Keep working

19  September 2011

Proverbs 12:27 A slothful man will not catch his prey, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

The more you work at something the better you get at it and the more efficient you become. The result is that you become fitter in what you do, mentally, physically and emotionally this is true whether you bake a cake, mix concrete, study the bible or anything you try. So some of us have to first get our minds around what we have to do, have the correct attitude (feeling) and then be able physically to do it.

The more you weed the garden the less weeds you have, the more you deal with sin in your life, the less sin you have to deal with. All that we do takes effort even if we enjoy the effort, but if we do not make the effort the garden is soon overgrown with weeds and likewise the garden of our life is also full of sin. Sloth or slovenly behaviour is a sin and is closely related to laziness.

In the Christian life we all need to work, to be active in all areas of life, so that when Jesus Christ returns He will find us busy working in His Kingdom.

Be encouraged today to keep working and not to be lazy.

David

Point to ponder: Work produces fruit.  

Question to consider: Are you lazy?

A personal journey of worship (part 3)

Shalom dear reader,

This week we are going to examine the final verses of Genesis 22:1 – 19 as we end our study on “A Personal Journey Of Worship.”

So far we have looked at testing, listening and obedience and this week we will look at separation, preparation, sacrifice and testimony.

SEPARATION

In verse 5 we see Abraham instructing his young men to remain while he and his son went to the place of worship. 

Genesis 22:5  He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.  We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

As important as corporate worship is, we do need to separate ourselves and spend time alone with God.  It is in the time spent alone with God that we can enjoy communion with him and develop an intimate relationship with him.  It is during these times, that we most often hear him speak to us.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God….

PREPARATION

In verses 6 and 7 we see that Abraham made the necessary preparation by making sure that he had the provisions that were necessary for worship.

Genesis 22:6 – 7

6. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.  As the two of them went on together,
7. Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

How do we prepare ourselves when we come to worship God?  Part of our preparation is our personal lifestyle.  What and who do we reflect in our personal daily walk?

When we come to corporately worship God, have we prepared ourselves during the week?

SACRIFICE

As we can see in the passage we are examining, part of the worship required a sacrifice (Verses 2, 7, 9 and 13).  We are not called to sacrifice our children or animals, as Christ through his death has become our sacrifice.  However we are called to sacrifice our lives and bring a sacrifice of praise.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.

Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of our lips that confess his name.

We also need to die to our desires and plans as we are here to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives.

TESTIMONY

As we worship and walk in obedience, we will notice that it will also result in others being blessed and us having a testimony to share as can be seen in verses 15 – 19.  Can you just imagine what Abraham had to share when he returned to the young men with Isaac as he had said he would (Verse 5).

We are part of the body of Christ and our lifestyles and behavior will affect the body either positively or negatively whether we like it or not. Our corporate worship meetings will only reflect that which is in our daily lives.  The extent of our personal worship will reflect our relationship with God as well as our knowledge of him.

I trust that this passage will encourage you to develop a deep and intimate relationship with God and as you discover more about him that your lives will overflow with praise and worship.  We do indeed serve an awesome, almighty and holy God who deserves our obedience and deepest praise and worship.

This brings us to an end of “A Personal Journey of Worship.”  I trust that you have been encourage and challenged.  I look forward to continuing our journey of worship as we begin to focus on Corporate Worship in the weeks ahead.

Blessings,                                                               

Charmaine

Clim Jews for Jesus

Encourage

16 September 2011

Romans 15:5-6 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ministry to others is never an easy thing, it takes time, effort, and to be vulnerable in the openness of love that people may see Jesus Christ in you. There is great joy in seeing the power of the Holy Spirit working and through you to bring about the healing and reconciliation taking place. Yet there are also periods of discouragement, disillusionment and disappointment which is part of brokenness of the world we live in. Effort is made to bring people to know Christ and Him crucified and on many occasion these efforts lead the conflict of the world and the Kingdom of God.

So when seminars are arranged, visiting preachers invited, prayer meetings whatever it may be, keep in mind that the person arranging it has personally thought of you when making those arrangements. When you do not respond it just adds to more discouragement to an already discouraged organiser. So with time the organisers just give up for lack of response and encouragement and so we allow the devil to win, because we are to busy with worldly things that we do not have time to go to these events.

