Pastoring For The Poor: It depends in whose hands it’s in

Pastoring For The Poor: It depends in whose hands it’s in: "Can't believe it's Friday again! May you be blessed as you read these words and may your weekend be filled with His joy! A basketball in..."

It depends in whose hands it’s in

Can't believe it's Friday again!

May you be blessed as you read these words and may your weekend be filled with His joy!

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6
A baseball in Mark McGuire's hands is worth $19 million
It depends whose hands it's in

A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras' hands is a Wimbledon Championship.
It depends whose hands it's in

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea
It depends whose hands it's in

A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy
A sling shot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in Jesus' hands will feed thousands
It depends whose hands it's in

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in

As you see now, it depends whose hands it's in. So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God's hands... because it depends whose hands it's in.

(Written by Paul Ciniraj)

Till we meet again on Monday!

Shalom!

Anina

I can’t pray!

Have you ever made these remarks, “Prayer doesn’t work! “I wonder if God is listening to me?”; “My prayer only goes as far the ceiling!”

There was a time in my life when I thought it might help to make a big hole in my roof, then at least my prayer would go past the ceiling…

Usually there are a few reasons why you might struggle to pray:

-        Your heart might be broken in pieces and it is hurting so much that it is difficult to express words to your Father.

-        Guilt and condemnation rules in your heart because of a deep secret sin that you struggle with.

-        You feel far from God for no apparent reason, it just feels that He doesn’t listen when you pray.

All of us go through seasons where prayer does not come naturally. Through growing in my relationship with Him, I’ve learned that in times like these the answer is not a hole in my ceiling, but to turn to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of comfort and help, the One who come along side us and will help us even if we can’t pray!

Romans 8:26(AMP)

²⁶So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

In times like these, I just say: “Holy Spirit, help me!” Then I sit with my eyes closed and know in faith that He is praying for me. I know that in this time He prays according to Father’s will and that in the quietness, He is strengthening me.

If you are going through a prayer struggle, just become quiet and say: “Holy Spirit, help!” In faith know that through the Spirit, you are connecting with your Father, and you will be lifted up!

Shalom!

Anina

Is your sin too big?

Do you sometimes feel that that the sin you’ve committed is just too big to be forgiven?

I know there was a time in my life when I really took some wrong turns and thought that I have gone too far.

The Bible tells us of King Ahab. He was the most evil king Israel ever had!

1 Kings 21:25-26(GNT)

 ²⁵ There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the Lord's sight as Ahab - all at the urging of his wife Jezebel.²⁶ He committed the most shameful sins by worshiping idols, as the Amorites has….

One time Ahab wanted a piece of land next to his palace. It was the vineyard of Naboth. Naboth however did not want to sell his vineyard, and this made Ahab angry and depressed. His wife then arranged the death of Naboth so that Ahab could have the vineyard.

But God send the prophet Elijah to confront Ahab about his sins:

1 Kings 21:27-29 (GNT)

 ²⁷ When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.

 ²⁸ The Lord said to the prophet Elijah,²⁹Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family.

God noticed how Ahab humbled himself – even though he was one of the most evil kings ever! God showed mercy to this king, just because he acknowledged his sin.

How much more will God not notice when you humble yourself and acknowledge your sins? We don’t have to tear our clothes or be gloomy and depressed. For each one of us the price for our sin has been paid through the cross of Jesus Christ. The Bible says:

1 John 1:9(AMP)

⁹If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

I have confessed my past sins. I now live a free life under grace. Because I have been forgiven so much, I don’t want to sin anymore, but if I fall, like all of us do some times, I ask my Father for forgiveness and He cleanses me.

God will notice if you confess your sin, no matter how big that sin was. Just confess today, He is faithful and just and will forgive your sins!

Shalom!

Anina

God’s door

The theme of Sunday’s sermon was about doors.

Doors are everyday objects that we use. You use a door to keep unwanted persons out of your house, but doors are also seen as opportunities in our lives that we need to walk through.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said God enters by a private door into every individual. But do you know that God also has a door?

An interesting story is told of a mother whose daughter ran away from her, and lived a life of sin. For a long time no one could tell where she was. Yet that daughter came back and was reclaimed. She became a true penitent. She was taught to mourn for sin. She turned to Christ and believed in Him. Old things passed away, and all things became new. Her mother was asked one day to tell what she had done to bring her daughter back. What means had she used? What steps had she taken? Her reply was a very striking one. She said, "I prayed for her night and day." But that was not all. She went on to say, "I never went to bed at night without leaving my front door unlocked. I thought if my daughter came back some night when I was in bed, she should never be able to say that she found the door shut. She should never be able to say that she came to her mother's home - but could not get in." And so it turned out. Her daughter came back one night, and tried the door, and found the door open, and at once came in, to go out and sin no more. That open door was the saving of her soul.

