as the sunrays just couldn’t break through the grey cloudiness outside, the rays of joy and enthusiasm that usually lifts me up and into the day just couldn’t break through this morning. Oh, there’s nothing seriously wrong. No specific reason. I just somehow lacked the necessary ‘oomph’ for the day. I found myself unwilling to go through my usual Monday morning house sorting, or doing the taxes, cleaning my two canaries’ cages or even joining my husband for breakfast in town.

So after opting for a lower input beauty routine and leaving my hair to dry into its own curliness after a quick shower, I sat myself down with a cup of ginger and lemon rooibos tea, my favorite journal, “The Journey”, my Bible and my Friend.

Reading from John 10, the above words of John 10:3 spoke to my sluggish sole. Yes, Jesus came this morning as He always does and He called me out. ‘Oh Lord, you know that this little sheep was not very enthusiastic about going out today!’ I smilingly acknowledged to Him.

I continued, “But Lord I know that You picked me up and lovingly carried me out in Your arms until I felt better and You could put me down again. And as I started out next to You, soon I once again felt the strength to join the flock out here in the fields.”

Pondering on my lack of zest this morning yet knowing that I am still safe in my Shepherd’s hands, I recognized the beauty of what He gave us. It is so precious and it shines through even the most grey days. Whom of us cannot sing along, even when our souls are a bit slow:

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;

To His feet thy tribute bring;

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

Who like thee His praise should sing?

Praise the everlasting King.

Ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. There it is. Will we ever grasp the full beauty of these truths?

I am ransomed. God has delivered me ‘from the power of darkness’ and has translated me ‘into the kingdom of his dear Son.’ When you listen to the stories of people who have been caught up in Satanism or a life of horror and death and drugs and violence and unforgiveness and anger, you KNOW that the life of love and righteousness gifted us in Christ in the Kingdom of Light is beyond precious.

I am also healed. “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) God did not leave me in my sinful, hopeless condition. He healed my heart! My heart is now filled with love for my Redeemer and I want to live according to His laws which I recognize as good. I may still err, but it brings me no joy to follow my own worldly ways. I find joy in Christ as I learn on a daily basis to walk in His Holy Spirit.

Restored. The truth of this word brings tears to my eyes. I was a sinner and I could have been unable to ever come into the sweet presence of God, but Jesus paid the ransom price and now, because of Him, I have been restored. I am now a dearly loved child of God, included in a kingdom of priests and a bride of Christ! In Christ I have been restored to a position of glory, seated in the heavenly realms. ‘…God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27.)

Forgiven. I am forgiven. I have been given life in Christ in His Kingdom now and forever.

My soul might wake up on a grey Monday morning, feeling a bit unwilling to be called out into a demanding day, but deep down all is well with my soul because I belong to Christ, the lover of my soul…my Saviour and my life!

Therefore I sing out loud (and may you join me even on a grey Monday in your own life)

“Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.”

 (Psalm 103:1)

God bless,
Lize

The grace and blessing of God

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us…” (Psalm 67:1)

In this time of trouble and drought and insecurities in our country, this is a prayer often prayed out loud as well as in many a heart – Lord please be gracious to us and bless us. It translates to – Lord, please solve our crises: Send us rain, give us financial security, mend marriages…deliver us from our many difficult circumstances.

The good news is that the beautiful prayer in Psalm 67 has been answered in the most awesome way! In fact, God has given us more than we could ever ask for!

Let’s page forward to Ephesians 1:1

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

GOD HAS BLESSED US.

WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING.

WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED IN CHRIST.   

We might well ask ourselves: “What does it mean to have been blessed with every spiritual blessing? It does not mean that I have been delivered from my current or even future difficult circumstances, does it?” No. It means much more. It means we have been delivered from a much greater dilemma. It means that we have been brought out of darkness and into light. It means that we have received life instead of death. It means that we will not face the wrath of God which we deserve, but have received forgiveness for our sins. We have received God’s unmerited favor. We now have peace with God and we can come into His presence as dearly loved children. Even more, we now have in us this treasure which is the Holy Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD who works in us His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We have the precious promise that we are being conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and that we will share in the inheritance of the righteous – everlasting life in the Kingdom of Light.

