"Father, Forgive them"

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” – Luke 23:34

While He was hanging on the Cross, Jesus spoke 7 times. Each time His words sketched a clear picture of His love for sinners and His intimate relationship with His heavenly Father. Even despite the excruciating pain, Jesus noticed other people and tried to help them.

In the period before His crucifixion, Jesus’ relationships had also suffered. The 12 friends who had accompanied Him for 3 years deserted Him, Peter denied Him and Judas betrayed Him. The Jewish people for whom He had come, rejected His offer of salvation and had Him crucified. Despite the agony He was suffering on the Cross. Jesus prayed for those that rejected Him and had Him crucified. He prayed that His Father should forgive them because they did not understand the impact of their actions.

The unconditional love and forgiveness of Jesus are still available to you. You can confess your sins with confidence because He is prepared to forgive them!

-         Derived from Living in God’s Love, Nina Smit

God's Grace - The Cross

My human mind cannot fathom the fact that God, our Lord and Saviour, is so generous and loves us so so much that He sent the one thing that He loved the most, His only begotten Son to die for US, you and me, on the Cross, so that we may be saved. Imagine if Jesus didn’t die for us.. We would be living our lives like the people of the Old Testament did, to some extent. We will be commiting sins, and paying for them at the same time, because as the Bible says, the wages of sin is death. BUT, the miracle that happened is when God sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth, to understand what life is like as a human, to bring us closer to God. Therefore God sacrificed His Son for us, so that we may not have to pay the debts of sin, instead with the intention that we may be forgiven for our trespasses! That is grace on another level!

By commiting this act of selflessness, Jesus Christ has done EVERYTHING for us. The only thing that is left is unmerited favour! He only requires us to receive this blessing, or rather this gift, by believing in our hearts that He has died and risen again, for us, and by confessing this with our mouths. Like sho! Jesus has literally done all the work for us, all we have to do is receive this gift! It almost sounds way to be good to be true. Like how can somebody give up their entire life on our behalf, in the most painful and gruesome way, so that people that hasn’t even met Him yet, can be saved?? But that is the beauty of God’s grace! Jesus did it ALL for those that believe! We just have to receive it!

Until we grasp what the significance about the events that occurred on the Cross of Calvary is, we will keep treating fellow humans without the love and compassion that God has showed us. Once you have the life of God living inside of you, nothing can take it away!

God's Plan

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

Everything that comes your way this year forms part of God’s plan for your life. God is omniscient and He therefore already knows what is going to happen to you. He is also omnipotent and He can therefore use everything in your life in a positive way. For that reason, you can rely on God totally, instead of making your own little plans.

God has a plan for each of our lives. We have to consider 3 words into our plan this year: initiative, timing and surrender. Swop your own plan for God’s initiative which He sets out in His Word. Work out your carefully and see to it that you do the right thing at the right time. Also, be prepared to accept God’s timing if you are uncertain. 

Finally, surrender your WHOLE life and ALL of your dreams to the Holy Spirit. If He is the pilot of your life, all things will work together for your good.

-         Derived from Living in God’s Love, by Nina Smit

Deuteronomy Chapter 8 - 10

“Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord has promised on the oath to your ancestors.” – Deuteronomy 8:1

Deuteronomy Chapter 8 is basically a reminder to us that we should not forget the Lord our God, and all that He has done for us. God instructs us in Deuteronomy 10:12 “…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, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.”

As Christians, living in the modern world today, it is so easy for us to forget what the Lord has done for us in our lives, when we are going through trials and tribulations. This chapter is a reminder to us that we should not forget the Lord. The Bible is instructing us to obey, love and serve the Lord with ALL of our heart and soul, in everything that we do. In Deuteronomy 11:26, the Bible states that this is both a blessing and a curse. If we obey the commands, laws and decrees of the Lord that He has given to us, He will bless us with all that we desire, if it is in His will. However, if we choose to disobey Him, then “the Lord’s anger will burn against you” (Deuteronomy 11:16). Therefore, as 10:20 says, “…fear the Lord your God, and serve Him”. He is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great God, mighty and awesome!