Just like this mother, God’s door is an open door. His door is open to each and every person. No matter who you are, where you have been. His door is open for you!

You must however realize that you have to make a choice to walk through His door. He will never force you to come into His presence. He will just keep on inviting you and when you accept, His door will always be open to you!

Shalom!

Anina

A satisfied husband…

My husband and I celebrated our 13 year marriage anniversary today. I am so grateful to my Father for a Godly husband! We have been through our rough patches, but through grace and restoration both of us can truly say: “If you really commit your marriage to God, He will do a miracle!”

Now ladies, as you know, some men struggle to find the right words and my husband is no exception. One time he said something to me that at first made me felt really disgusted, but today it is something we joke about.

The conversation was one of those deep one’s where I poured out my heart, telling him how much I loved and appreciated him. Looking deep into his eyes, expecting the same kind of response, he responded: “Thanks, I am satisfied with you.” My response naturally was: “Satisfied, you are satisfied with me!”

After this deep conversation, whenever we speak about our feelings, we reassure each other that we are quite satisfied with one another!

We off course said this jokingly, but last week I read the following verse:

Psalm 17:15(AMP)

¹⁵As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

I realized a truth: both of us started to be satisfied with each other, not because we got our satisfaction from one another, but because we first fully restored our relationship with our Father. Beholding His face through a personal relationship, having sweet communion with Him!

You can never demand fulfillment and satisfaction from someone or something, you will always end up empty and disappointed. You can only get fulfillment from your Father!

Have sweet communion with Him, beholding His face – you will be fully satisfied… just like my husband!

Shalom!

Anina

The most important part of the body

On Friday's I will always put in an inspirational story - something to carry you through the weekend untill we meet again on Monday!

The most important part of the body

My mother used to ask me what is the most important part of the body. Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct answer. When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, "My ears, Mommy."

She said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon."

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer. So this time I told her, "Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes."

She looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind."

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was, "No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child."

Then last year, my grandpa died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. Even my father cried. I remember that especially because it was only the second time I saw him cry. My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final goodbye to Grandpa. She asked me, "Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?"

I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me. She saw the confusion on my face and told me, "This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in our life. For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why. But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson."

She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said, "My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder."

I asked, "Is it because it holds up my head?"

She replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."

(By Huithiang)

 

May you always have a shouder to cry on when there is tears in your eyes!

 

Shalom!

Anina

Happiness or joy?

It is easy for me to be happy when things are going good in my life. But to be of good cheer when life is hard, that is a difficult thing to do. I have however met some people that no matter what they are going through, they are always smiling - trusting God seems to be so easy for them.

How do they do it?

Most of us experience times of happiness. It is because happiness is a natural result of good and positive happenings in our life. We are happy when we have a good job with a good salary. We are happy when we are in love and that person treats us like we want to be treated. We are happy when life treats us good!

But what happens when life is not treating you fairly? You might have discovered that the problem with positive happenings is that they never last forever. So when circumstances are not good, it is difficult to be happy. Our mood and our faces reflect what we go through!

There is however a difference between happiness and joy!

The Bible says in Psalm 4:7

“You have put more joy and rejoicing in my heart…”

People that have joy, regardless of their circumstances, are people that spend time in God’s presence, they are connected to Him and He is the source of their joy, not their circumstances!

Psalm 16:11 says:

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Do you need some joy? Spend some time in His presence; you will experience fullness of joy!

Shalom!

Anina

Tears that bring joy

Yesterday we saw that Jesus cried. We realized that crying is a natural response to this world, but we do not cry without hope if God is on our side.

The Bible however says that we don’t only have hope when we cry, but we can have an expectation of joy!

Ps. 126:5-6(NIV)

⁵ Those who sow with tears
   will reap with songs of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping,
   carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
   carrying sheaves with them.

I saw a picture…

Someone with a bag of seed that was desponded and sad, crying as he walked through a drought filled field. This person threw seed into the ground, with the hope that it might rain. But as his tears fell to the ground, it filled the ground with living water… wetting the ground to yield a harvest.