There is no spiritual blessing that we have not already received in Christ! Indeed, God has made His face shine upon us! 

I know, what about our needs in this current life? 

Dear friend, in Christ, we also have the richest blessing for this life with its many difficult circumstances. Romans 8:28 reminds us that, IN ALL THINGS, God works for the good of those who love Him. God is for us. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:32) Jesus prompts us in Mathew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you.” 

Do you need wisdom – ask.

Do you need love for your spouse or any other person – ask.

Do you need patience – ask.

Do you need strength to endure – ask.

Do you need to be comforted – ask.

Do you need guidance – ask.

Do you need protection against the evil one – ask.

If we go to our Father and ask Him all that we need to glorify Him in any and every situation, He will provide.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

Praise be to God who has been gracious to us and has blessed us and has made his face shine upon us!

God bless

Lize

Light in your darkness...

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4-5)

I know and love and follow Jesus Christ as my Friend and my Savior. I am not perfect in my faith. I am not perfect in my walk. My life is not without its challenges and hardships, defeats and weaknesses. But I say it again, I know and love and follow Jesus Christ as my Friend and my Savior. Today I want to reach out to you and invite and encourage you to reach out to Him, anew or afresh, because He is your Light, our Light. Because His light shines in the darkness, you and I can sing His praises in the morning, throughout the day and on our beds at night. Because of Him, we can have a song in our hearts even when it seems all dark around, because the light penetrates and shines in the darkest corners of our lives.

Have you experienced His light shining in your darkness…

In your moment of anguish and fear and panic

In that secret place of captivity to sin

In the dark of depression when dark seems to become even darker

In that place of isolation and abandonment

In the hopelessness of your situation

In the cries from deep in your heart and soul

In the sorrow that engulfs you, drowns you

In the brokenness of your heart

In the failed relationship, the rejection, the humiliation

In poverty and hardship ripping away your joy to live

In that horrible place of violence

In the day of evil, the onslaught
In the moment of temptation

In your exhaustion?

The light shines IN the DARKNESS. Christ is there IN your DARKNESS and when He is there, the darkness CANNOT overcome. Before the light, darkness HAS to flee.

Throughout the ages, men and women who have cried out to Jesus, the Christ and their Savior, have found that the darkness, their darkness, could not overcome them. No matter the depth of their darkness, no matter the length of their darkness, no matter how many times their souls have fainted…always there came a Savior and His light shone in that darkness, driving it out. Men and women have found that their hearts could sing a new song, a song of jubilation and praise, a song that carried them on, one step at a time out of the darkness and into His Kingdom of Light.  

They have found, also, that His light brings only life and gives of it freely without reproach as James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” The light exposes but does not shame, blame, threaten or bribe. The light, unwavering, comes and brings healing, joy, peace, freedom, love, comfort, meaning, change…life everlasting. You and I are children of the light. 

Jesus my Light.

Jesus your Light.

Jesus our Light.

Come shine in people’s darkness.

Amen.

 

God bless,

Lize

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

This morning when I opened my fridge I was hit in the face with a stuffiness and sultriness that smelt of food and spelt but one thing: The fridge has been off through the night. Our fridge’s thermostat is broken and is yet to be replaced. The makeshift plan for the moment is a timer connected to the power plug ensuring the fridge switches on and off with regular intervals but, with the weight of the timer, every now and then the plug gets pulled out just a little and loses contact. Thus my unpleasant surprise this morning.

 

Getting back into bed for that stolen minute or two before I continue the morning’s rush to get everybody at school on time, I felt a bit like my fridge. My power is off and my mood quite sultry. Moms are like fridges. They are plugged in and they keep the family fresh and going. Every day, day after day, nonstop. We get up, get everybody going, make food, buy food, clean house, drive kids around, do admin, run errands, wait for kids, check homework, prevent or solve arguments, make peace, do some work for the Lord and some more for the school, try and keep ourselves in good shape, go to bed and start all over again tomorrow. Yes, and in the process, the weight of it all pulls us back and we lose contact with the source of our power and we wake up airless.

 

Sometimes we can’t even quite understand why we are so airless. We might have everything going for us – lovely husband, kids, house, help, school, church, bibles and conversations with God. Yet, in spite of all this, everything can simultaneously feel all too much and all too little. Our mundane daily quest to survive overtakes us. 