The message that the Lord is bringing to you today is to not forget what God has done for you, no matter what it may be that you are facing. In times of anger, sadness, happiness, etc., we should remember what the Lord has done for us, and praise Him, for He is worthy of praise! Decide right now to honour God’s Name in everything that you do and to give HIM the glory for your success. For as He has sworn to keep His covenant with us, so we should our promises to Him, and obey what he requests and requires from us. That we honour him, do His will, love, serve and obey Him.

Love God with your whole heart and soul., and ask Him to enable you to love your neighbour like this as well. 

Child of God

“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.” – 1 Corinthians 4:1

Basically, this scripture speaks about how we as God’s children, ought to be perceived in the world. God’s children are his representatives in the world. As His children, we are the ambassadors of the GREATEST King ever to exist, therefore it is our responsibility to show others who belong to the world and not to God, what He really looks like. Through His Word, we get to know Him, and through prayer, we develop and personal relationship with Him, so we get to know what it is that God expects and intends for us. The only way that unbelievers can come to know more about God is by looking at the lives of God’s children. Others see our faith by the way we live, and this is the only picture that they have of what our Father is like.

God placed YOU in this world to serve Him and others the way that Jesus did. We are the servants to whom God has entrusted the management of His property. However, the possessions of God has given you, do not belong to you either; they belong to GOD. You are merely a steward. Therefore, it is up to us to represent God in the best way that we possibly can, to bring more believers to serve Him, because let’s face it, the world needs more of JESUS.

It is awesome to know that we are the “secret agents” of God, and He has entrusted us, with His secrets to life. We are so privileged! Therefore, I thank the Lord for that He saved me, and by being born again, He has entrusted me (and all of you), with the position of being His secret agent. That is such a blessing in itself! Shine your light that God has blessed you with to all of the Earth!

Be blessed. 

I give myself to you

"My life is not my own, to you I belong, I give myself to you. I give myself away, so you can use me.”

God made the ultimate sacrifice for our sake, by sending His Son to die on our behalf. To die. Imagine losing the one thing that is most precious to you. Imagine losing your child, your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, for the sake of some one else.

I struggle to comprehend the idea that someone would do that, for me, a sinner, unworthy of this sacrifice. I use the term sacrifice very lightly, as Jesus voluntarily bore our sins on the Cross so that we may be saved from an eternity in hell. Despite the countless times that we have sinned and wronged God, He finds each one of us worthy of His love, and worthy of His gift to us. Therefore, personally, I think the LEAST that we can do to show our gratitude (not that He expects any reward for what He has done for us), is to give our lives to Him, and completely and utterly surrender to His Will for our lives. He took the time to formulate a plan and purpose for EACH of our lives before we were even in our mother’s womb! How awesome is it to know that God has given each one of us our own, unique destiny?? 

As His children, He has set us apart from all of those who belong to the world, so that we may rise above all the enemies attempts to take control of our lives.

Jesus is our Saviour, who gave His LIFE, so that we may be saved. There’s no greater love than that.

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Who Is God Really?

“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” – Ecclesiastes 11:5

We do not have to try to understand God with our limited human minds because we will never be able to understand Him. However, the central message of the Bible explains who God wants to be for us. Willem Nicol said:

 “God is the Infinite One, the Foundation of our existence. He has a burning desire for us. He paid the highest price to enable us to be part of Him forever. We see Him in Jesus. Basically life for us should consist of being different from others, of no longer living for ourselves, because we follow Jesus. Eternity makes this possible for us because He gives His Spirit to live in us and to lead us.”

This is exactly what God wants to be for you. The reason for your existence. He wants you to be part of Him forever. He sends his Son so that you can be His child, and He gives His Spirit to show you how to live. You no longer have to try to understand Him – you merely have to be still and cherish His love for you.

-         Derived from Living in God’s Love, Nina Smit

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ. 

It is no longer I who live, 

but Christ who lives in me. 

And the life I now live in the flesh, 

I live by faith in the Son of God, 

who loved me and gave himself for me. " 

Though Jesus certainly is radically different than the people-pleasing Christians many of us find ourselves being at times, Jesus is not a hammer looking to nail every person in sight either. May God grant us discretion, wisdom and tact as we navigate through this life allowing His spirit to conform us to His image more and more each day.