The upside down ways of the Kingdom

 

Isaiah 55:9

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

God’s wisdom often runs against the world’s way of thinking. Indeed, to non-believers certain principles of the Kingdom of God seem to be upside down! Here are a few:

1.      To live, you must die. Gal 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Our baptism is a picture of this truth - abundant spiritual life begins when we identify with Christ’s death (by being immersed under water) and His resurrection (rising up as a new person). We have received a new life in Jesus, and sin no longer rules over us.

2.      The last will be first. Matt 20:16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.” God does not take signs of success in the eyes of the world into account to determine heavenly rewards. Instead, He looks at the attitudes of our hearts.

3.      He who is great shall be your servant. Matt 23:11 The greatest among you will be your servant. The world equates greatness with authority over others, but Jesus associated greatness with service to others. In this Jesus is our perfect example, as He left His place of honour in heaven to come and die for us, His creation.

4.      When I am weak then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. To the degree that we recognize and acknowledge that our own abilities are insufficient, to that degree we will discover that we can rely and call upon the One whose strength never fails.

5.      To save your life, you must lose it. Matt 16:25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. If we make our earthly life our ultimate priority, it results in the loss of something so much greater. Following Jesus requires sacrifice, rejection, persecution or even martyrdom, but those who belong to Christ possess a future that physical death cannot destroy.

6.      The victory of Jesus Christ through His perceived defeat at Calvary. The devil’s plans to destroy Jesus failed spectacularly at the cross. What should have been the ultimate assassination of his arch enemy, resulted instead in Jesus’ glorious resurrection as the Saviour of mankind!

Pearls to ponder:

Let us be bold enough to change the way we approach life from following the world’s perspective on things, to following godly principles, even if it means a 180-degree turnaround!

A humble heart

The end times

 

Luke 21:28

So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”

Nearly all previous generations believed that they were living in what is called “The End Times.” When Jesus’ disciples asked Him in Matthew 24 what the signs would be that would show them that the end has come, He listed things to look out for, and his listeners would have found many of them impossible to believe.

But in our generation, all the prophecies given throughout history about the End Times are converging before our very eyes. Technologies that would have seemed improbable and even impossible just ten years ago, are now not only already operating in our society, but evolving at break-neck speed, so much so that even scientists and IT experts have difficulty keeping track of it all. Let us look at just a few of these signs that we see happening in our generation:

Is 11:12 He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth. We have seen the restored state of Israel come into being, a real miracle in the making.

Matt 24:14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. The spreading of the Gospel throughout the whole world has actively been pursued for many years by now and is increasingly happening around the globe.

Rev 13:16-17 He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. The technologies to bring this about are emerging all around us - previous generations would not have been able to foresee any of it, indeed it is astounding even all of us living in our present generation!

Rev 11:9 And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. We now have the ability to view global events in real-time like never before through satellite systems connecting the whole earth.

Ez 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Israel has proved itself as being an exceedingly great army, victorious in battles that seemed hopeless at the time they happened.

Rev 13:7 And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. We clearly see the trend toward the forming of a global government happening from every direction and across all boundaries.

2 Peter 3:3-4 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” Peter warned us that many will deny all the signs, not believing what is clearly happening before their very eyes.

Pearls to ponder:

Our beautiful Saviour is coming soon, much sooner than we think! He has graciously provided us with signs of when to expect Him – are we showing our gratitude towards Him by taking these seriously, and warning others to do the same?

The Spirit and the Bride say: "Come!"

Our Intercessor

 

Rom 8:34

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

When a crisis looms, we tend to run to friends and intercessors at church to pray for us. Which is not wrong, we are meant to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in their need, and we love doing so.

But our quoted verse brings intercession to a next level. We have Someone right next to Abba Father in the throne room, interceding for us! If we could hear Jesus’ prayer for us in our moment of need, would it not change our whole perspective about our problem?

Robert Murray M’Cheyne once wrote “If I could hear Christ pray for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.”

Imagine sitting in a room, and through the wall you can hear your name on His lips. Would you still be as afraid? Would you still feel hopeless? Would the enemy’s lies still weigh so heavily on your heart and mind?

This truth is so important, that Heb 7:25 repeats it for us: Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Never again do you have to think that your prayers do not mean anything, that it just gets stuck against the ceiling. Even when you were not aware of it, Jesus was already praying for you. We have an example of this in Luke 22:3 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Too tired or stressed out to pray? He is ready and willing to pray on your behalf. Afraid that you do not have the right words to use? He knows exactly what to say. There is even more help available for us when we pray: Rom 8:26 ….We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Pearls to ponder:

Think about these truths until it becomes part of your mind and heart. Never again do you have to feel that you have been abandoned, or that your prayers do not mean anything. If Jesus and Holy Spirit are praying on your behalf, is there any chance that Abba will not hear them? Of course not!

Don't stop praying

Negative adjectives

 1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Did you know that the order of nouns and adjectives are different in the English and Hebrew languages? In English, the adjective comes before the noun, as seen in “The big house”, whereas in Hebrew, the order is turned around, reading “The house big”.