 

Have you ever at times felt like this? When this feeling hit me this morning, I thought of Psalms 42 and 43. The writer of these two Psalms finds his soul to be downcast because he feels far from God. Scholars believe that he is writing these Psalms from a place of exile far away from Jerusalem where he and his countrymen used to worship God in the temple with joy and thanksgiving and festive throng. But now he finds himself in a foreign place, oppressed by his enemy. 

 

We too, because we are running from morning till evening, day after day, might at times feel far away from God. Though me might have conversations with Him and read our Bibles, we fail to drink deep from the Well that satisfies the soul’s thirst. That might be why we are so airless and it might leave us with the same type of questions in our hearts than that of the writer of these two Psalms:

 

• My soul thirsts for God.
• When can I go and meet with God?
• Where is your God?
• All your waves and breakers have swept over me.
• Why must I go on mourning, oppressed by the enemy?

 

I know that whenever I find myself in this position, I long for a complete time out. I want to pause life for a day and restore order around me and in me and then reconnect with God before pressing the play button again. But that is not truly the answer. Rarely can we press life’s pause button!! The better answer lies within Psalms 42 and 43. The Psalmist told his downcast soul: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Before he did anything else, the Psalmist decided to put and keep his hope in God his Savior and to praise Him. As physical exercise is an anti-depressant to the body, praising God is an anti-depressant to the soul! It lifts the soul’s focus to its Creator and Savior, its Living Hope!

Furthermore, the Psalmist realized an important fact – he didn’t need to be in Jerusalem in the temple - the perfect circumstances - in order for him to be ‘close’ to God and worship Him. No, God came and met him where he was: “By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life”, “Send forth your light and your truth, let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” God is always with us! His light and His truth is available to us everywhere all the time. Realizing that God is with him always, irrespective of how ‘far’ he was feeling from Him, the Psalmist affirmed – “…God, my joy and my delight.”

About fifteen minutes after I had reconnected the fridge’s power plug this morning, it again had a coolness and a freshness inside when you opened the door. After reconnecting and redirecting my soul to my beautiful Savior, without my daily routine having changed the slightest, my soul again has a freshness and a joy to it that sends me forth on my tasks with a festive song in my heart! 

May you too put your hope in the Savior and praise Him with all your soul and He will not fail you!

God bless,

Lize

When God does not 'rescue' us...

A couple of mornings ago I was reading in a daily devotional about the Israelites being chased by the Egyptian army. They were seemingly trapped between the Red Sea and the mountain and they were in despair and angry at God! Yet Moses told them to be still because God will come through for them…and He did.

Reading this scripture, I felt a pang of rebellion in my heart. I thought of all the situations given us in the Bible where God’s people were in trouble and He rescued them. Far from being comforted thereby, my rebellious heart cried out: But Lord, You do not always rescue. You do not always answer prayer. You do not always heal or keep death at bay and what are we to do then? 

I tried to think of people in the Bible whom God did not rescue…

Job came to mind first. He did lose everything and to me, much worse than his health, he did lose his children and, though God blessed him after his trials and gave him many more children, those he loved and lost could never be brought back. Yet he praised God. Next, I thought of Daniel’s three friends and Habakkuk who all proclaimed that even if God did not help them, they would still praise Him.  

These three instances show a very different attitude in faith than that of the Israelites of old. I could not help to wonder what would cause such a huge paradigm shift in one’s faith and where would I find myself on a scale between the demanding faith of the Israelites and the submissive faith of Job, Daniel’s friends and Habakkuk?

My thoughts further took me to Hebrews 11, also called the ‘hall of faith’. There we find two groups of people mentioned in verses 33-38. The first group was victorious in their trials and their faith. Through faith they “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised.” They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the sword. The verse says their weakness was turned to strength.  But there is also the second group who, though also worthy to be mentioned in Hebrews 11 for their perseverance in faith, did not share the same victory. Rather they were tortured, faced jeers and flogging, were chained and put in prison, stoned, sawed in to and put to death by the sword. They wandered in deserts, mountains, caves and holes in the ground. They did not gain what was promised. Their faith (and God) did not save them from their earthly dilemmas yet, they kept their faith! Two groups of people, two very different circumstances and outcomes but the same strong faith for both groups.

