Pearls to Ponder...

Tuesday, 1 February 2022

Get out of prison

I remember seeing a video a few years ago of the testimony of a man in prison for committing a murder, who had just received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. And while I do not remember all the details of his story, I remember very clearly his absolute exuberance as he repeated over and over again: There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus! There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus! Over and over again!

This is of course the well-known Rom 8:1 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

What is condemnation? It means a very strong disapproval, or censure, or blame, and also condemnation to a punishment; being sentenced in other words.

This man, who had faced supreme condemnation from all who knew him, and certainly mostly from himself, had been condemned to a very severe sentence in prison, but was now set free from the burden of that guilt that had been hanging over him for so long.

Before we met Jesus, we could not escape God’s condemnation and sure judgement. But now we can have confidence and peace knowing that Jesus has taken all the guilt and condemnation and punishment that should have rightfully been ours, upon Himself, so that we can be set free from it.

Imagine you standing in a court room, guilty as anything, the evidence against you piled up like a huge mountain in front of the judge, and the judge handing down his sentence: Not Guilty!

Are you putting yourself on trial for something that you did in your past? Are you currently in a prison of your own making, maybe even giving yourself a life sentence for doing something wrong way back in the history of your life?

Then take the key to freedom from Jesus’ hand, my friend! You can be free today, in this very instant! Know that He has already paid the price for your freedom on the cross at Calvary; repent sincerely for that which was done, or not done; most importantly – forgive yourself; and then leave that guilt and condemnation at the foot of the cross with Jesus; walk away a free man or woman! Free for ever!

Come on, what’s stopping you – do it now!

1 February 2022

Reverence and awe

There is a trap we as modern Christians easily fall into. It is the trap of not believing with our whole being that God is as all-powerful and mighty as indeed He is! Oh, we say we believe that, but deep down…we often don’t.

We have somehow grown into a shallow familiarity in our dealings with our God: we see Him as Abba Father, which He certainly is, but then we often tend to interact with Him according to the example that our own fathers modelled for us, not to mention the influence of the skewed picture of fatherhood that society has portrayed for us.

In these modern times it has become very difficult indeed to see our Heavenly Father in His full role of fatherhood, which encompasses not only love, provision, protection, mercy and loving-kindness, but also justice and righteousness, and a hatred of sin in all its forms.

Let me show you what the effect of being in God’s presence and seeing Him in a vision, was on people in biblical times.

Dan 10:5,7,8 “I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. 7 Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide. 8 So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak.”

Rev 1:17 “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.”

Ez 1:28 “All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the LORD looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.”

Acts 9:4, 7 “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 7 The men who were traveling with him [were terrified and] stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.”

That is what reverence and awe looks like.

So my friend, when you are in that space of doubting God’s ability, not fully trusting Him to keep His promises to you: Go into your prayer closet, fall down on your face or kneel down in deep reverence, keep humbling yourself until you become aware of Who God really is. Day by day. Even if it takes a week, a month, and longer. Come to the understanding that He is the all-powerful Creator of everything, magnificent in all His Being, supreme in His Majesty.

And then, from that position of humbleness, say, “Abba! Father!”

31 January 2022

Slaves to sin

Have you thought about slaves recently? If so, you probably had an image from some or other movie come into your mind, because slaves are not normally part of our modern lives anymore!

Essentially, a slave is someone who has a master, to whom he must be obedient at all times. He has no choice in the matter – when his master says: Jump! He jumps…. He does not have the privilege of denying the command.

Which brings us to Romans 6:6, where Paul talks about slaves. It reads “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”

Before we knew Jesus, we were slaves to sin. We sinned because sin was our master, it commanded us to follow the sinful urges jumping up from inside our sinful natures.

But no more! That very same old sinful nature was crucified with Christ, and is now deader than a doornail! Sin immediately lost its power over our lives.

Does that mean that we no longer sin after becoming a Christian? Of course not! It means that we now get to choose whether we will sin or not. Yes, you heard right. When you sin now, it is because you choose to do it. Not because a sin slave master cracked his whip over you and you had to obey.

Remember this image, my friend, when you next feel so powerless because there is some or other sin in your life which you feel is overwhelming you. See your old sinful self on the cross with Jesus, breathing out his last. Then see the new you rising up, facing that sin slave master squarely in the eyes, and saying a resounding, NO!

And simply walk away from the temptation. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we have such good news about temptations. God promises in that verse firstly that “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. (so you are not being singled out for extra punishment), secondly, And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. (He made sure you would be able to counter this temptation, it is not beyond your abilities or strength). And also When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (as you walk away, start looking for that way out! The telephone may start ringing, for instance, giving you an excuse to disengage with the temptation. God is such a practical, hands-on God!)

And the more you stand up against that old sin slave master, the better you are going to get at it!

Hallelujah! Praise God! Jesus set us free indeed!