This means that whenever Jesus spoke to people, He never mentioned their sinful deeds before their actual birthright, namely as someone created in the image of God. He would see an adulterous woman as a woman caught in adultery, not only because He looks at hearts, but also because His language reference for her would have the words in that order – woman first, adultery second!

The possessed man becomes a man (who happens to be possessed); the crippled man becomes the man (who also is crippled); the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet becomes the woman (who had many sins).

He looks at who they were created to be, knowing that He can redeem them from the hand of the enemy into that intended state, into being children of God – forgiven, delivered and healed!

What a difference it would make in our environments if we had the same mind-set as Jesus, if we would see everyone we meet as potentially belonging to God, without any negative adjectives attached? Especially as people normally arrive on our doorsteps with labels that others have ascribed to them, and it is so easy to simply believe the gossip and even elaborate.

But there is another important application here. What a difference it would make in our own lives if we saw ourselves without self-inflicted negative descriptions? As highly beloved children of God, without the labels of not good enough/not spiritual enough/not talented enough/sinful/ashamed/unloved – and I could go on and on.

Pearls to ponder:

Ignore the negative adjectives that jump to mind whenever you think of someone, and search for the real person underneath, the one that maybe desperately needs understanding and healing. Be that safe place where they eventually will be able to voice those needs and find healing and deliverance, peace and love!

Acknowledgement to Jonathan Cahn.

Change my heart, o God

The heavenly Tabernacle

 

2 Tim 3:16

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

Do you perhaps think that the Tabernacle belongs in the Old Testament, and has no bearing on us today? It may come as a surprise to you to learn that there is a real, functioning Tabernacle in heaven right now, at this moment. How do we know that? Because it is written in Revelation, a book dealing with times still in the future for us, and it shows that the heavenly Tabernacle will be in place until the final hours of human history arrive. God will show parts of it to humankind throughout the Tribulation period (the seven-year reign of the antichrist here on earth). Let me show you how God revealed it to John, and how the Old Testament Tabernacle foreshadowed it.

Rev 4:5 ….In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. These lamps burn brightly in God’s throne room, which the Menorah, or golden lampstand with seven candles that was the only source of light inside the Holy Place in the Tabernacle, was an example of.

Rev 4:6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the earthly Tabernacle, the Bronze Laver stood in the outer court where priests washed themselves before entering God’s presence. It serves as an example for us of the cleansing of sin. This basin was even called “the Sea”. But now in heaven, it is no longer necessary to be cleansed by water, therefore the solid foundation which the sea of glass forms before the throne, conveys the perfect purity and peace that already reigns there.

Rev 6:9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. The bronze altar in the outer courtyard was used for animal sacrifices, and the blood of the animals was poured out at the base of this earthly altar, exactly in the place where the martyrs are standing under the heavenly altar now. How appropriate, because their blood has been poured out on earth.

Rev 8:3-4 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. In the earthly Tabernacle, the altar of incense stood before the veil leading to the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest and the sons of Aaron could minister there, interceding for the people. This is exactly what Jesus is doing for us at the heavenly altar of incense, as described above.

Rev 11:19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. Nobody could see the ark of the covenant behind the veil in the Tabernacle on earth except the High Priest, and only once a year when he made atonement for the sins of the whole nation. But at the time in the future that our verse above describes, God will show the ark to everybody on earth, signifying one last time that Jesus has opened the way through the torn veil for all to approach Him.

Rev 15:5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. Just before the first bowl of God’s final judgement of earth is thrown out, He shows the ark of the covenant. The earthly ark contained the covenant laws made with Israel. The mercy seat on top of the ark in heaven covers these laws one last time, because at the commencement of the bowl judgements, mercy time will finally end, and nobody can then be saved anymore.

It would seem that heaven functions like an open Tabernacle - God lets it connect and interact with this world, and it is meant to shape and influence the whole of our lives. Won’t it make sense then, to equip ourselves with knowledge of what the elements of the earthly Tabernacle represented, how they all point to Jesus, so that we can grow in appreciation, wonder and awe of what He did for us? Unfortunately, we human beings need constant reminders of how great the love of God is for us, and the role that Jesus plays in showing us this love tangibly. This is why knowledge of the Tabernacle is so meaningful – we can appreciate Jesus on an ever-deepening level and so carry His remembrance in our hearts forever!

The heavenly Tabernacle will cease to exist when the old heavens and earth are burnt up. God then creates all things new, also the capital city of the new heaven, the New Jerusalem. And then, something remarkable is seen by John:

Rev 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. This is the ultimate fulfilment of what the journey through the Tabernacle is showing us – we will not need a progression, a path to holiness, anymore, we will at that time live in the Holy of Holies!

I enter the Holy of Holies

The Tent of Meeting

 

Ex 33:9-10

As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

This tent was Moses’ personal tent, which he pitched far outside the camp, in the time before the Tabernacle was built. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and everyone who sought the Lord could visit this tent. However, Joshua his young minister, was not content with a visit every now and then, he never left the tent - he abided there.