This morning I was again pondering all of life and faith, victory and apparent defeat, God rescuing and God not rescuing and what we are to make of it and where it leaves us in our faith…

“Lord,” I said, “I am trying so hard to perceive the voice of the Holy Spirit, to be filled with Him. I am trying hard to be wise, to understand and to know your truths and to be able to encourage others with it. Yet, for all my efforts, I still have to conclude with Job: “I spoke once, but I have no answer…” (Job 40:5) I do not have the answer for every situation in life and this perilous times we live in or for every issue of faith. 

But, as I acknowledged my frustration before the Lord, I became convinced above all doubt about one thing, the thing it all boils down to:

More than anything else, more than wisdom and understanding and knowledge, you and I need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to communicate with Him on all occasions, giving Him our heart at all times as it is…whether confused or angry or broken or happy and peaceful. It is in the personal relationship with the I AM that we find His sufficient grace enabling us to live on even if He does not and even if we don’t have the answers. It is in this personal relationship that we find He will reveal Himself to us and we will behold Him and we will find Him faithful, beautiful and the sole Lover of our souls.

As I confessed this belief to the Lord and prayed, “Lord help us to have such a relationship with You,” I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit calling out with my own spirit: “Abba Father, I will praise You!”

Amen! I found I could take another step forward into the new day.

Crossing the Sea

Exodus 13:17-22

Having lost a dearly loved family member at the end of 2015 and finding myself at the beginning of another year of which the path is yet unknown, God could not have directed my vulnerable self to a more reassuring Scripture than that of Exodus 13:17-22.

Even the title given to this text could not have been more appropriate to my situation: Crossing the Sea. Indeed 2016 lies ahead of us like a sea to be crossed. Having recently visited the coast, I still have a very vivid picture of the ocean in my mind – masses of deep water as far as the eye can see. If you were given the task of crossing that sea whilst standing on its shore all on your own, you would know that it is an impossible task.

We all have different seas to cross. Our sea could be that impossible situation at work, a broken relationship, a financial crisis, sickness or the loss of a loved one. It could be this day or this year that lies ahead of us. In a way, it could be our whole life here on earth – crossing the sea could be our journey from our earthly birth through this life to reaching the shore of our heavenly home. Whichever one, this we know - it is above our ability.

Therefore I found deep assurance and comfort from the above Scripture. Four aspects stood out for me, reassuring me that indeed I do not have to do it on my own and that I have an almighty, sovereign and loving Father that will keep me on my journey and bring me safely across my sea. Allow me to share these with you:

Firstly, though the Israelites had to be and were armed for battle, the Lord did not prematurely lead them into warfare. Though the road they had to take seemed to be the worse one - a long way through desert country - it was in their best interest and to avoid a sure battle that would have sent them back the way they came. God had a plan and it was a good plan…it was the best plan.

Secondly there is the testimony of Joseph, a man who had a most challenging and difficult life. But, through all the hardship that Joseph had suffered in his life, he had found God to be utterly faithful so that on his death bed, he confidently put forward this request: “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” 

Thirdly, the Lord Himself was with the Israelites and went ahead of them. God was not going to leave His flock to themselves. He was never going to leave them. He was going to guide and lead their every step.

Lastly, the presence of the Lord in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night ensured that the Israelites “could travel by day or night.” From this verse we can gather that, at times, the Israelites would have had to travel by night when it is dark and one cannot see where to put your foot. Yet God provided a light in the darkness…His presence was a lamp to their feet.

As you and I embark on our journey to cross our seas we can be sure that God will also be there for us in the same loving and caring way that He was there for the Israelites. We can go forward with the promise Jesus gave His disciples:

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

God bless and all the best for 2016
Lize 

When my child is gay

What do we do when our children choose to follow a lifestyle we cannot endorse? What do Christian parents do when their children choose to follow a homosexual lifestyle, a lifestyle of sin according to the Word of God? We live in a time when many Christian parents’ hearts are broken and torn between their love for their gay child and their love for God and His law. 