Do you feel desponded and sad, trying to make a difference in the world, but it seems that you are not making a difference? Maybe your life feels drought-stricken and in desperate in need of rain. Maybe you’ve lost someone that was dear to you. All of these situations sometimes bring tears to your eyes.

God can however turn these tears into living water, changing the dry ground in an oasis of supply and healing. Know that if you trust Him, He will, in His time turn the situation around.

You might be crying now – but you will return to the same situation with songs of joy!

Shalom!

Anina

Jesus wept

Have you ever experienced sadness over someone else’s circumstances?

Sometimes I look at the circumstances of some of the people in our church… and I want to cry. Cry because I wish I could do more. Cry because of the lack… and it feels as if my heart wants to break. It is in times like these, that I wonder what God feels.

Then I came along a very interesting verse in the Bible:

John 11:35(NIV)

 ³⁵ Jesus wept.

This is the shortest verse in the Bible. Two written words, but the picture speaks a thousand words…

Jesus wept when He heard that Lazarus died. It was however quite strange that Jesus wept. We know that just a few moments later Lazarus was resurrected. Why then did Jesus cry?

It shows us that He was a real man, with real emotions. That He felt the sorrow of Martha and Maria, the sisters of Lazarus. That even though He knew that life would be restored, He wept - to show His affection and care for the people He loved so dearly.

God’s heart still brakes because of the poverty and hurt of His people – even though He knows that one day, there will be no more lack or sadness for all who accepts His grace.

We may cry in the same way Jesus did, it shows our affection and care for the people we love. But we do not cry without hope, because we know that ultimately we and the people that we cry for will be resurrected into a new heaven and earth, where there will be no more tears!

Shalom!

Anina

Are you good enough for heaven?

How do you get to heaven? What must you do? Is it only good people that will go to heaven?

This is the same question I asked our church family in Danville this Sunday.

I used a fictional situation – let’s say there is a lady – Martha. Martha has given her heart to Jesus, but every time she is with her friends, she just gossips. She knows it is wrong, but she just can’t help herself.

Will Martha make it to heaven?

The interesting fact is that when I posed this question to our congregation – most people said no, she is not going to heaven…

What will your answer be?

Let’s see what the Bible says, I like the Message translation:

 Romans 4:13-16 (MSG)

 ^13-15That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God's promise at that—you can't break it.

 ¹⁶This is why the fulfillment of God's promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God's promise arrives as pure gift…

Nothing you do or don’t do can get you into heaven.

Ephesians 2:8 (AMP)

⁸For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

It is by faith in Jesus Christ and faith alone that we may enter into heaven.

So where does it leave us with sin? Can Martha keep on gossiping? Listen what Paul says:

Romans 6:1-2(NIV)

 ¹ What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means!

As Martha grows in her relationship with the Lord, she will be disciplined by her Father. If she submits to this discipline, she will eventually realize the truth and repent. This truth will set her free from the sin of gossip.

Our Father will always discipline us when we give into the temptation of any kind of sin. We need to realize that God takes us on a road of sanctification – removing sin and making us holy. This is however a life-long process.

Ultimately it’s about an attitude of the heart – because He gives us this gift of Life through Jesus, we don’t want to sin anymore. We want to honor Him with a holy life – and this we can only do with the help of the Holy Spirit!

Have you accepted Jesus? Heaven is your destination! The rest is a path of preparation for this glorious life that awaits you!

Shalom!

Anina

Keeper of the Spring

Charles R. Swindoll  tells the story of the "Keeper of the Spring".

It is about a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.
The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water. The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, "Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer." By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services.

For several weeks, nothing changed.

By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps.

It is usually the people behind the scenes, handling the small problems, keeping the church clean, giving encouraging words and doing small task... that keeps the "spring" of the church clean!

Today I honor all the leaders of Salem Danville that work behind the scenes, that helps the Living water to flow in our church!

Shalom!
Anina

A Big Steak

The other day I read that life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take, but the moments that takes our breath away.

Last night we had another celebration dinner. Another moment where God took my breath away because of His goodness and faithfulness.

This was the fourth event where we invite the people of Salem Danville, spoiling them with most probably the biggest steak they have ever seen.

Now you might ask – why give a few poor people a big steak, if you can give bread to allot…?

When God spoke to us about a celebration dinner, where each and every person would be treated to dinner, we off course first thought of the money… how much would it cost us?

The cheapest and easiest to prepare was a “boere wors roll” – a traditional South African treat, almost like a hot dog.

But God asked Kobus: “What would you give a special friend visiting you?”

My husband specialty is a barbequed T-bone steak; so naturally, his answer would be a nice, juicy T-bone! God’s response… “Go and do the same…!”

So for the past four weeks, every Wednesday afternoon, he has been barbequing about 30 pieces of T-bone steaks.

So what took away my breath? Firstly His heart for the people of our congregation – to spoil them exceedingly, abundantly, above… How? With a BIG steak!

Secondly, the fact that He provides every cent for these celebration dinners.

It is so true… where God guides, God provides… even if it is a big steak!

Shalom!

Anina

How to hit the bull’s eye

Yesterday we saw that you can sin by not doing what God asks from you.

The one kind of sin is motivated by the devil, tempting you to do wrong. The other kind of sin is not listening to the motivation of our Father to do right.

The sin of not doing right comes from the Greek word “hamartano” – which means to miss the mark and missing the prize. Every time we choose to ignore His voice to do something right, we miss a blessing and a heavenly reward from Him. He will always reward us for our obedience like sowing money, giving a Scripture to someone, making a phone call…

The Bible gives us some guidelines to be obedient to His voice to do right: Heb. 4:7 “….Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

§  Today:

·         Be obedient today, not tomorrow

·         If you delay, it will most probably not happen

·         What must you do today?

·         Make that phone call, send that verse, give that gift…!

§  Hear:

·         You have to listen to God

·         To listen you have to keep quiet

·         Don’t give because it’s a good idea

·         Give when it is a God idea

·         This is born out if a deep intimate relationship with your Father

§  Heart:

·         You have to have a responsive heart

·         Cleans your heart from the sin that is motivated by the devil

·         Do it with a willing heart

In this way you will hit the bull’s eye in the middle and receive a heavenly prize!

Shalom!

Anina

Bull’s eye reward

On the 5^th of July I wrote on sinning without doing something wrong. I continued to ponder on this subject and God pressed it on my heart to preach on this subject this past Sunday. God’s Spirit moved so much in people’s hearts, that I want to share it with you…

Let’s start with the question: what is your definition of sin? Something you do wrong, disobeying the commandments…?

The Bible shows us that sin is not only what you do wrong, but sin is also when God stirs your spirit to do something, but you keep on ignoring His voice. For instance like giving a Word to someone, praying for someone, giving bread to your neighbor…

The Greek word for this sin is “hamartano” which means to miss the mark. The Strong’s however add some more meaning to this Greek word – not only to miss the mark, but also not sharing in the prize!

You see – when we as Christian’s sin - doing what is wrong, the consequences is God’s discipline. When we however commit the sin of “hamartano” – He will not discipline us, but we will miss the prize, the reward He wants to bless us with if we are obedient!

If you are obedient in what He asks you to give, then the reward is a harvest. If you are obedient in giving a word to someone, the fulfillment is seeing the change in someone’s life.

It is like a person shooting with an arrow – if he misses the mark, there is no prize. If he shoots the bull’s eye, there is a prize.

Listen today to your Master, where He asks you to aim, then shoot a bull’s eye, and receive a heavenly reward!

Shalom!

Anina

I will not, I will not, I will not!!

Most people prefer to read a specific translation of the Bible. I like to compare certain translations of the Bible. This gives me a depth and a better understanding of Scripture.

So through the years of comparing Scripture, I found some verses in certain translations that really touched my heart.

One of these Scripture’s that is most certainly one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Hebrew 13:5b. The New International Version says:

 “Never will I leave you;
   never will I forsake you.”

Such an amazing promise from our Father!

The New Living Translation says:

 “I will never fail you.
      I will never abandon you.”

God will not leave, forsake, fail or abandon you!

Do you believe this promise from God? If you struggle with this promise, I have found a version of this verse that not only touched my heart, but also changed my life… The Amplified version:

 “…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor, let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! Assuredly not!^”

He will not, He will not, He will not… leave you!

How can we not believe this!

Shalom!

Anina

It is well

Tomorrow I have to preach at the funeral of a young man of 26 years old. Funerals are always difficult, but more so, if it is a young person.

While preparing a sermon – God took me to 2 Kings 4:18-26. It is about a woman whose only child also died. What is striking about this passage is what she answers when Gehazi asks her how she is doing.

2 Kings 4:26 (Amplified Bible)

²⁶Run to meet her and say, Is it well with you? Well with your husband? Well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

Her child was dead, but she said: “It is well!”

How is it possible to say: “It is well” in the mist of such deep sorrow? The answer lies in verse 34:

³⁴He went up and lay on the child, put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself on him and embraced him, the child's flesh became warm.

Elisha, the prophet went into the room where the boy laid and stretched himself over the child, and the boy became alive.

In the same way, Jesus stretched Himself out on the cross, not only for one boy, but for each and every one who is willing to accept His embrace.

Have you accepted His life-giving embrace? This is the only way you will be able to say: “It is well”.

Knowing it is well with your soul is the starting point of true growth in your relationship with Him. Then His words become your words, your eyes see what He sees and your hands do what His hands do!

Shalom!

Anina

Pastoring For The Poor: Righteous king, merciful father

Pastoring For The Poor: Righteous king, merciful father: "I while back I heard the following story. I do not know who the author is, but I want to share it with you: Long ago there was a kingdom w..."

Righteous king, merciful father

I while back I heard the following story. I do not know who the author is, but I want to share it with you:

Long ago there was a kingdom with a good king. This king ruled according with what the Word of God said, and he look very well after all his followers.

One day, one of his leaders came to him and informed him that there was a problem in the kingdom. The problem was the sin of adultery. The king was shocked and he immediately made a new law. The punishment for anyone who is caught in the act of adultery will be that both their eyes would be burned out.

The king made it so severe, because he thought nobody would dare commit this awful sin, if they knew the consequences. And for a long time, there were no reports of adultery.

But one day, a leader came to him, white in his face, informing the king that they have caught someone in the act of adultery. The king was very upset and commanded that the person must be brought to him so that they can burn out both his eyes.

The leader however was very afraid to bring the person to the king. The king became angry and demanded that the person must be brought to him. The door went open and there, with his head hanging down, stood the king’s son…

The king was so shocked he could not get a word out. His one leader said: “My king, surely the people will understand, give your son a warning and let him go!”

But the king knew he can’t do that, he knew he had to do what the law required, otherwise the people will lose respect for the law and his authority. It broke his heart.

He ordered the goldsmith to get the fire ready to start the punishment… the screams of his son could be heard throughout the whole kingdom when the king’s son first eye was burned out.

When the goldsmith got ready to burn the son’s second eye, the king stopped him and said: “No, burn one of my eyes!”

The law was righteously fulfilled by the king – two eyes for the punishment of adultery. But the mercy of a father sacrificed one of his own eyes!

This father gave one of his eyes. Our heavenly Father gave His Son!

Shalom!

Anina

Sinning without doing something wrong?

Sunday Kobus preached on the fruit of sin. That sin always has consequences – it leaves us with guilt, hopelessness and inferiority.

Sometimes we use sin to fill a void in our lives, but that void can only be filled by God. Only God can truly satisfy - leaving you with fulfillment, hope and an identity firmly established in Him.

That made me think about people that sincerely try to avoid sin, even repenting when they fall, but they still feel empty inside…

The problem lies in our definition of sin. What is sin? When you murder, lie, steal or gossip - doing the opposite of what God says in His Word? All these definitions are correct, but there is one missing.

In the Greek there are quite a few words for sin. But one word stands out for me: “hamartia” that means "missing the mark".

It is seen as the most comprehensive term for explaining sin. The Apostle Paul used the verb “hamartano” when he wrote, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

You see, sin is not only what you do wrong, but sin is also when God has been stirring your spirit to do something and you keep on ignoring His voice.

What have God been asking you these past few weeks? Is there something you need to do? Must you give something to someone? Is there a Bible verse that you need to pass on to someone?

So living an obedient life, is not only avoiding temptation, but it is also being obedient in what He asks from you!

Shalom!

Anina

The Shortest Prayer

This morning I read Proverbs 18:10 (NIV1984)

 ¹⁰ The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
   the righteous run to it and are safe.

The name above all names… The name of Jesus!

This weekend a friend showed us a testimony of a lady that said her Grandmother taught her the greatest, most powerful prayer!

The prayer: “JESUS!”

Yes, you have read correct. No long, difficult recited prayer – just the name of Jesus!

When you utter His name, it is all inclusive. It provides every need. It saves from every trouble and it is like a strong tower you run into.

So at this moment, just say His name…

When you feel stressed, say His name…

When the finances are not coming in, say His name…

Because every time you say His name, you run to Him, and He will lift you up. Lift you up as if in a high strong tower, to see the situation from a different perspective. Then feel His peace coming into the situation… and feel safe!

My prayer today for you:

“Jesus”

Amen

Shalom!

Anina