The Hebrew word mishkan was the name of the tent or Tabernacle that came later and means dwelling. It was where God dwelt among His people throughout the Exodus and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. The mishkan was the place where people went to pray, and to ask the priests to intercede for them.

This is a picture of what prayer is. It means entering the place where God dwells, meeting Him there, and speaking to Him face to face because He considers us His friends. So, we ask the question: Is this possible? And we wonder to ourselves: but we are not like Moses, how can it happen for us?

Let’s find our answers in what Jesus did for us on the cross!

He became Immanuel – God with us (Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). This means God came to earth to dwell among us in the form of man, as Jesus.

He does not need a special temple anymore, instead our bodies become His temple and He lives within us through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? …..)

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (where God dwelt in the Temple) was torn from top to bottom, giving believers direct access to God (Heb 10:20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.)

And we then became His friends (John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.)

So yes, it is possible!  The question we must consider is: Will we be paying Him a visit now and then? Or will we follow Joshua’s example and abide with Him?

Pearls to ponder:

Prayer is a meeting between us and God; it’s about dwelling where He dwells. This means that we must become aware of the fact that our spirit is a mishkan, a Tent of Meeting where He is eagerly awaiting our visits…. let’s keep running into that sanctuary, that place of peace, joy, and rest!

You are my hiding place

The stones cry out

 

Nehemia 3:15

The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallum son of Col-hozeh, the leader of the Mizpah district. He rebuilt it, roofed it, set up its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Then he repaired the wall of the pool of Siloam near the king’s garden, and he rebuilt the wall as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

For roughly 2000 years, many considered the pool of Siloam a mythical place, and the incident where Jesus famously healed a man born blind, only a parable, a story with a nice moral lesson. People who do believe that the Bible recounts factual history, identified another water source and claimed it to be the original pool of Siloam. The problem was that it was built hundreds of years after Jesus and was far too small for the function the Bible describes that it had.

In the summer of 2004, workers in Jerusalem were repairing a broken sewer line just outside the old city of David’s walls, when they uncovered two ancient stone steps. Just that, leading to nowhere that they could see. Archaeologists were called in, and they began to uncover step after step, descending to an area far larger than anyone expected – about 70 metres along one side, with steps on at least three sides so that crowds could enter the water from several directions. It has the appearance of a mikvah bath (where people bathed in running water for purification rituals), big enough for thousands of pilgrims to purify themselves before continuing their climb up to the temple to bring their offerings.

The water that flows into this pool comes from the Gihon spring, through a tunnel. This tunnel was built by Hezekiah about 700 years before the blind man washed his eyes in those waters, and its construction is another miracle among the many that is found in the history of Jerusalem. The archaeologists dated the tunnel to around 700 BC (therefore in Hezekiah’s era), silencing the sceptics who proclaimed that the tunnel was built much later. Coins and pottery from the time of Jesus were also found around the pool area.

This is only one of many archaeological discoveries made in recent times, all confirming the authenticity of biblical accounts, rooting them in real history with tangible artifacts proving the accuracy of the stories written in the Bible. These finds keep increasing today in our times, one discovery rapidly following upon another!

And this led me to consider the words of Jesus found in Luke 19:39-40 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Is this not exactly what is happening now before our very eyes?

Pearls to ponder:

Start searching and tracking modern archaeological finds in Israel and stand amazed to see the stones from antiquity crying out that God and the Bible is real, and not just stories!

The Stones Cry Out

Respect for all men

 

1 Peter 2:17

Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honour the emperor.

Everything mentioned in this verse does not come to us naturally but can only be cultivated in our lives after we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. And even then, it is no easy task to apply these godly principles without the supernatural help of Holy Spirit.

We are called to respect everyone, without exception. What about that boss that makes our lives miserable at work? Even that one, says Peter in verse 18 when he addresses household servants: Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. He was speaking to the fact that slaves who converted to Christianity were targeted by their masters because they did not participate in worshiping their idols anymore.

In verse 13 he exhorts us to Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, and this corresponds with his instruction to honour the emperor in our quoted verse. Did you know that the emperor he is referring to was Nero? The one who impaled Christians and set them alight to be human torches used as lamps in the streets; the one who let others be torn apart by dogs? Peter called on his readers to honour even this emperor. He pleads with us not to fall into lawless rebellion in verse 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

Why?

We find the answer in two verses. Verse 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. It is God’s will that you should live in such a way that everybody who wants to slander and accuse you can find nothing in your conduct to use against you. And also verse 21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. Jesus was reviled; insulted; abused; and He suffered greatly, even though He was innocent of all charges. Yet He did not retaliate but left everything to God, Who will one day judge fairly.

To bear patiently with suffering that comes when you do right and which is undeserved, is behaviour acceptable and pleasing to God (verse 20).

