Today Reminder – 13 April 2017

A reminder for today

When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. (Mark 16:5-6)

This is ultimately the best time of the year for Christians. Amazing how the world tries and hide the truth with easter eggs and a bunny that pops around. How sad it is that you will try to confuse people with chocolates. Jesus rose from the dead and this is the core of our faith. He rose from the dead and He is the light of the world. The only way and the only living God. What an awesome time to tell those poor atheists of a living God. There are so many scriptures outside of the Bible that confirms the existence of Jesus and then we are not even talking of the eyewitness accounts of the first books of the New Testament. The very existence of this world and the way DNA works is an absolute confirmation that God exists. So let us celebrate this easter with renewed faith and unwavering determination to show Jesus to the world.

Our God lives and we must live lives that confirms this in all that we do. We must be ambassadors to Jesus and show His love in the way we love. You cannot follow Jesus and hate your neighbour. So I am leaving you with little reminder of how it is to follow Jesus. I hope you have a blessed easter and that the glory of our Lord enlightens your faith to a new level. I’ll see you on Tuesday.

"God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way” (Matthew 5)

Lord, let your glory shine through us over easter and let us show your love. Let us wear your armour and stand fearless. In Jesus name.

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus.

Cheers

Today Reminder – 12 April 2017

A reminder for today

Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)

I do not know about you, but when I look at our finances, they seem to disappear overnight. It is as if money in the bank vanishes. This month we are struggling much more than the previous month and my only conclusion is that everything is so much more expensive. Everything just goes up and up and the holiday seems to burden our finances a lot more. So, I often find myself in a position where I get a little worried about tomorrow. I seems as if our burdens just grows and grows from one month to the next. With the South African winter ahead, it can really burden your income, because then it is flu and heaters and such and you can just imagine the result. 

This verse caught my attention just as I had a look at our finances and the days remaining before payday. Even Jesus learned obedience from suffering. His suffering made Him pray more often and it made Him more dependent on God. Our suffering or rather our burdens are there to make us more obedient and more dependent on God. You see God wants us to spend more time in prayer with Him. This means that He will allow the suffering into our lives, because He knows that it will bring us closer and that this life is temporary. He knows that in our commitment to Him we will walk through this life and see Him in heaven. You see it is more important to God that we make our way into heaven than having a good life on earth. Why worry about a world that has no future when your future is with God. So all these worries and concerns reminded me of a specific verse.

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:24-27)

Therefore, we must stop worrying immediately and start worshipping. God is all we need and all we should have. 

Lord, we cast all our worries and fears on to you and we ask that you help us. Lord, bless our finances and be our financial planner so that our flask will overflow with oil. Help us to plan more effective and pay off all our debt. Bless our income and the work we do so that we will bring glory to you. Lord, you are all that we need. Let us wear your armour and face our challenges today. In Jesus name.

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus.

Cheers

Today Reminder – 11 April 2017

A reminder for today

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

So, we find ourselves smack bang in Tuesday and the week is well on its way. Business as usual, because the enemy is hard at work to make us fall and fail. Breakthrough! Now there is a word we should look at. It basically means a sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development or an instance of achieving success in a particular sphere or activity. My verses today are focussed on breakthrough. We need to break through the picture the world lets us see and see the picture that God wants us to see. You see every day we are challenged and when the enemy see that they are getting to you, even if it is only a little bit, they will intensify the attack to break you. Now the world wants you to see a picture of despair and hopelessness so that you will come to a point where you question. The world wants you to see how the lost always seems to free and happy and they just do what they want. They will make sin look good so that you will be tempted. They will even say that you must try everything and hold on to the best things. The enemy is not interested in them, because why, they are already lost so why make them suffer. 

Now, the picture that you have that replaces all these corrupted views is the picture of a High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, which understands our weaknesses, because He faced the same tests. He did not sin, so we can come boldly to the throne of God where we will find true freedom and peace by His grace and mercy. When we have the picture of God we have His love and we have a new type of hope, because our hope is not build on the temporary, it is build on forever. Our hope is in Jesus Christ and our picture consists of His promise of a life in eternity. 

Therefore, the enemy can make this world look as great as possible, but nothing can compare to the world that awaits us. My challenges can try and consume me, but I can enter the throne of God and my strength will come from Him. The enemy can try and break me, but in me is the Holy Spirit and He breaks for no one. All of this will end and when that happens, I want to be the one that stood firmly in my faith. Now let us free ourselves from the world and see only Jesus. He is the light, the way and the only living God. He is our breakthrough. So, to the enemy, do your worst, because your destination is hell and my destination is a life in eternity with my God. 

Lord, we look at the wind and the rain and we hear how nature worships you. Let us unite today and worship you with hearts filled with you and eyes focused on you. Make us diamonds and let us shine with your glory. Let us wear your armour so that we will not be afraid. Give us breakthrough. In Jesus name.

Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus.

Cheers