Jesus said, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother…” (Luke 12:51-53)


When our children choose a path different from the way we showed and taught them according to the Word of God, we are in fact divided. This is heart-breaking to any parent. We cannot stand to be alienated or separated from our children. It is an unbearable situation. Yet, to Christian parents, it is also unthinkable to turn your back on God and His laws. Our children on the one side and God on the other – a real dilemma for many.


Often, parents have one of two reactions. Firstly, many parents do cut off their children. They will not speak to them again. They will not welcome them into their homes and they disown them. The pain that this causes both sides is immense. Secondly, parents often choose to change their interpretation of God’s law. They take the stand that the Bible is wrongly interpreted on the subject of homosexuality and that it is actually acceptable to God. By doing this, they don’t have to be divided against their children or against God anymore, they can be united to their child and to God. But God and His Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We cannot change Him or His Word at our whim. His law is eternal. 


Then what is the right thing to do? What can a parent do is such a situation? The truth is that once you have trained your children in the way that they should go, it is up to them to make their own decisions. Proverbs 22:6 says that if we have trained them God’s way, when they are old, they will not turn from it. When it thus seems that our children have chosen against God, we pray and we trust as we continue to live a life of truth and worship God.


Furthermore, Galatians 5:22-23 says this: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Even when a child chooses a path against the law of God, let the Christian parent continue to do those things against which there is no law. Do not withhold love, be ever filled with joy and stay in His perfect peace, show patience, kindness and gentleness. Act with self-control and continue and be faithful in doing good also to your child.


As it is your child's choice to obey God's law or not, it is your own choice to continue to live our the life of holiness and love to which you were called or not. A wrong never rights a wrong but we fight evil with good.


My prayer today is for every parent who finds him or herself in this situation, that God will strengthen you and guide you and cover you in His abundant grace on this difficult road.
God bless

Lize

Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriages: The Secret Power of Lawlessness

World-wide, an ever smaller group of Christians was once again upset when the Supreme Court in the United States of America ruled that same-sex marriages are now legalized in all 50 of its states, while human rights organizations celebrated this as a victory for humanity.

While for me, as a Christian, the increasing acceptance and legalization of a homosexual lifestyle is truly upsetting, it is not that surprising or baffling. Indeed it is the realization of what Paul warned against in his letter to the Thessalonians:

“For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

(2 Thessalonians 2:7-12)

The key concept in this passage is lawlessness. The original Greek word ‘anomia’, used in this passage, indicates the condition of being without law because of being ignorant of it or because of violating it. It thus acknowledges the existence of a law that is not being obeyed and the results thereof, also indicated in the original meaning of the word, are iniquity and wickedness.

When Paul mentions the condition of lawlessness, he is not referring to the violation of (good or bad) man-made laws but the violation of the law of God.  It is all about obeying and accepting the law of God or opposing and disobeying the law of God. Rightly so, he ultimately links this rebellion to God’s law to the work of Satan. The lawless one who will act in accordance to the work of Satan will ‘set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God’ (Verse 4).

This is Satan’s ancient desire - to be the great ‘I AM’. Isaiah 14:13-14 portrays this evil desire of his: 

“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

This desire to be the great ‘I AM’ he passed on to mankind when, in the Garden of Eden, he tempted Eve with the thought of being ‘like God’ into first doubting and then disobeying His law. Since that day, man has set himself up against God and has rebelled against His law. In its place, man has put a new law – I am and I am entitled, and I am in my own right. In the absence of God’s law in their lives, these ‘lawless people’ are given over to the desires of their flesh. What they want, whatever pleases them becomes their right and their law. They claim the right to decide for themselves what is wrong and what is right, what is good and what is bad. This is true for the decisions they make regarding their relationships, whether it is ok to live together or not, have an extra-marital relationship or not. It holds for financial decisions – whether to pay a bribe or not, whether to pay the correct taxes or not. It affects all everyday life decisions. There is no more one standard. Each decides his or her own right and wrong. This is the effect of lawlessness.  

Lawless man even puts himself above God. In the face of one's human rights, one can now determine ‘what’ and ‘who’ you want God to be. And whatever whoever ascribes to God is accepted as right for him/her as long as it does not offend the right of anyone else. In such a climate there is no place for one specific Truth, Law, Name, Savior and God. 

