Today Reminder (Judge) – 26 October 2017

A reminder for today

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)

The week is rushing by as we are heading for the weekend. The Holy Spirit placed judgement in my thoughts today and it is something we all struggle with. You see we are very quick to judge and slow to forgive. For example, when someone gossips about you and you hear of this you will always have a little disgust with that person even if you do not show it, it is there. This is purely because we judge, and we do not forgive. Now this is something we must be very careful with, because Jesus was very clear when He spoke about judgement in Matthew 7.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

This is probably the one verse we forget way to easily. You see when Jesus was on the cross the man next Him told Him that Jesus must remember Him when He enters into the Kingdom of God. In these words, this man excepted that Jesus is His saviour and asked for forgiveness. Jesus said that this man will enter heaven with Him. You see when God forgives there is no trace left of your wrongs and your entire list is destroyed. There is no more and nothing that can be used against you. This is the measure we should also forgive with. 

The enemy knows this all too well, because he knows we will be judged in the same way we judge and, so he will fill you with lies and hatred so that you will continue to condemn and judge those who already received your forgiveness. My dear friend, do not fall into this trap and do not be deceived by the world and the way other behave. When you forgive, forgive entirely and do not allow any form of judgement to return. 

My greatest struggle is the farm attacks in South Africa. My parents were attacked more than once so it is hard to let go and forgive. Especially now when you hear of 11 attacks and 4 killed in just the last few days. I struggle with forgiveness in this matter, but I believe that the Lord will guide me through this. As we start to unite in prayer and stand up against this evil I will see God at work and I will see Him deliver these people from evil. You see we must forgive completely and no matter how hard it is, we should let God deal with evil. It is our responsibility to hear His voice and react to His direction. He will not let evil prevail, he will free us from it. We must turn to Him.

Lord, please help us with our judgements and forgiveness. Let is clear our minds and break the hold of the enemy in this and forgive with pure hearts. In Jesus name.

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Today Reminder (Abortion) – 25 October 2017

A reminder for today

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (Psalm 139:13-16)

The age-old argument of life or not life and is abortion murder. I guess we all have an opinion on this and in a world where life has very little value we tend to follow the masses or rather what fits our situation. I believe it is just as evolution and it depends from whose view we are looking. Are we looking from a world’s view or are we looking from a biblical view?

Unborn life is not worth less than life that has been born. Murder is murder regardless of the age or level of development of the victim. All life is precious because each human being is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and skilfully wrought together by Him (Psalm 139:13–16). And also consider Jeremiah 1:5 where we read, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” God knew Jeremiah before he even existed in his mother’s womb! Life does not begin after a baby emerges from the protection of his or her mother’s womb; life begins at fertilization and should be protected from that moment.

But let’s look at Dr. Tommy Mitchell’s conclusion on the issue at hand. Although science has shown us the wonderful continuity of the development of life throughout all its stages, science has been unable to define the onset of humanness. However, there is ample information in Scripture for us to determine the answer to this problem.

The Bible contains numerous references to the unborn. Each time the Bible speaks of the unborn, there is reference to an actual person, a living human being already in existence. These Scriptures, taken in context, all indicate that God considers the unborn to be people. The language of the text continually describes them in personal terms.

Since the Bible treats those persons yet unborn as real persons, and since the development of a person is a continuum with a definite beginning at the moment of fertilization, the logical point at which a person begins to be human is at that beginning. The answer is that life begins at conception (using the now older definition of the term, here to be synonymous with fertilization). Frankly, no other conclusion is possible from Scripture or science.

What are the implications of this conclusion? Why is this important? Quite simply, the status of the zygote/embryo/fetus is central to many issues facing our society. The most obvious issue in this regard is abortion. If the zygote is a human life, then abortion is murder. The same can be said of issues surrounding the embryonic stem cell debate. If the embryo is human, then destroying it is murder, no matter what supposedly altruistic reason is given as justification. The ethics of cloning require consideration of the concept of humanness and the timing of its onset. A person’s acceptance or rejection of the controversial morning-after pill is based upon the determination of when human life begins.

Complex issues may not have simple solutions, but when examined objectively in light of God’s Word, without biases introduced by other motivations, God’s truth will reveal the correct answers. Science can give us better understanding of the world God created, and what we see in God’s world will agree with the truth we read in God’s Word. We dare not play word games with human life to justify personal agendas. Scripture provides no real loopholes or escape clauses to excuse us from the principle that God created human beings in His own image, designed them to reproduce after their kind, and sent Jesus Christ into the world as a human being to die for us all, thus demonstrating the immeasurable love our Creator has for each human life. 

I believe that God will not give you such a wonderful blessing and not give you the help to provide for it. I also believe that abortion in any stage is murder and we should stop running from our responsibility towards life and accept it. It does not matter the circumstances, because I believe love can overcome all obstacles. Once again it all depends on our view and who we are trusting and who we are listening to. I agree that that it is hard in many cases, but I believe more in an all-powerful God that can change any situation. You are entitled to your opinion, but please be careful who you listen to.

Lord, you see life as such a precious gift and you love each one of us so much that you gave your life for us all. please open our hearts and minds so that we can have a small glimpse of how much you love us and let us love in the same way. In Jesus name. 

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Today Reminder (Pain) – 24 October 2017

A reminder for today

For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

My son had a terrible fall at school on Friday last week. He was very sore and bandaged when I picked him up. That evening I took of the band aids and cleaned his wounds and covered them in fresh dressings. He was still sore but the careful cleaning and extra care I took made a huge difference and the next day he was much better. 

The enemy lurks around every corner of our journey and he wants you to fall. He wants it to hurt and he wants you to question God for your pain instead of looking at the real origin of your injury. You see the enemy wants us to question our faith, because the minute we do that he gets a hold on us. And then he will continue to abuse that until he defeats us.

I love this verse. Paul makes it simple when he says that Jesus suffered temptation and pain and in that He understands exactly what we are going through. He knows, because He felt, and He saw what we face every day. This means that when we are hurt by the enemy, He will come and with love tend to our wounds just as He washed the disciple’s feet. He will clean our wounds and put on new dressings. Especially those wounds that we can’t see. The one’s that is deep in our hearts. 

He will take away the hurt and replace it with His love and care. He will give us rest as David wrote in Psalms and He will restore us. He will lift us up and he will make it well again with our souls. Pain heals but glory lasts forever, so let us take the pain and keep fighting the enemy. Let us show our faith and our saviour and save a life. 

Let the Lord take care of all your pain today and watch Him restore you to full strength so that you can stand again and fight. Never give up!

Lord, you are just amazing, and you are our only hope. Restore us and take away our pain so that we can stand and fight the enemy and turn hearts back to you. In Jesus name. 

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers