Walk the Damascus Road

 Imagine what it was like to be Jewish in the time of Jesus. There were hundreds of laws and regulations which governed every aspect of your life, and which only the very learned rabbis could remember in their entirety – and to do this, they had to devote most of their time throughout their lives to study them. There was the whole temple system of priests and temple helpers who had to guide you through the rules and regulations of animal sacrifices. There was wide-spread demon possession and debilitating diseases and suffering because people were not guided into how to develop an intimate relationship with their God – everything spiritual rested on rules and regulations handed down through the preceding centuries, most of which were restrictions based on human interpretations of God’s laws.

The man called Saul was eminently qualified to play an important part in maintaining this religious status quo. He was born a Jew, studied the strict Pharisee laws under Gamaliel, who was one of the most revered teaching rabbis of his time and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body, therefore Saul was connected with some seriously important Jewish leaders of that time. This shows in the fact that they readily supplied him with letters of introduction to all the synagogues in Damascus, granting him permission to imprison and kill the followers of Jesus, which he zealously did.

Why then did Saul suffer such cruel and wicked and constant persecution from his fellow Jews? Read how he describes his sufferings in his own words:

2 Cor 11:24-27

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

 The reason for the above persecution was because Saul played a pivotal role in confronting and overturning all the aspects of Jewish religious systems and thinking which was prevalent at the time. God warned him what it would entail, as we read in Acts 9:16 “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”, and yet he was still willing to obey.

What on earth persuaded Saul to make a 180 degree turn in his thinking?  Saul became Paul on the Damascus Road! This monumental overthrow of beliefs, that had been engrained on his soul through culture and years of specialised study, could only happen through a supernatural event – he encountered Jesus personally!

Points to ponder: Choose to walk the Damascus Road – where you can encounter Jesus. Make time every day to wait on God and to focus on Him, worshipping Him and loving Him without any prayer agenda. This will develop into times where you encounter Jesus personally, and He can then remove the scales from your eyes and set you free indeed!

 On the road to Damascus

One of a kind

 

2 Tim 1:9

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

“Before the beginning of time”—quite literally means, “before everlasting times”.

This is a mind-boggling fact indeed, to realize that even before God created the world and time began, we were already a thought in His mind. We, who exist rooted in and bounded by time as we know it, are totally unable to understand this facet of our God, Who has El Olam as one of His names, meaning the ‘Everlasting God’ or ‘Eternal God’, without beginning or end.

God’s foreknowledge about everyone means that He knows you, even before you are born.  A fact attested to by Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…” and by Paul in Galations 1:15 “But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace….”

This does not mean that you existed somewhere in heaven before you were born, which some believe.  If this were the case, would Jesus have said in John 1:18 and John 5:37 that no man has ever seen God as He (Jesus) has? Paul agrees with Jesus when he says that the first man, Adam, is of the earth, whereas the second Man, Jesus, is from heaven.  This is also supported by Paul when he gives a spiritual law in 1 Cor 15:46 “But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual.”

You are so important to God that He chose to form you, a unique human being, even before He created the foundation of the world.  In fact, the earth was created for you to live on – how awesome is that!  You were no accident, your birth no random act of chance, even if it may seem to be so to everyone around you.  Even the time of your birth was chosen by God, you have a very specific role to play in the events on earth during your lifetime.

This is why abortions-on-demand are so abhorrent in God’s sight. Every baby murdered this way was destined to live a very specific life here on earth. Human life is sacred, because humans are created in the image and likeness of God, and He considers your life valuable and precious. So precious that He was willing to offer up His only Son, Jesus, to take the punishment that is meant for you, and be killed in your place so that you may live!

Points to ponder: Think about how God values you. No one ever born in history since time began has ever had your unique attributes – and no one will ever be born after you that is the same as you. Look in the mirror and repeat the following daily, until it becomes reality to you: (Your name), God loves you. (Your name), I love you. (Your name), God thinks you are the best thing that He has ever made! (Your name), your birth was no accident. (Your name), God has a unique plan for your life!

One of a kind

Human wisdom

 

Judges 7:12

The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!

If you were an army general, facing an overwhelming enemy army like the one mentioned above on your doorstep, what would human wisdom have you do? Most definitely not what God instructed Gideon to do in Judges 7!

God’s strategy was to firstly reduce Gideon’s army to only three hundred men. Totally against what human wisdom would dictate. The method of selection of that final three hundred was to observe the men drinking water out of a spring – those who bowed down on their knees were sent home; those who cupped their hands and lapped with their tongues like a dog were chosen. Human wisdom in selecting an elite fighting force would have taken skill with weapons and agility and overall training and proven bravery into account.

 God then instructed Gideon to go into the enemy camp at night and listen to what the men on the enemy’s side were saying. He overheard a Midianite man telling of a dream that he had had, (we know it was God-given), showing his tent being struck and flattened by - of all things - a barley bread. These Medianite men interpreted it correctly, knowing that God had given Midian and all their host into Gideon’s hand – whose army in the natural could never have overcome the great opposing force facing them. This piece of intelligence greatly increased Gideon’s faith, as God knew it would do!

Then came the war strategy and the weapons of choice. Gideon divided his men into three groups of one hundred each, armed them with trumpets and empty pitchers, and put torches inside the pitchers. This general’s instructions to his troops on this grievously dangerous occasion were to station themselves around the enemy’s camp in the deep of the night, watch him carefully, and follow his lead. Yes, no war room planning and various strategies depending on various outcomes as we, in our human wisdom, would have planned.

The outcome is legendary. As those men blew their trumpets and shouted and smashed the pitchers so that the light within could suddenly be seen, the Lord set every Midianite’s sword against his comrade and this enemy army was sent into complete disarray so that their only choice was to flee for their lives in total chaos!

Why did God have Gideon do these (what men would call) foolish things? We read what God says to Gideon about this in Judges 7:2 ….the Israelites will boast to Me that they saved themselves by their own strength. They had to KNOW without any doubt that it was God only who delivered them, and not their human wisdom.

Points to ponder:  What strategies has God given you that would look foolish to those around you? Seek godly counsel to affirm that you have heard Him clearly, and then implement these strategies, trusting Him to lead you and guide your every step!

Whatever your plan is

Treasure the Holy Spirit

 

Exodus 31:2-3

See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—

During the time of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit filled certain men at certain times only for certain duties. The above verse from Exodus is one such example, where God was instructing Moses on the details of how the tabernacle was to be constructed. Bezalel received divine wisdom from the Spirit for various artistic applications in how to work in gold, silver, bronze, cutting of stones, carving wood and all kinds of craftsmanship.

More examples from the Old Testament include Joseph, whom the Pharaoh recognized as a man in whom the Spirit of God was present. Joshua, who was consecrated by Moses to be the leader of the Israelites after him. Othniel received the Spirit of the Lord to judge Israel. So also did Gideon when he had to fight against the Midianites, and Jephtah when he had to make a stand against the Ammonites. A well-known example is Samson, who experienced the movement of the Spirit at certain times in his life since childhood. Saul, King of Israel, encountered the Spirit of God when he met the band of prophets and he himself then started to prophesy. David received the Spirit when Samuel anointed him as king while he was still a young shepherd boy.

It therefore was an earth-shattering moment when the Holy Spirit descended on the waiting disciples of Jesus in Acts 2 – literally! Because there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and tongues of fire settled on each one of them, with the result that they began speaking in other tongues telling of the mighty works of God!

What makes this event different to what the people of the Old Testament experienced? It is voiced by Peter in Acts 2:39

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.

The promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is now not only meant for certain hand-picked individuals to empower and equip them for a certain task, but for ALL who answer the call of God and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Even “for all who are far off”, meaning non-Jews.

This is special favour from our heavenly Father indeed! Something that I am sure many Old Testament believers longed for in their lifetime. All given to us as a gift we do not deserve, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Points to ponder:  Treasure this unmatched, incredibly generous gift from Abba – do not take Holy Spirit for granted, do not grieve Him by ignoring Him or acting contrary to His leading! If you do not experience Him yet – ask God to fill you with His Spirit – Luke 11:13.

Holy Spirit Come

Meditation

                                                                     Ps 19:14

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

This sigh from David, uttered roughly a thousand years before Jesus was born, speaks of meditation on the living God and all His attributes and precepts.

It is only in latter years that the Eastern way of meditation started gaining ground in the Western world. This method of meditating requires you to empty your mind of everything, sit quietly and start repeating a mantra at regular intervals, all the while also taking note of your breathing pattern to help focus your mind on what is going on inside you. Unfortunately, the emptying of your mind removes the godly barriers Holy Spirit provides and opens it up to demonic influences, making this type of meditation very dangerous indeed.  Paul warns us in Rom 12:2 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, an active strategy on our part to change the way we think - not to empty our minds and thereby invite demons to plant thoughts therein.

In the above Psalm, David points out two things, namely words of his mouth (speaking) and meditation of his heart (thinking). One word for meditation in Hebrew is hagah, which means uttering beneath your breath, whispering, mulling over. This means that throughout the day and night, whenever you are meditating, you softly repeat the words of the verse or concept on which you are focussing. The meditation of your heart is an active concentration on the things you are meditating on, the thoughts that Holy Spirit brings to your attention as you are intently and consciously engaged in this process.