Paul rightly also spoke of the ‘secret power’ of this lawlessness. It is powerful in its delusion. It is powerful in sounding so good and righteous. It is powerful in speaking to the desires of the flesh. It is powerful in the absence of any need for a sacrifice of self. It is powerful in promoting the ‘I’ above God.  And it gains strength as more and more people adhere to this new law of lawlessness honored as basic human rights and more and more people start to doubt God and follow the loud voice of the world.  

And therefore, as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, because people have refused to accept God’s truths and laws, He has sent them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and be condemned. Romans 1:24 confirms:

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator…Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.” 

Let everybody who has ears, listens to what the great I AM says:

“Dear children, do not let anybody lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he (God) is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin…”

(1 John 3:7-9)

While the world celebrates, let those who still hold to the truths of God be encouraged by the words of Paul at the end of 2 Thessalonians 2:

“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you…May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

Love thy neighbor even when you don’t like him?

It’s one thing to talk about loving thy neighbor as a concept but it is another thing altogether when faced with the reality of a ‘neighbor’ whom you don’t like or even despise. How do I love someone when everything he does is in stark contrast with the principles I believe in? How do I love my neighbor who is a drunkard and abuses his family? Even more problematic, how do I love someone who has harmed me or my loved ones? Is it really possible to do?

Well, the answer is yes and no. No it is not possible in the flesh. Our flesh lives by an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It seeks vengeance and claims self-righteousness. Its fruit of hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions and envy makes it difficult to love even a loveable neighbor let alone one we can’t stand at all.

Yet in Christ, the answer is yes. When I belong to Christ and receive newness of life from Him, loving thy neighbor is no longer about who the other person is but about who I am in Christ. In Christ I am no longer led by my flesh and its desires, but by the Holy Spirit. The love I am now able to show my neighbor is not the fruit of the flesh but the fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus said that we should love one another, love our neighbor and even more…love our enemies. You might say ‘love’ is a strong word…perhaps too strong. I cannot possibly love someone who has harmed me or my loved ones in the same way I love my child or my spouse or my friends. Surely I can’t be best friends with such an offender!

Indeed no! But we can show the love set out in 1 Corinthians 13. It is not a love that asks of us to like anybody or to be best friends with anybody but it is a love that asks of us to crucify the self and allow Christ to shine through us. So let us go to 1 Corinthians 13 to see what this love is that we should and can show all our fellow men irrespective of how we feel about them:

Firstly, love is patient and love is kind. To be patient is to be longsuffering, to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others, to be mild and slow in avenging, slow to anger and slow to punish. Kindness is an attitude shown in our actions and our words. Furthermore, love does not envy, does not boast and is not proud. Indeed we cannot look down on any other person because our righteousness is not ours but that of Christ. Love is also not rude or self-seeking. It is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs and does not delight in evil.

All of these are things we can show towards any other person irrespective of whether we like them or not, whether we approve of their lifestyle or not. Our actions are not determined by them or by our flesh but by the Spirit of Christ.

No matter how we feel about our fellow man, we must be of the same mind of Christ whose first coming was not to harm or judge but to teach and to save. When a Samaritan village would not welcome Jesus, his disciples asked Him if they could call for fire from heaven to destroy them but Jesus rebuked them saying: “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:56) This should be our attitude as well. Not to destroy people, but to save people. We still live in the year of the Lord’s favor.

There is a time for everything and when Jesus returns, He will do so as the Judge and there will be a day of vengeance. But now it is our time to love our neighbor with the love shown to us by Christ. Not a love that ignores wrong, not a love that prevents justice but a love that is longsuffering and kind and that rejoices in truth rather than evil.

God bless,

Lize

Love thy neighbor

This is perhaps the one phrase from the Bible that the non-Christian world loves to point out the most and perhaps the one that most often presents Christians with a dilemma.

Non-Christians love this phrase because to them it means that Christians should accept them and their lifestyles without any judgment or condemnation. Christians stumble over it because they fear that showing love and kindness to someone who rejects Christ or who live a life of sin (according to Biblical principles) would be to approve of and encourage their unbelief and sinful ways and thus they often shun them. 