Pearls to ponder:

We are confronted with dishonest and corrupt leaders all around us. How do we honour them? I think the answer lies in honouring the office of authority (president, magistrate, etc) and never letting our hearts develop a hatred towards the person occupying that office – we should instead stand in the gap for them and cry out for their salvation. We can identify wrongdoing and take steps to counteract these while still obeying the laws of the land, as long as these laws do not expect us to do something against God’s laws. Then civil disobedience (the nonviolent refusal to obey certain laws) is called for.

Vessel of honour

How many Gifts of the Spirit do you have

 

1 Corinthians 1:7

Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

This verse is mostly interpreted as pertaining to the whole body of Christ, collectively. But what if Paul also had the individual believer in mind?

We receive Holy Spirit when we first come to confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives (Gal 3:2 …… Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.). The question I would like to ask is, how much of the Spirit did you receive? Because He comes to live inside your spirit in His completeness, bringing all His gifts.

The next step after receiving Him, is the empowering event of the work of Holy Spirit in you, which is described as baptism of the Holy Spirit. We see this happening all through Acts, and a beautiful picture of this action is seen through the experience of the disciples of Jesus themselves. They first received Holy Spirit when Jesus blew on them (John 20:22 When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.) They then had to wait 10 days in the Upper Room to be empowered by the Spirit (Acts 2:3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.) This receiving of supernatural power (for Jesus-centred ministry) normally, but not exclusively, happens at the time of your water baptism, and is repeated throughout your life as Holy Spirit sees fit.

Paul himself is a good example of one person displaying many gifts of the Spirit. He operated in the gifts of prophecy, healing, miracles, teaching/knowledge, wisdom, leadership, faith, discerning of spirits and speaking in tongues.

Then what about 1 Cor 12-14 where Paul speaks about the gifts of the Spirit being given to believers according to Holy Spirit’s discretion? When I read 1 Cor 12 in its entirety, I count the word “body” at least 16 times. Overwhelming proof that the context of this chapter, is using the gifts for the edification of the whole body of Christ. Thus, even as I have all the available gifts potentially inside my spirit, Holy Spirit will bring specific gifts through me to the forefront to be of service in the Body of Christ. As I “practise” these gifts, (by being available to Him and having faith that He will do as He promised and then just acting on His prompting), I will eventually be known as the one who, for example, speaks in an unknown tongue in church – please note, not the one who can speak in tongues, but who actually does; or the one who prophecies; or has great wisdom; etc.

Another reason why I believe as I do, is that Paul writes in 1 Cor 12:31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. How can we “eagerly desire” a gift if we are of the opinion that we might not have received it?

Paul also says in 1 Cor 14:13 So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. He is showing here that you can ask for a specific gift to work through you - you are not limited by what you think your gift is.

Pearls to ponder:

Let’s say you are the only person standing beside the bed of a very ill person, and Holy Spirit wants to heal that person at that moment. If you are willing, He is going to use you for His healing to flow through you, whether you think that you have the gift of healings or not!

The only important thing to remember, is that the total Holy Spirit is your Gift. Be available to be used by Him, believing that He has equipped you to do all things!

Holy Spirit Breath of God

How new is the New Covenant

 

2 Cor 3:6

He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah spoke of the new covenant that would come, 600 years before it came to be (Jer 31:31-34). He revealed that it would shift the keeping of the covenant away from following external rules and regulations to inward transformation of hearts; it would pave the way for ordinary people to get to know God without having to rely on someone else approaching God on their behalf; it promised the forgiveness of sin by the mercy and goodness of God and would remove the hold sin has over people; and it would remove the burden of having to earn salvation through obedience to laws and show that we are saved through God’s grace alone.

Jesus then came and established this New Covenant through His death and resurrection ( Luke 22:20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.) We as Gentiles are now included in this New Covenant along with our Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters who also believe in Jesus, because after Jesus’ resurrection we all became one new man in Christ, guided by the Spirit, given a fresh identity: 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Have you ever thought about the fact that our new covenant is more than 2000 years old by now? How can it still be considered new? The answer lies in the original Hebrew words “brit haddashah”. Brit means covenant, but haddashah means so much more than new. It means fresh. It describes the nature of the covenant, not the time in which it came to be, so that it stays just as new throughout your life as a believer as the day you first entered it.

Pearls to ponder:

If something is left to stagnate, it stops flowing, stops being life-giving, much like a blocked riverway where water dams up and becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of unwanted pests. Keep the awareness of the New Covenant alive in your everyday life – ponder the love, the grace, the truth and the salvation that is always new for you every day! Here are a few suggestions to get started: When you wake up, do not grab your phone and start scrolling. Instead, thank Him for the breath in your lungs; for your position as a child of God; for everything! Read something from Scripture, even if only one verse. Pray from your heart, give Him a minute of silent adoration. Listen to worship music as you get ready for the day. And as you keep the river of the Spirit flowing every day you will become more aware of His presence in your life, and your covenant with Him stays fresh for you!