Let’s try a practical example, and meditate on Ps 23:1:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want

The LORD:  This is Yahweh; the only living God; the Creator of everything that exists; the Supreme Ruler of the Universe; the King of kings; the everlasting ever-living one true God.

is: This is present tense; He is NOW my Shepherd; right now, in this moment; no matter what I am facing at present; no matter what I may be feeling or not feeling about it; no matter what I have done or not done in the past. And this will always be the case.

my: Not just for my pastor; or for that perfect Christian that I know of; or for my worship leader; but I also can lay claim to the fact that He is my shepherd.

Shepherd: What does a shepherd do for his sheep – he provides grazing and water; he defends against predators; he takes care of their physical bodies; he goes looking for any lost ones; He provides a safe place to sleep. All this my Shepherd also does for me, and more.

I shall not want: I will never lack anything that I need; it may be that I want things that are not really in my best interest to have, and in this the Holy Spirit will have to guide me.

Points to ponder: Start meditating on Scripture today and make it a habit for the future!

May my meditations be acceptable to You

Children belonging to a royal household

 

1 John 3:1

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

When we are born again, which means we have confessed Jesus as our Saviour and Lord and Master and have received His Holy Spirit within us, we are adopted into the family of God and His royal household as His children.

It is so important to Father God that we believe this, that both Jesus and Holy Spirit confirm it.  Jesus in Matthew 12:49-50:

Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

And Holy Spirit in Romans 8:16:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

I was reminded of what being a child in a household means one day when one of my children, upon returning home after school, opened the fridge door and took out a juice bottle to pour some of it out to drink without asking permission first. She acted from out of her position of belonging to our family – she knew that we would supply her with the food she needed, and that she was therefore fully entitled to take what we had provided – all within the boundaries set by our household rules of course.

If you are one of the fortunate ones who had a righteous man (who understood his role as a loving father) as your father while growing up, you will have had a beautiful picture presented to you of what it means to be a child of God.  And if you were not in that fortunate position, think about what a perfect father looks like, because this is what God is:

He wants us to call Him Abba, which really translates to ‘Daddy’, used by all Hebrew children today when they address their father. It implies a loving relationship, a confidant secure position, though also a reverent and obedient attitude.  No child will willingly call an unapproachable or completely absent or abusive father, Daddy.

We are on the same footing as Jesus in God’s eyes.  He sees us as siblings of Jesus, our older brother. A perfect father never has favourites among his children, they are loved the same.

We have a child’s right to receive everything our Father provides for us, and we have permission to simply open the ‘fridge doors’ and access all His promises to us.

 We inherit what Jesus inherits, which is everything!  One day, when our current life here on earth has ended, we can know that we have been included in our Abba’s testament.

Points to ponder: What barriers did your childhood experiences erect which now make it impossible for you to see God as your loving and perfect Father? Make an appointment with our Healing Rooms to have those barriers permanently removed!

Children of God

L'Chaim!

 This Jewish toast, given at engagement and wedding celebrations, is well-known even among Gentiles (non-Jews) and means “To life!”

The recent unfortunate events leading to the implosion of the submersible Titan, on a journey to observe the wreck of the Titanic, are currently ongoing news. It is the tragic deaths of those five men on board that led me to think again on the Hebrew word ‘chaim’, meaning ‘life’ (chai means alive/live/living). You see, it is one of those peculiar words in the Hebrew language that is never singular, it is only plural in meaning – and we can interpret that as implying that we do not live only one life here on earth but will be resurrected again to continue living in eternity.

Jesus explains this in John 11:25

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”

For us who believe in Jesus, there is the exciting prospect of being invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, as it is described in Revelation 19:7, after which we will enter the Millennium with Jesus, reigning with Him for a thousand years here on a beautiful and perfectly restored earth.

God already spoke about this feast through the prophet Isiah, thousands of years ago:

Is 25:6

On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a banquet for all peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.

A coronation-festival, for the inauguration of the King of kings, which will far surpass all such feasts held in honour of any earthly king, including the elaborate festivities held for King Charles recently!

We therefore do not have to fear death, or dying, if we believe in Jesus and keep His commandments - we can look forward to living with Him forever. I wonder if we, at His marriage feast with us, will all stand up and proclaim the toast: L’Chaim!

Points to ponder:

Have you accepted your invitation to the Marriage Feast of Jesus? All are invited, but not all reply. If you have, put aside all fear of death and dying. Be confident that when that time comes, He will be there to receive you into His heavenly home as His bride!

Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The defiled church

 

Ezekiel 8:14 & 16

He brought me to the north gate of the LORD’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz.

Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the LORD’s Temple. At the entrance to the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of the LORD. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!

God gave Ezekiel this vision of the temple in Jerusalem. He was shown the hidden (because he had to dig a hole in the wall to reveal the door through which these things could be seen) idolatry going on in the temple of God, which was so offensive to God that He would later leave His sanctuary.