The problem is rooted in the understanding or misunderstanding of the concept of love.  The world sees it as the unconditional acceptance of who they are and how they choose to live and puts before the Christians the ‘unconditional love’ of Christ. For them, saying that their ways are wrong, is to judge and condemn them and to not show this unconditional love which, according to them, should be the attitude of any Christian because that was the attitude of Christ. When Christians shun non-believers or those living in sin, they are thus seen as hypocrites. 

Before we look at how Christians should apply the concept of love, let’s look at whether the world is right in how it wants this neighborly love to be applied.

I would like to start with the context in which ‘love thy neighbor’ appears in the Bible. In Matthew 22:36 Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is in the Law. While the world loves to support the second one Jesus mentioned namely “love your neighbor as yourself”, it conveniently ignores the first: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Whilst they so eagerly stand on God’s principle of love, they reject His ultimate gift of love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Furthermore, they shun the One who gave His life for them – the epitome of love. 

If we want to know what ‘love’ means and what it would or would not entail and if we want to use God’s commandment and Jesus’ words, we should indeed look towards Jesus. In John 7:7 Jesus, referring to the world, said: “…it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.” The Good News Bible gives it as, “…it hates me, because I keep telling it that its ways are bad.” There you have it. Jesus who was and is the epitome of God’s love for the world, did not hesitate to tell it that its ways are bad. His love for them would not have Him keep quiet as a doctor would not keep quiet if a patient of his followed a lifestyle that would inevitably result in bad health and death. His love was not a love that would accept their sins knowing that it would result in eternal death, but it was a love that brought and offered them truth and salvation. 

The world’s reaction today to God’s truths has not changed. As they hated Christ for speaking the truth, they hate Christians for speaking the truth. As they rejected God’s truths then, they reject them now.

Let us turn to the Christian’s obligation of loving thy neighbor. It is also as simple as looking towards Jesus. His sacrifice of love was indeed for all whether they would reject it or accept it. Any person who rejects Christ and lives a life of sin will find at the very moment when he repents and turns to Jesus, that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient to also forgive him his sins and give him eternal life. Jesus’ love was for all but only those who accept it and live by it and obeys and follows Him will reap its reward…eternal life. And those who rejected it will also reap their reward…eternal death.

In the same way as Jesus, Christians are indeed to show kindness and love to their neighbor and fellow man. Romans 13:10 says it simply, “Love does no harm to its neighbor.” That definitely means that in no way will I give death threats to any person living a sinful life. It definitely means that I will not harass or persecute him or withhold any justice from him. To the contrary. 

Yet, it also means that I will not withhold God’s truth from him. I will keep my own life pure and have no part in his sinful ways but continue to be salt and light unto my neighbor through the life I live and the testimony I hold of the hope that I have in Christ. No I cannot fight with my neighbor for gay rights or the right to abortion, in fact, I will fight against it. No I cannot partake in multi-faith services or Eastern philosophies and practices. No I cannot party and get drunk with him. No I cannot listen as he uses the Name of Christ in a profane way. No I cannot do anything that sets itself up against Christ, but I can share my bread with him when he is hungry. I can comfort him when he is sad. I can give him a lift when his car has broken down. 

‘Love thy neighbor’ is not a passport to justify any sinful life as it is not the stamp of approval on any sinful life. It is not there for the world to abuse and twist as to suit them while they shun the God who gave it as a commandment. And yes, it is a commandment that God’s people should live out each and every day as He gave His love to those who did not deserve it, including us.

God bless,

Lize

The greatest of these is love

Today I want to share the daily devotional from my Face Book page 'Growing in Christ with Lize Dumon'. (You can find the link at the top of my blog if you want to follow it.)


This is such an important message that I myself have to be reminded of on a regular basis. It is too important to miss!


Daily devotional for 2 February 2015:

"But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

 Whenever the Word of God spurs us on to love, that love is always directed at persons and at God. It is never directed at things. Yet, this morning I am reminded that often we do direct our love at things.

We spend a lot of time and money on obtaining and maintaining things. We can get caught up in beautifying, cleaning and sorting our ...houses. The same can be said of our gardens or cars or artwork or hobbies...they can all become extremely important to us taking up our time and energy...but it is kind of wasted time and energy in one sense because these things are dead.