New Covenant

Can women speak in church

 

1 Cor 14:34-35

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

These two verses must be some of the most controversial verses in the New Testament, used to (erroneously) teach that women are not allowed to speak in church, and then expanded into a ban on women to be elders, pastors, leaders of home groups, etc. All based on the meaning of the words in today’s language and context – which can be very misleading to say the least!

The English language is still evolving, even today, so that words lose their earliest definition and take on more modern meanings. Examples would be nice, which originally meant “ignorant or foolish”; awful used to mean “full of awe and wonder”; silly once meant “happy, blessed or worthy”.

If we look at a few of the Greek words used in our passage above in their original meaning and usage throughout the New Testament, a very clear picture emerges of what Paul was really saying here.

The Greek word for “be silent” is sigaō which everywhere else in the New Testament means restraint in certain situations, not a blanket ban on speech. The verb for “speak” is λαλέω, which Paul used in this chapter to order specific worship activities, not to stop all vocal participation. If we know what kind of silence Paul wants, and what kind of speech he is regulating, then we can ask: what were the women doing that was so wrong?

And this is where two other Greek words come into play. In verse 35 Paul uses ἐπερωτάω which means a direct, pointed question aimed at a specific person, either to trap them, or genuinely to learn something. This is what Paul asks the women to do at home instead of in the assembly. Why would he do that?

 That word is joined with μανθάνω (to learn), which is the root word for disciple. It means to enter the long training period of discipleship, taking in knowledge by questioning it, debating it, owning it and living it – not sitting in a pew just passively listening to it. Paul used this exact same word earlier in verse 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and when he says ALL may learn, he includes men and women.

He is not criticizing the women’s desire or right to learn, but in how they were doing it. They were interrupting the teaching with mostly elementary questions, because most women in that era had far less education than the men – not through any fault of their own - the culture simply refused to teach them. In ancient Mediterranean times, learning was interactive. Students interrupted the teaching sessions constantly, BUT there were rules governing who got to interrupt and how. Beginners were expected to stay in the background and learn quietly, while advanced students were allowed to ask questions during the lessons. In that setting, asking elementary questions in the teachings were considered shameful.

Can you now picture the scene in those early churches? Women who were recently set free in Christ and were hungry to understand but did not have the schooling of the men, interrupted the teachings and asked questions at a basic level. This not only shattered the order of worship, but in their culture, looked scandalous. This is why Paul uses that word, the scandal of it tainted the church to the outside world.

Pearls to ponder:

Woman’s voices inside church do not offend God. Paul wrote what he wrote because this particular behaviour, in this particular culture, went against all accepted norms of learning and honour for that time, and the Gospel was suffering because of it.

This is not muzzling women – Paul was assuming (quite correctly) that the husbands knew enough to answer their elementary questions in the privacy of their homes, and they could then naturally progress to the level of advanced students.

We are one

Only God can predict the future

 

1 Kings 13:2

Then at the LORD’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.”

And 300 years later, the events named in this prophecy played out, exact in all its detail.

The background to this dramatic outcry above (from an unknown prophet), is the story of King Jeroboam of Israel’s northern kingdom. This evil king had led the rebellion that split the kingdom of David. He then set up two places of worship for his people, because he was afraid that they would desert him and worship in Jerusalem. One of these places was at Beth El, and just as he was about to offer incense at the altar there, the prophet appeared and delivered the message from God that not only described what would happen but even named the one who would fulfil it!

We then find the righteous king Josiah 300 years later, on a mission to cleanse his land of idols and turning his nation back to God. He started breaking down the altars to the gods everywhere, and when he reached Beth El, he tore down the altar there and began beating its stones to dust, while also burning down the wooden images of the gods. He then ordered his men to collect the bones of the dead in the tombs he saw across on the mount and burn them on the altar, (just as he had done earlier to the altar that Solomon had built for various gods east of Jerusalem), in order to defile it.

He suddenly saw a monument, and on asking what it was, heard from the men of the city 2 Kings 23:17…“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things that you have just done to the altar at Bethel!”  Even though nobody that was present there had witnessed the prophecy being given, its remembrance had been kept alive by the people of Beth El!

Nobody had told Josiah of this prophecy, and he did not follow instructions to act in this particular way. He only did what he felt would destroy the idolatry from his nation and turn his people back to God. It is a clear demonstration of God predicting the future through one of His prophets, because He of course knows everything that will still happen in the future. His aim in revealing things to come before they come to pass, is to prove that He is God, and that He is reliable, and that nothing is impossible for Him. (John 13:19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.)

Pearls to ponder:

The number of fulfilled prophecies in the Bible amounts to hundreds, some even count to more than a thousand. This is proof of the reliability of the Bible, as no other book on earth can claim this; and it is proof also of the greatness of the God that we serve! Let us start looking at Bible prophecies that have not yet come to pass with great expectation - because surely, they will be fulfilled!

King Josiah

Worship in heaven

 

Hebrews 12:22-24

No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.