31 January 2022

Sunday, 9 January 2022

What your enemies plan for evil

The beautiful story of how God rescued three Jewish men out of a fiery furnace, is found in Daniel 3. The very specific way in which God orchestrated this miracle always amazes me.

These three friends of Daniel were called Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and they refused to bow down to a statue of King Nebuchadnezzar to worship him, and consequently were thrown into a fiery furnace as the King’s decree demanded.

But here’s the thing. The whole incident up to here was planned by their enemies. We read in verse 8 that they reported the men’s non-compliance to the King with malicious intent, telling Nebuchadnezzar that these Jews paid no attention to him. This resulted in Nebuchadnezzar reacting with rage and fury, and hearing that the men still refused to worship his statue from their own lips, he commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. It was so hot that the men who threw the three friends into the fire were themselves killed by the flame and sparks from the fire.

The Bible tells us very specifically that the men were wrapped in all their clothes round about and then bound up, this was of course so that the moment they entered the fire, they would become human torches.

But God! He appeared in the fire with them; He let the cords that bound them be burned off so that they could walk in the fire with Him; and when the King called them out, nothing about them were in the least burnt or singed, or even smelled of the fire. A spectacular turn-around of events! I am sure that their enemies were absolutely astounded – they had seen their carefully hatched-out plans work perfectly up to now, I mean the King had been informed of their transgression of his decree; he had sentenced them to certain death in the fire; they had watched them being thrown in said fire!

And the worst outcome of all as far as the enemies of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were concerned, was that the King then promoted them! We read about this in verse 30.

So my friend, are you in a fiery furnace because you refused to compromise your faith and enemies then stood up against you? Rest assured, exactly what they planned for your evil, God will use and turn it around for your good!

Priscilla Koegelenberg

9 January 2022

Two storms

Matthew 14 tells the story of a storm. It is the well-known telling of Jesus walking on the water, and Peter attempting to do so as well.

What I find interesting here, is that the disciples were in the perfect will of God and yet experienced this storm: Let me show you this in two verses:

Firstly in verse 22 we read: “ Then He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side.” And then we read in verse 24: “But the boat was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them.”

They had heard God speak, and had obeyed Him. And still, here was the storm! It was not the same as happened to Jonah. God sent that storm precisely because Jonah had also heard His voice, but had actively chosen not to obey God. The storm was meant to force Jonah to get back on track.

Are you finding yourself in the same predicament as the disciples? Are you also finding yourself in a storm, even though you are doing what God told you to do? Then take Romans 5 to heart, my friend! In verse 4 we read that our sufferings produce fruit, if we allow our attitude about them not to stand in God’s way! Specifically, our troubles produce firstly endurance – and this test Peter failed when he got into trouble out on the water because he did not endure long enough!

Secondly, this learning to keep on going produces strong character in that it develops our faith and integrity. Another test the disciples failed that day, because when Jesus came to the rescue, they reacted with terror!

And thirdly this mature character produces a joyful and confidant hope for an eternal view, a heavenly focus, in us.

So assess the storm you are in: Have you disobeyed God somewhere along the line? Then repent and accept His forgiveness and ask Him to show you how to navigate out of these circumstances.

If the storm is without a known cause to you: work on your attitude! Do not immediately assume God is somehow punishing you….or feel that God is unfair….that you do not deserve this….Romans 5 says you should be joyful in your circumstances, (not because of your circumstances), because soon these beautiful fruit mentioned above will start showing and you will be better off for it!

5 January 2022

Wednesday, 5 January 2022

The angel's picture

Many years ago I saw a picture in a book, drawn for the author by an angel explaining what atonement means, to him. Reading Ps 5:11-12 brought this picture to mind again.

In verse 11 we read: But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. The Amplified says even more clearly: You make a covering over them…

This picture showed the word “Atonement” written in a rainbowlike form , and underneath it the word “sin” and then underneath that the word “us” appeared with arrows pointing upward; and above the Atonement rainbow the word “God” was written with an arrow pointing downward. The explanation of this is that we are covered by Jesus’ atonement like a canopy over us, and this is what God sees when He looks down from heaven on us: He only sees the atonement, not the sin. But unfortunately, when we look up to God, we most often only see our sin seperating us from Him.

My friend, what a difference it would make to our day if we woke up with this picture in mind, and walked in the truth it portrays! We would walk upright, knowing that we are in right standing with God. We would be filled with joy, knowing that God is not condemning us. We would praise Him all day long, secure in the knowledge that we are accepted by none other than the King of the Universe!

And I have not even added verse 12 yet, which reads:

Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

I likened this ‘surrounding’ to bubble wrap the other day. Now imagine yourself walking under an impenetrable canopy, completely wrapped in bubble wrap so nothing can get to you from all around you either! Add to this the fact that in Deuteronomy we read that God’s strong arms are also underneath us – well, we will then be a walking representation of Ps 56:11 “in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?”

27 December 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!