Pearls to Ponder...: 2021

Monday, 27 December 2021

The boring bits

There are long lists in the Bible, which I often referred to as the “boring bits”, much to my shame! Lists of genealogical registers were definitely included as some of these.

However, nothing in the Bible is ever there without some definite purpose, or meaning, even though this meaning is mostly hidden from the casual reader.

The list in Genesis 5 is a good example. Bearing in mind that the Hebrew names in the Bible have very specific meanings, let’s consider these names written down here:

Adam means ‘Man’. Seth means ‘Is appointed’. Enosh: Mortal. Kenan: Sorrow. Mahalalel: The blessed God. Jared: Shall come down. Enoch: Initiate or speech. Methusalah: His death shall bring. Lamech: The despairing. Noah: Rest and comfort.

If you read the meanings of these names in the order given in the Bible, it reads as follows: Man puts on mortal, sorrow, at his dwelling, but the praiseworthy God shall come down to teach that His death shall bring the despairing ones, rest and comfort.

The gospel in a list of names! Wow! Let this strengthen your belief in the Bible as the firm foundation for your faith. It seems as if every effort is made these days to pull that foundation out from under our feet. But you may stand firm in the knowledge that everything mentioned in the Bible can be trusted to be true; you may believe everything written down there with the confidence that it is truly the Word of God; it is truly trustworthy and accurate to the very last little detail. In fact, science and archaeological findings are only now starting to catch up to what the Bible has reported since for ever!

So be encouraged that the Bible does not need defending – you can believe the historical facts recorded there, you can believe the wonder-working miracles reported there; you can believe the prophecies and the fulfilment of them as recorded there, and you can surely believe that all future prophecies written there will also be fulfilled to the letter.

13 December 2021

Let's talk about Jonah

When you just read “Jonah”, you immediately thought of the huge fish, didn’t you! But today I do not want to concentrate on that great supernatural miracle of God, creating such a big fish for him – even though that is something that fills me with awe and wonder.

What struck me as I read Jonah again was the fact that you cannot hide from God - His mercy and lovingkindness will follow you everywhere you go.

You see, even when Jonah was totally disobedient to God, God still pursued him. Even when Jonah tried to flee to the most remote of the Phoenician trading places then known, God still kept him on track by firstly sending a great storm, then having Jonah cast into the sea by his initially very reluctant fellow passengers, and then providing a great fish to transport Jonah back to the Mediterranean coast. God had to also resurrect Jonah before the fish spewed him out, as he could not have survived all that happened to him in the sea after being thrown overboard. Consider Jonah2:2: “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”- Jonah’s prayer came out of the belly of Sheol. Now Sheol was the abode of the dead.

God performed no less than eight miracles around Jonah during this episode in his life, and they were all necessary because Jonah kept running away from Him.

Do you find yourself in this position also: that you are running away from God? You have heard His voice, You know what it is that He wants from you, yet you started running away - you simply cannot find the courage to turn back, or you might think that the price is too high, or that you are not good enough, or any of a thousand reasons that keeps you running and running and running.

Then be encouraged today, my friend, because God is not about to give up on you! He will do what it takes to get your attention, even if you are running at top speed. Look what He did for Jonah! Stop running, and start listening. Hallelujah! We serve a God Who has compassion. We sometimes forget how patient God is, and how full of mercy, and how many chances He wants to give us to choose life, to turn away from our wickedness and choose Him. Look at Jonah! God is waiting patiently to shower you also with His mercy and grace!

13 December 2021

Daniel's answer to the king

In a powerpoint presentation about the book Revelation for both adults and children, I used a picture of a painting of Daniel in the lion’s den painted by Briton Riviére, purely because it appealed to me - it is a beautiful picture of Daniel’s answer to the king.

Looking at it again the other day, I realized two things: that Daniel is depicted as standing with his back to the lions number one, and secondly that there are seven lions, one for each day of the week!

By not facing those lions, Daniel is conveying the fact that he trusts God completely, he really believed that God had shut their mouths and that they could not hurt him in any possible way. He is physically portraying 1 John 4:4 which says that greater is He Who lives in us than he who is in the world!

The fact that there is a lion for every day of the week should not surprise us, as 1 Pet 5:8 warns us that the devil roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour. We are very often spending our lives in a lion’s den!

Let this painting inspire us – what are the lions in your life? Is it worry, or doubt, hopelessness, addiction, illness, financial problems or insecurity about the future? Are you facing them, seeing their fiery eyes and huge teeth and great big claws, letting fear grow inside you because you really don’t see any way out? Do you know the Heavenly Tamer of Lions, the One Who can be trusted to rescue you out of totally impossible-looking situations? If He can be trusted to also keep Daniel’s friends from harm in a fiery furnace, think what He can do for you!