We have to carefully consider the verb tense in the language that the writer of Hebrews is using here. It is written in present perfect tense, which means that he is connecting a past action to the present moment, describing actions that have started in the past, but are still ongoing. Think about that for a moment. The writer is telling us what is actually happening when we gather together as the body of Jesus Christ.

He is describing the room we are standing in - we are entering the heavenly assembly, joining the congregation already there. This is the court that God Himself has convened, and we are participating in a gathering that stretches across time and space, not just happening in a particular church meeting in a particular street in a particular town.

Mount Zion is the seat of God’s throne. The heavenly Jerusalem is the unseen counterpart to the city Jerusalem that we know here on earth. The angels joyfully gathering are His divine created beings in worship. The church of the firstborn is the assembly whose names are recorded in heaven’s books, the living and the departed together. God is the Judge of all. The spirits of the righteous made perfect are the saints who have died, who are therefore already present in the assembly. Jesus is our Mediator, Who stands enthroned in the midst of it all.

Evidence according to Jewish custom is only valid and accepted as truth if there are two or three witnesses to the event. God has provided us with these witnesses: Isaiah saw the same scene in chapter 6; Daniel saw it in chapter 7; John also in Revelation 4 and 5.

But somewhere along the way we have lost the wonder and awe of this reality. Angels became figures of speech; the spirits of the righteous and the heavenly Jerusalem became the content of funeral sermons. The unseen assembly became purely symbolic, mentioned in doctrinal debates but not preached in church gatherings.

Come on church, let us start impressing upon members that we are gathering under the torn veil, where access to heavenly places was bought by the precious blood of Jesus - whenever we gather, the unseen assembly is present. The departed saints are present (in heaven, not physically on earth with us). The angels are present. Christ is present as the enthroned Mediator. God is present as the Judge of all.

Think of the difference it would make to our worship if we understood this. That when we sing here on earth, we do not just sing the songs that were impressed on our anointed worship leaders’ hearts by the heavenly beings that are tasked for this – we get to join all who are in heaven in worship before God’s throne!

Pearls to ponder:

What would the effect of knowing that the church on earth and the church in heaven sing the same song, because they are in the same assembly, have on the way you participate in worship? Would your attitude to church gatherings shift if you used your imagination to step into the heavenly courts as you stepped into church?

God's throne room

Different functions

 

Rom 12:4

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function…”

(An extract from an inspiring letter written by Steve Porter - posted with permission)

Beloved, the Body of Christ is beautiful when it is healthy. A healthy body is a wonder to behold. The heart beats faithfully in its hidden chamber. The lungs breathe without applause. The kidneys filter quietly. The eyes see. No organ competes with another. No member resents another. No part tries to become something it was never designed to be. Each part stays in its place… and because it does, life flows.

This is the mystery of the Church. When every believer begins to function in their God-given place, divine order emerges. But when members move out of alignment… weakness enters. When the kidney tries to become an eye, confusion follows. When the hand refuses to serve because it wants to be seen, the whole body is hindered.

Dear one, the same is true spiritually. God never intended one person to carry every assignment. He appoints callings. He gives burdens. He releases anointings. Some are called to heal. Some are called to teach. Some are called to pray. Some are called to evangelize. Some are called to shepherd. Some are called to strengthen hidden places no one sees.

Within the fivefold ministry we see this clearly. Eph 4:11“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.”

Why? Because no single vessel carries the full expression. The apostolic may pioneer and establish. The prophetic may discern and awaken. The evangelist may gather the lost. The pastor may nurture and protect. The teacher may ground and mature. When all function together under Christ the Head, the Church grows in beauty and strength.

But when one tries to be everything… exhaustion comes. Now let me speak tenderly, beloved. Many precious saints carry sincere burdens. But something dangerous can happen. They may place their burden onto you. One says, “You need to start this.” Another says, “Why aren’t you doing this ministry?” Another says, “God showed me you should lead this.”

And if you are tenderhearted… if you love people… if you want to help… you may begin gathering burdens like stones in a sack. Soon you are juggling ten spinning plates. One plate is missions. One plate is outreach. One plate is events. One plate is counselling. One plate is everyone else’s emergency.

Then the crashing begins. Not because you are bad. But because you were carrying burdens you were never meant to carry. There are worthy burdens meant for another shoulder. But if you pick up every good thing, you may lay down the God thing. Be careful, dear one. Your devotional life can suffer. Your marriage can suffer. Your children can suffer. Your peace can suffer. Your focus can suffer. And eventually your soul can suffer.

When you move in your true assignment, grace flows. There is a holy ease—not laziness—but divine oil. What would crush another person becomes life-giving to you because it is your lane.

This is how many burn out. Not always from sin. Often from misalignment. Bloom where He planted you. Every ministry matters. Every calling matters. But no one person was meant to carry them all. We need each other.

Pearls to ponder:

Beloved, pause today and ask: What am I carrying that God never assigned me? What burden was transferred to me by sincere people? What good thing has stolen strength from the God thing? Let the Spirit speak. Return to simplicity. Return to your lane.

With Love,

Steve Porter

I lay it all down

God's accounting

 Daniel 5:5,25

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. 25. “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin

The background to the above verses is the great feast which Belshazzar, King of Babylon, gave to 1000 of his high-ranking officials. During the proceedings he commanded that the holy gold and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had stolen out of the Temple in Jerusalem, be brought out so that they could drink wine from them. As they did so, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, but not the immortal, living God of Israel! Immediately the hand appeared….

The inscription on the wall is a brilliant play of words! The three root words (mene, tekel peres) are, if read on the surface, a list of weights or money – a mina; a shekel (tekel is the Aramaic form); and a peres, which is a half-mina.

So most probably, to all the wise Babylonian men who were first called to interpret the words, it might have looked like a meaningless list of currency, which is why they could not make head or tail of it. So how did Daniel understand what the words conveyed?

We find the most important reason in the words of the mother of the king written in verse 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. We know that Holy Spirit dwelt in Daniel. He prompted Daniel to take into account the fact that each of those weight-words were also the root of a verb word of judgement.

Mene sounds like menah, the verb “to number”.  Tekel sounds like teqal, the verb “to weigh”. Peres sounds like peras, the verb “to divide”.  This is what Daniel therefore laid out to the King:  God has numbered the days of your kingship and brought them to an end. You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting. Your kingdom and your kingship are divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

But how did he know about the Medes and the Persians? Well, Peres (the dividing) also sounds like Paras, the Aramaic name for Persia. The very word that announces the kingdom’s division also names the people who will receive it.

This inscription has a divine double meaning, which only God could have brought about. On the surface, weights and coins. Underneath, a sentence of doom. The God Who numbers, weighs, and divides has done His accounting on Belshazzar’s reign, and the books have been closed!

Pearls to ponder:

It matters to God that a nation should glorify and praise Him, not just individuals in that nation. Daniel’s faith and faithfulness could not save Belshazzar’s kingdom. Ponder on how you can contribute to our nation turning around to serve the God of Israel. Perhaps you could organize prayer groups that specifically pray for the leaders of our nation to come to Christ. Perhaps you could use legal avenues to resist any and every godless decision Parliament makes or debates about. Perhaps you could get involved in politics as a Christian. Do you feel unqualified to bring about change in our nation? Remember that He qualifies the willing! Ask Holy Spirit to make avenues of action open to you.

He chooses the willing

Can I trust AI

 

2 Tim 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

I believe that the modern application of Paul’s advice to Timothy - to correctly handle the word of truth – has to do with the careful evaluating of what AI generates. It can produce content that sounds like religious truth, that appears well organized, fluent and even theologically skilful. But to what extent should we actually trust what is produced?

The large language models (LLM) that generative AI systems use to gather information from, are not Bible databases. These language models generate text by predicting the next word based on statistical patterns learned during training. What this means, is that it is increasingly not retrieving a verse from a Bible source, but chooses what seems to be a best-fit answer, based on statistical estimation – which really boils down to guessing what would fit here.

The Bible itself does not depend on guesswork; every verse is there with serious intent, rooted in thousands of years of accurate copying from original texts. But AI is drawing its answers from vast numbers of languages, quotations, paraphrases, commentaries, sermons, articles, blogs, etc. Who is to say which of these are simply misquotations from who knows where?

This is why everything coming out of the generative AI system must be evaluated, using the Bible itself, before it is preached or taught. An AI-answer may be mostly right but still be wrong in concepts that matter.

1 Thess 5:21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. is the way the church must handle AI in these times. We have to test the content of what we receive very carefully, using actual Bibles as references, and not rely on what we have heard or read somewhere else.

Anyone who addresses a congregation, (pastors/teachers/travelling ministers) especially should beware when they reach a point where they start using AI exclusively to write their sermons for them - and not using it just as a tool, maybe to improve language or organisation. AI can help with so many administrative things and if used correctly can be a very effective tool. But it cannot be used as the only source when dealing with sermon or teaching content, the Holy Spirit is the only One Who should be giving guidance on this!

Pearls to ponder:

Modern technology like cell phones, laptops, AI systems, etc. are all tools that can be used either for good, or with disastrous effects. Wisdom concerning this comes only from walking with the Holy Spirit and staying grounded in the Bible – both of which depends on whether we choose to make it happen. Are you prepared to choose to spend time with Holy Spirit and learn to recognize His voice, and to read your Bible diligently?

TRUTH

God's name is holy

 

Deut 5:11

“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

The original word translated here as LORD, is called the Tetragrammaton (Greek for "four letters"), the four-letter Hebrew name of God, יהוה (transliterated as YHWH or YHVH). This is where the names Yahweh and Jehovah originated from.