Be encouraged today to be an encourager by supporting ministry.

  

David

Point to ponder: Encouragement helps others.  

Question to consider: Are you an encourager?

Perverted Justice

14 September 2011

Proverbs 2:9-15 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you; understanding will guard you; delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil; men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

In this world today especially in South Africa, who is rich and who is poor? We have people who make presumptions and estimates about society and then make decisions that are invalid or inappropriate. When racism and class distinctions are made there will always be tension and conflict, and so we find that people who live in affluent areas pay more for less services, in order to subsidise those living in supposedly disadvantage areas. Potholes are the order of the day, fraudulent utility bills based on estimates, non-existent health services, total disregard for road traffic by vitriolic taxi drivers seems to be the norm. A sound judicial system undermined and slurred by unscrupulous politicians and corrupt officials also seems to be rife. No different than it was in the time of St Paul.

Yet what is new, wherever there are human beings there is sin, selfishness and bigotry. No matter where you go it may not be as obvious but these things exist no matter how developed the country it is just better concealed in some. The problem that exists is that there is no respect or love for others, if you can get away with something why not. So the point comes where law abiding people start to give up hope and then break the law because no one actually cares, which happens when we stop focusing on God’s will.

As Christians our duty is to honour the law, pay our taxes and pray for those in authority over us, and to do this as if we were doing this for Jesus Christ Himself.

Be encouraged today to persevere and to continue to pray.

David

Point to ponder: the wicked pervert justice.  

Question to consider: Do you ever get upset with authority over you?

Elder alert from Solomon

Dear all

Greetings to you all. May the peace of god be with you.

 

I will take this s opportunity to remind you, dear elders, to contact people in your district. If you have not done it and come with a valuable information (preferably written), though we are not going to present it during  the session meeting, but I would like to know how it is going on in your district. Are there any challenges, praise, or people in need? How many people have you contacted? How is their health?  etc.

 

I hope all things are well and we will see you all on Saturday.

 

God be with you.

The Rev. Emmanuel Solomon Surwumwe
St Marks, UPCSA, 

 

 

The Rev. Emmanuel Solomon Surwumwe 

Courage

14 September 2011

Corinthians I 16:13 Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

In order to have courage one has to have faith and trust, it is our courage that helps us to strengthen both faith and trust. When all the odds seem stacked against one, then it takes courage to continue, faith is believing it is possible and trust is that God will make it possible. So when we have to face situations whether spiritual, emotional or physical it takes courage to continue in the face of adversity. It is courage that helps us to continue when others would give up, it takes courage when the pain is severe and no matter how we sit or stand the pain is always there.

We need to be mindful that courage is something that we all have but not all of us are tested to the same extent. There is no clear answer why some are tested more than others, and the way we exercise our faith and trust helps us to cope without answers. Each of us has areas of strength and weakness, some times in our areas of weakness we become strong and the strong areas become weak. As we grow so we need to grow in courage to face the things that normal life brings.

Be encouraged today to be filled with courage.

David

Point to ponder: Courage is about faith and trust.  

Question to consider: is your courage growing?

Attitude

13 September 2011

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.   

A person’s attitude is far more important than skill or education or even talent. When a person has the right attitude they are able to do many things and achieve. Attitude is the mind set that determines one’s response to what is happening and what needs to happen. So a person with the right attitude will use all that they have in order to do what needs to be done, sometimes without training or skill in what is being done, yet somehow because of the correct attitude things happen.

Attitude towards time, relationships and many other things is all part of a persons attitude to life, so when a person does not have the correct attitude to study for example, study becomes a problem for them. If something has to be done you do not wait until after tea to do it, if you have a positive attitude to your work, to people, to yourself you will be surprised just how much you are able to do.

There is nothing worse than having a sales person with a wrong attitude, in the same way there is nothing worse than a Christian with the wrong attitude. We work because we love what we do, if your job gets you down, you are in the wrong job, either change jobs or change your attitude. You are the only one who has the ability to change your attitude.

Be encouraged today to have and to develop a positive attitude to life.

  

David

Point to ponder: Attitude is the secret to success.  

Question to consider: Are you right minded (attitude) in what you do?