Begin by trusting Him for the little things. Turn your attention from gazing at the lions to fixing your eyes on your Saviour, then your faith will start growing to trust Him in the lion’s den also.

13 December 2021

Monday, 15 November 2021

The God of my present

As I was driving to a matric reunion the other day, thoughts about my time at school started popping up in my head. And among them, unfortunately, were all the memories of so many negative or embarrassing things which had happened to me there.

When these negative thoughts emerged, I made the mistake of entertaining them, remembering even the finest details of my supposed humiliations – and I mean supposed, because of course, everything gets magnified in your over-sensitive, emotion-driven teenager mind! So that I had very mixed feelings when I approached all my school friends waiting there for me.

The talk around the table was light and joyful, and absolutely no one mentioned anything that even remotely touched on the memories I had experienced in travelling there, in fact, the memories shared were all of the good times we had had together. This of course altered my mood drastically, and I really enjoyed being there with all of them.

Thinking it over as I travelled home, I was wondering about the influence my memories and the people from my past had on my present day perception of myself, of how I saw myself as a person and how this influenced my feelings, when Holy Spirit suddenly revealed to me:

I am not defined by the people or the memories from my past; I am defined by the God of my present!

My God tells me I am loved by Him, esteemed by Him, extremely valued by Him.

He tells me I am beautiful, accepted and without spot or blemish.

He finds me so attractive that He wishes to marry me.

In fact, He died in my place, because His love for me is so overwhelmingly great!

And what did I do to deserve all of this? Absolutely nothing. He loves me with all my sinful nature in place, before I even met Him. He loves me even in agony on the cross, knowing that it is my sin that is causing Him all this excruciating pain. He loves me when I choose Him as my Lord and Master. And His love never fades away. He is faithful, even when I am not.

Let go of your past painful memories. Let go of your past failures. Let go of your old thinking habits, the way you are always putting yourself down because of past experiences.

And step into your Father’s loving arms, waiting here in your present, to lead you into your new future!

Saturday, 30 October 2021

The God Who calms the storm

In Ps 89:9, I read:

“You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.”.

This is repeated in Ps 107:29, where it states:

“He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.”

In both these verses it is clear that it is only God Himself Who can calm the storms on sea, just by His command.

So when we read that this is exactly what Jesus did, written about in Matthew 8:26:

“Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.” – we can only come to one conclusion: Jesus is God!

I wonder why the Pharisees of the time, who knew the quoted Psalms so well, did not make this connection?

There is a parallel to this in Job 9:8 which says “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.” Jesus comes walking on the stormy water waves in Matt 14:25 “And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.”, proving yet again that He is God.

Be that as it may, we can be greatly comforted by these verses in two ways:

1. Firstly, we know that Jesus is God, so we know that ALL promises made by Jesus will be faithfully kept by Him. This includes His command to us to not fear - He says do not fear nor be afraid, for I am with you, unto the end of all ages!

2. And secondly, we know without a doubt that Jesus will still the storms raging in our lives. The storm that the disciples faced on that boat was violent, and arose suddenly. And where was Jesus? Peacefully sleeping, while His men were rushing around in great panic, fearing for their very lives! And His very first words upon being awakened by them, were: Why are you afraid?

And this is still true today. If Jesus is in your boat – why are you afraid?

Sunday, 10 January 2021

Does God discipline His children?

I was reading Ps 94 this morning, and verse 12 caught my eye:

“Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD, the one you teach from your law;”

It stood out because…this is not something we ever want to think about, is it? That God actually disciplines His children – and even though the next verse gives us a very good outcome of such discipline:

“That You may grant him [power to calm himself and find] peace in the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked and ungodly.”

It still isn’t pleasant to the ear, is it!

I expected to find something more about this in the Old Testament, and sure enough, there are a few. Lamentation 3:27-28 being but one:

“It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.”

But the following verses from the New Testament really brought it home:

Heb 12:5-11 “5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM,

6FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

If you find yourself in an uncomfortable place – find out from the Lord if it is your own doing (for we do reap what we sow, so carefully scrutinize your lifestyle and decisions or lack of decisions, maybe inner healing is needed), or if it is an attack from the enemy (in which case you have to find the door in your life that was opened for this attack, maybe even go for deliverance), or if it is the Lord Himself disciplining you. If this is the case, only He can point the reason for it out to you.

I think in all cases, my advice would be to do something about it as soon as possible, so as not to prolong the agony!