The inside of the temple was decorated with all sorts of unclean and idolatrous things all around on the walls – images of the animal cults of Egypt - instead of the holy and beautiful cherubim surrounding God’s throne. The leaders of the city were observing the religious rites of the Temple, while being secret idolaters. Not only were women not allowed in the inner court, but they were there worshipping the pagan entity called Tammuz. The worship of this god in ancient times was characterised by total immorality, and the women participated in the most shameful practices. The twenty-five priests were worshipping the sun in the temple of Yahweh! These abominations led to the breakdown in the social order, bringing social chaos and injustice, as we read further in the chapter.

And in the next chapter of Ezekiel, God showed Him the judgement that would be brought against the whole city because they had departed from Him in such a shameful way – the Chaldeans would eventually execute this judgement by killing all - men, women, and children. This judgement was fully deserved and a long time in coming.

Where does this lead us concerning the church? We observe all sorts of idolatrous images decorating the insides of many of our churches – symbols with meanings hidden in the mists of time, only recently being exposed by spiritual researchers. We hear of church leaders observing the external religious rites, while secretly being involved in sinful practices such as child trafficking, to name but one. We hear of pagan practices infiltrating churches, like Christian Yoga. We hear of pastors supporting and even initiating others into ancient cultic worship practices like using the enneagram, divination, New Age teachings. And just as in Ezekiel’s time, these are leading to the destruction of our society.

While the above is certainly not true of all churches, we must be aware that the bad shepherds will not escape God’s judgment:

Ezekiel 34:10 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock.”

Points to ponder: Am I leading people astray? Let us examine the truth of all we teach.

Building on the Rock!

About three thousand

 

Ex 32:28

The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

This speaks of the day Moses returned from the mountain Sinai with God’s Law written on stone tablets, only to find that in his brief (40days) absence, the people had made a golden calf and had started worshipping this idol as their god. The approximately three thousand were the ringleaders in this wickedness, and were slain by the swords of their kinsmen from the tribe of Levi. Interesting to note that nobody need to have died this way, because when Moses uttered the words, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, let him come to me” in verse 26, he was offering God’s pardon to all who would choose to run to him, shamefaced, and admit their wrongdoing.

The rabbis of old calculated that the feast of Shavuot, or Pentecost, was the time that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Law.  And so Shavuot became the day that Jews commemmorate the giving of the Law to Israel even unto this day.

But something exciting happened on this exact same day of Pentecost in the New Testament – the Holy Spirit filled the waiting believers in the upper room utterly, manifesting as tongues of fire upon each of them, which lead to the following:

Acts 2:41

Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

About three thousand people received eternal life on that day, after hearing the gospel supernaturally preached to them in their own languages. (According to rabbinic tradition, the soul of every Jew throughout history was present at Mont Sinai when the Law was given, and each person heard the giving of the Law in their own native tongue!) These two events, happening on the same day of Pentecost even though centuries apart, link the initiations of both the Old and the New Covenant through the use of the same phrase ‘about three thousand’. Three thousand died on the day of the giving of the Law, and three thousand received life on the same day hundreds of years later, the day of the giving of the Spirit.

It shows in a tangible way what Paul meant when he said: “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” in 2 Cor 3:5. The Law can show us what the will of God is, but we need the Spirit to give us the power and insight to live it.  

Points to ponder:  What ‘rules’ and ‘regulations’ am I keeping - whether self-imposed or insisted upon by my church or other religious people - without which I feel that I am not a good-enough Christian? Am I giving the Holy Spirit free reign in my life?

Pentecost Song

Facing Jerusalem

 Daniel is one of my faith-heroes! His steadfast integrity towards man and faithful worship towards his God have always impressed me, and spurred me on in my own walk of faith.

In Daniel 6 we read a few interesting facts about Daniel’s prayer life:

Daniel 6:10

But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.

He prayed facing Jerusalem. Did you know that this was a custom that developed because of Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple that he had built to God? In this prayer he entreats God no less than eight times that He will hear the prayers of those who face the altar in the temple in Jerusalem when they pray.  Concerning Daniel’s situation in particular, Solomon prayed this:

1 Kings 8:46 & 48

When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name—then hear their prayer…

And Daniel prayed on his knees. This is something he probably also took from Solomon’s prayer that day:

1 Kings 8:54

When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven.

We know that because of what Jesus has done for us, we have freedom in the Spirit to pray anywhere, at any time, facing anywhere, in any posture before Him. But there is something to be said for what Daniel mirrored for us:  I am sure that Daniel prayed many times throughout the day, but three times a day he prayed formally. This ‘habit’ kept him connected with his God throughout his life. Also, his posture of kneeling showed the humility he had before God, his submission to Adonai, the Lord and Master of his life.

Points to ponder:   Diarise a specific time in your day for prayer, making it a set appointment even though you are praying at other times as well. And consider kneeling/prostrating before Him in that time, to teach your flesh a lesson or two! Face Him, gaze upon Him…

Falling on my knees