Today Reminder (The end) – 21 December 2017

A reminder for today

Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)

Today is officially my last post for 2017. The end is here, and the year is over, done, kaput, no more. What can we say when we look back at this year. Well I think I will need more than just a minute or a day to remember the miracles and blessings that we had in this year. We have been so fortunate in the grace of the Lord and through all my challenges He remained faithful and kept me going by His mercy and His strength. 

Not only did the Lord bless us but He added amazing people in my life. People like you and all the amazing people that follows me on twitter. Thank you for taking this journey with me and thank you for your prayers and support. I am so grateful for you and you will remain in my prayers as always.

Blessed are you, my friend for your inheritance is far greater than you can ever imagine. I wish you a merry Christmas and a wonderful new year. I pray that your Christmas celebrations will be a light that shines in the darkness and a light that will burn with passion and love. I pray that you will have a joyous and wonderful festive season and that our Lord will bless you and protect you. 

And finally, all the glory and praise go to my Lord and my God. Nothing I do would be possible if it is not for His strength and wisdom that I am blessed with each day. I am so amazed by the wonder of His grace and the way He just opens the doors and carry me through my storms. 

I look forward to talk to you again in the new year. I am going to celebrate Christmas with my parents and we are excited to share this wonderful time with family and friends. 

Remember that you are not alone and that you are so loved. You are wonderfully made and perfect in every sense. Smile a lot, because there is nothing like a warm smile and a friendly face. Let the joy of the Lord fill you and let it pour out through everything that you do. Be kind and be patient and be safe. See you soon.

Lord, we thank you for a wonderful year and all that you do for us each day. Be with us through these last few days as we show you to the world around us and carry your gospel in our hearts. We love you with everything is us, Lord. In Jesus name. 

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Today Reminder (The light) – 20 December 2017

A reminder for today

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:3-5)

You know I love this time of the year. The gym is quiet, and the traffic is not so bad. People seem a little more relaxed as they leave for their holiday destinations. The malls and shops are busy and there are specials everywhere. I love to sit at a coffee shop and just watch the people as they walk by. Each one so uniquely designed and each one of us made in God’s image. Everywhere you see Christmas decorations, and everyone blesses one another with a Christmas blessing. 

Suddenly the world is very aware of Jesus Christ and even if you are not a follower you are also touched by the light and the blessing of giving. The enemy tries to hide Christmas by using an old guy in a red suit to deceive us and to confuse little children. When you ask my kids why we celebrate Christmas they will say it is about Jesus and they are quick to remind you that the guy in a red suit is just lie and does not exist. 

It is cloudy outside and as I am writing to you it started to rain. What a blessing and what a way to start our week towards Christmas. 

When you look at these verses in John 1 you will see that He says the darkness does not comprehend the light. You see I believe that the darkness is the stone hearts of man vulnerable to the lies of the enemy. Our own egos become the very darkness that deludes us and turn us away from Jesus and into idolatry. When we are full of ourselves there is no place for Jesus.  We start to live on the highs of our so called own accomplishments and we become our own gods.

That is when man turns against God and brings in santa. It reminds me of a time when the Israelites turned from God and worshiped idols. God brought a terrible drought over the land and there was no water. Elijah went to Ahab and told him that they chose to follow baal and not God. Elijah called all the prophets of baal to mount Carmel and here he challenged them to show their god. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

After the prophets of baal prayed all day and nothing happened, Elijah prayed, and God answered. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

To see the light, we need to turn from the darkness and accept the light and allow it to transform us so that we will become the light to this world.

Lord, it is all about you. You are our God and we worship you alone. In Jesus name. 

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers

Today Reminder (Messiah) – 19 December 2017

A reminder for today

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. (John 1:12)

How are you, my friend? It is a little cooler today than it was yesterday. We had a scorcher of day here in Pretoria and there was no place in our home where I could find a little cool air. I hope the Lord blesses us with more rain. I came across a few interesting things about Jesus and I thought I’ll share with you.

The name Jesus appears in the Bible more than 900 times. Christ is not actually a name, but a title. When the Bible talks about the Messiah in the Old Testament, it is referring to the same title as the New Testament calls Christ. Both Messiah and Christ mean anointed one. Jesus was anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38) and was the promised redeemer. The first promise of a redeemer in the Bible was in Genesis 3:15. The word Christ appears in the Bible more than 500 times.

Jesus’ birthday is generally celebrated on December 25 each year. However, the Bible does not tell us exactly when His birthday was. Various scholars have put the Birth of Christ sometime in winter or early spring. We celebrate His birth at Christmas, but there is no record in the Bible of the early Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus. Although the date is debated, the census mentioned in Luke 2:2 probably occurred about 6 B.C. Taking these and other details into account, Jesus was could also have been born between 6 and 4 B.C., but it remains speculation and we do not have the actual date.

John the Baptist was Jesus’ second cousin. Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Elisabeth (the mother of John) were cousins (Luke 1:36). John was about 6 months older than Jesus (Luke 1:36). In John chapter 1 when John the Baptist declares Jesus as the Lamb of God (v. 36) this is probably not the first time they met. They were likely together often as children and young men growing up.

The Trinity always works together. When the Jews escaped from Pharaoh, detailed in the book of Exodus, Jesus sustained them in the wilderness. This truth was revealed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:3-4: "They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." (NIV) This was not the only time Jesus took an active role in the Old Testament. Several other appearances, or theophanies, are documented in the Bible.

We know from the gospels that Jesus spoke Aramaic, the everyday tongue of ancient Israel, because some of his Aramaic words are recorded in Scripture. As a devout Jew, he also spoke Hebrew, which was used in the prayers in the temple. However, many synagogues used the Septuagint, Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek. When he talked with Gentiles, Jesus may have conversed in Greek, the commerce language of the Middle East at the time. Although we don't know for sure, he may have talked with a Roman centurion in Latin (Matthew 8:13). 

No physical description of Jesus exists in the Bible, but the prophet Isaiah provides an important clue about him: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2b, NIV) Because Christianity was persecuted by Rome, the earliest Christian mosaics depicting Jesus date from around 350 A.D. Paintings showing Jesus with long hair were common in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:14 that long hair on men was "disgraceful." Jesus stood out because of what he said and did, not for the way he looked.

I do not know if I agree with everything, because we can only assume some of the things stated. What I do believe is what the Bible teaches me about Jesus and this is fact. Jesus was born from the virgin Mary and lived a perfect life doing amazing miracles that left everyone speechless. He was falsely accused and arrested and finally brutally beaten and crucified. He rose from death and was seen by many after His resurrection. Jesus is the son of God and He proved it over and over again. How much more do we need?

Lord, what a privilege we have to dig into the past and seek to know more off you. Thank you for all that you do for us and the wonder of your grace. Guide us through this day and keep all evil away from us. In Jesus name. 

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus. 

Cheers