Above my piano I have these words in a frame:

People more so than things need to be refreshed, renewed, restored and cared for.

People, not things, need love and people need love, not things.

Are you loving the people in your life with your presence, time, focus and energy?



I hope that you have been inspired and convicted today to go out and love and care for the people in your life!


God bless,

Lize

Be quiet and know I am God

 "...in quietness and trust is your strength".

(Isaiah 30:15)

Yesterday God showed me how difficult it is for us to be quiet and patient in trusting Him and He used an incident with one of my farm workers to do that.


Calvin and I both had to renew our licenses and had a joint appointment for that in town. When we were finished with our appointment, I went to the Spar shop to buy some groceries. Calvin decided to wait for me outside the shop at the car wash where some of his friends work. As I walked into the Spar, I remembered that I actually needed to run an important errand for my husband at the other side of town and decided to go there first and then rather buy my groceries at the Pick and Pay shop. I told Calvin that I was going to the other center but that he could stay at the Spar shop and chat with his friends. I told him that he must just wait there until I come back to fetch him. I finished all my errands, picked up my son who also had an appointment in town and went back to the Spar to pick up Calvin only to find that he was gone. We drove around and around the center to see if we could find him. I tried to call him but his phone just kept ringing. In the end, exasperated, I drove back home whilst keeping an eye out for him alongside the road. He was nowhere to be seen and he was also not back home. I was really worried as I joined my parents on a lunch date. It was only about half an hour later that I managed to reach him on his phone. He explained that when I didn't turn up after 45 minutes, he tried to find me and then took a taxi home. This cost him a lot of money and trouble!


God showed me that this is exactly what we so often do. Over and over He promises us that He will provide in our needs, guide our steps and help us yet, when we have to wait even a short while, we start running around making our own plans often to our own detriment. Then when God 'comes' we are not where we should be.


It is easy to say that we trust God but the proof is often in the waiting.


We pray for restoration of relationships or health, solutions to problems we face, direction and vision regarding plans, projects and decisions we have to make....and then God is silent. The problem is, the culture we live in does not allow for us to be still, to wait, to do nothing or to postpone decisions. We are expected to be ever visibly busy, purposeful and productive. Goals must be set, tasks must be done, solutions must be found, problems must be solved. Waiting is a big no-no.


And so we don't wait upon God. Instead we pour out our words; we rush into relationships and then we rush the relationships; we want loved ones and people to be instantly perfect; likewise we want sanctification to be an instant act rather than a lifelong daily process; we make hasty decisions; we undertake tasks and responsibilities we were not supposed to take upon us and get worn down; we panic, worry and lose hope and we rely on our own understanding.


We don't wait upon God and so we miss His quiet voice. In the process of running around we can't hear what He wants to teach us, say to us, show us or reveal to us. We run right pass the opened door and bump our heads against the closed one. We don't get still enough to receive His comfort. We're too busy to receive Him or to know Him and His purpose for us and our loved ones.


If there is one area in which I have a desire to grow, it is in quietness and trust in the Lord.


This year, it will be ok to not have a thousand goals or activities. It will be ok to say no or to postpone an action or a decision when I have not received a confirmation or direction from the Lord. It will be ok to be quiet and not give an instant answer to a problem. It will be ok to say no to the pressures of the world. It will be ok to just be still, spend time with the Lord and come to know Him and His presence in that stillness. This will certainly be a challenge but I am reminded of Jesus' words when He said that if we lack anything, we should ask the Father. In our weakness, we can ask the Father to give us the necessary patience, quietness and trust and we can know that He will do this for it is His will that we rest in His presence.


I will long remember my frustration yesterday because Calvin had to get home on his own because he did not wait for me as I told him to, when the whole purpose of us going together for our licenses was to save him the trouble and the cost of all this traveling as we live out of town and on a road that is not serviced by taxis and people often have to travel long distances by foot if they don't get a lift.


God is not against us, He is for us. His purpose is to prosper us, to give us a hope and a future. He cannot and will never forget us. We are His dearly loved children. Let us then learn to trust Him and patiently wait upon Him!


God bless
Lize

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.”