Jewish people consider this Name of God so holy that they never pronounce it, in fact, the original pronunciation was deliberately erased so that no one would be able to misuse the power it represented. Instead, it is usually read as Adonai, meaning my Master. When the ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament were copied, the priests working on them would wash their hands every time they had to write YHWH, they were also strictly required to wipe their pens clean and recite a specific blessing before doing so. If a mistake was made when writing it, the whole page had to be copied over again. These faulty copies were then not destroyed or thrown into the trash – it was buried in a dedicated place to decompose naturally.

Jesus glorified the name of His Father in every facet of His life. When His disciples asked Him how to pray, the very first example He taught them was to sanctify the Father’s name (Matt 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,). It is interesting to note that Jesus also never used the Name casually. He instead referred to God as Father; the One Who sent Him; the Power; the Most High; the Lord of the Harvest; and many others.

How then are we to think about the use of God’s holy name as brand images? I recently became aware of soda cans bearing the name Yahweh and God; and His name is printed on all kinds of products from T-shirts to doormats (I am referring to His name here, not Scripture references). Supporters of the idea say that this serves as a conversation starter, a way to spread the Gospel. The question I ask is, do these objects really glorify His name? A soda can is casually thrown into the trash after use. So also do most T-shirts end up on the garbage dump. People wipe their muddy feet clean on doormats, literally stomping on the holy Name of God if it is printed there.

I am not suggesting that we build a superstition around the use of God’s Name, creating a distance between Him and us, but that we carefully consider how and where to use it in the most respectful and reverent way possible. Keep Deut 10:12 And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in your heart always.

Pearls to ponder:

How would it influence my spiritual life and my decisions if I approached the Name of God with utter reverence and respect and awe wherever I encounter it?

Holy is Your Name

God's promises

 

2 Sam 7:16

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’

I used to think that the meticulous lists of genealogies written up in the Bible were so boring. Not anymore!

The above quote is God’s covenant with David. God promises here that there will aways be a King from David’s lineage to rule over Israel.

But history seems to indicate that the kings ruling over Israel came to an end. After David’s death, Solomon did indeed start reigning, and after him several other kings of Judah from his line. However, Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Jerusalem led to the dethronement of Zedekiah, and the exile in Babylon put an end to any king from the house of David ruling over Israel again.

The people in exile must have wondered, does this mean that God’s promises can be broken? God reassured them through Ezekiel, prophesying in exile, (Ez 34:23-24 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.) He foresaw a regathering of God’s people and a future Prince - a descendant of David - who would shepherd them.

This is why Matthew and Luke trace the lineage of Jesus so precisely, to show that both from Joseph and Mary’s side (even though Joseph was not his biological father), Jesus is a descendant from the house of David! It backs up what Luke 1:32-33 declares, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.” David’s line had come to an end politically, but the genealogical line continued.

There is even more. In 2 Sam 8:18 we read …David’s sons were priests. They could not, as coming from the royal line, be priests as well, as God had separated these two offices. But they were considered to be priests in the order of Melchizedek, serving in an intercessory role and not taking over the functional role (bringing offerings etc) that only belonged to the Levitical priests.

Jesus therefore inherited His role as King and as priest from David through royal succession as well. And because the lists of genealogies were so faithfully kept and published, no one can dispute His inheritance!

Pearls to ponder:

If God promises something, He will execute it, even though circumstances around us seem to indicate otherwise! Keep believing those promises, do not be lured into disbelief.

You keep Your promises

The Day of the Gift

 

1 Cor 1:22

it is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfilment of His promise of eternal life].

We recently celebrated Pentecost, the joyous celebration of the giving of Holy Spirit to the 120 believers waiting in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.

Many of us do not know that this was another way in which Jesus fulfilled a Jewish Feast, and that Jews throughout the centuries had faithfully been keeping this Feast without realizing what the spiritual meaning of their actions would eventually be.

Their Feast is called the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Pentecost, and begins when the Feast of Firstfruits (the actual day on which Jesus was resurrected, making Him the Firstfruit of us believers who will likewise be raised from the dead) is over, and Jews then start counting 50 days and celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on that 50^th day (Pentecost means fifty).

And on this 50^th day centuries ago, God poured out His Spirit on His followers, writing the Law on their hearts!

There is another beautiful hidden meaning here. Jews also refer to this Feast as the Day of the Mattan, or the Day of the Gift. In their reference, the Law was a gift from God to them, but in ancient times the Mattan was the special gift from the bridegroom to the bride to encourage her in the days that they were still living apart while he was preparing a place for her. It was meant to be a sign of his love for her, the guarantee of his faithfulness to her, his pledge that the promises he made will be kept.

On this Day of the Gift, God gave the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Mattan from the Bridegroom to His bride, His pledge that everything He has promised us will be fulfilled! We can be assured that even though He ascended to Heaven, He will never forget us, nor forsake us, nor leave us destitute – His Spirit dwells in us continually. His Mattan is the sign of His love for us, the down payment of things still to come.

Pearls to ponder:

Are you preparing for your Wedding Day with Jesus your Bridegroom? Practise living in the power of the Spirit, move in His flow and leading, so that you will be strong and beautiful and ready when that day arrives!

Wedding Day