Having courage

"In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” - Isaiah 42:3-4

As we brace ourselves for the unveiling of the rest of 2023, it is good to remind ourselves that we put our trust in the One who will not falter or be discouraged. We will be discouraged at times, and we may even falter, but when we place our hand into the Lord's hand, then we know that we will be carried through these difficult times.

"Having courage does not mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage mean we face our fears. We are able to say, 'I have fallen, but I will get up.' - Maya Angelou

Living in Grace

D3LM3

What is Just?

"See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice." - Isaiah 32:1

A simple response to the question: "What is just?" could be something like - To be just is to be fair and unbiased. It is to judge everyone with the same measuring stick.

However, how many times have we found ourselves saying?: That is unfair! Life is unfair!

We can't change the way other people judge us or view us, but we can rely on the Messiah to treat us all with righteousness and justice. Matthew proclaimed this of Jesus when he said: 

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations." (Matthew 12:18)

How can we respond to this knowledge today?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

You get what you deserve

There is a saying that we all have used at some point in our conversations that goes like this: "You get what you deserve!" We may have even said it like this: "You reap what you sow!" 

Well, in today's readings from Psalm 64 we note how David reminds the Israelites that God will dish out his own punishment upon those who seek to do evil to others. 

"But God will shoot them with his arrows;
    they will suddenly be struck down.
8 He will turn their own tongues against them
    and bring them to ruin;
    all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9 All people will fear;
    they will proclaim the works of God
    and ponder what he has done." - Psalm 64:7-9

This verse teaches us to be patient when evil seems to prosper. We are reminded that God is the ultimate judge and no one will escape from the works of God. This can be a little frustrating for us at times, as many of us would like to dish out our own revenge, but we are called to trust in God's ways.

What does this verse for you today?

Romans 12:19 - "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord."

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Beautiful Reflection

As we say goodbye to 2019, many of us are reflecting on the good and tough times of this year, as well as thinking about what 2020 will hold for us. If you are looking for a passage to pray over and to help you with your reflection, take a read of these powerful words from Micah.
 
"With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:6-8

I believe that if we could live out these 3 qualities in the New Year we would be honouring Jesus with our lives.

Have a Blessed 2020 friends and thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. 

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Which measure?

When Jesus was teaching on the Mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee he said these words:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1

The part about the 'measure' always seem to allude me until I understood that certain Rabbi's spoke of two different 'measures' for judgement. The first one was the measure of Justice, while the second one was the measure of Mercy.

If we keep judging people with the measure of Justice, then that is the one God will use on us, but if we use Mercy, then that is the one God will use on us. That seems to make a lot of sense. The trick is now trying to make sure that we use the right measure when we look at other people.

Which measure do you usually revert too?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Enough is Enough - Ezekiel 45

 

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. - Ezekiel 45:9

God is patient by nature, but even the Lord has limits. In today's reading we see how God reprimands the princes of Israel telling them that they have gone too far. Enough is Enough, the Lord says. He urges them to stop oppressing the innocent and to start doing what is JUST and RIGHT. 

I wonder if this is not a timeous word for all our politicians as we inch closer towards the Elections? Enough is enough! God (and the people) are tired of the greed and selfishness of the 'princes' of our nation and it is time to start acting with Justice and Righteousness.

What do you think?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Advent begins

“I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he. – Deuteronomy 32:3-4

When we read these two verses we note a number of things to Praise God for:

1. His NAME

2. His GREATNESS

3. His WORKS

4. His JUSTICE

5. His FAITHFULNESS

6. His INTEGRITY

As we start this season of ADVENT, where we wait for the birth of the Messiah, why don't you reflect on a few of these virtues and use them as a prayer of thanks to God.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

God loves Justice

God loves Justice and God will always be on the side of the oppressed. So, I wonder what our political leaders make of Isaiah's words in chapter 61.

“For I, the Lord, love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant with them." - Isaiah 61:8

God doesn't often use the word 'hate', but when it is used we should understand that God is NOT chuffed with what he sees. In my opinion, God will bring all people to account; especially all who are acting unjustly and who steal from the innocent and poor.

Martin Luther King Jnr - "Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."

God has set a covenant in place and he will never break his part of the deal. We should all make sure that we live our lives with truth, integrity and justice.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Serving others in our neighbourhood

There are so many people in our world in need. In Africa we can see the need all around us and sometimes various Churches heed the call and get involved in serving others. This can be by going on mission trips to other countries or even by serving the poor locally. This year our Church community desires to focus on the needs closer to home - the needs in our city. So, we have decided to narrow our focus a little and to get involved in a few projects closer to our doorstep. Sure, there is still merit in going abroad to do mission (and if this is your call, then do it), but sometimes we miss the needs near our own community.

Scot McKnight has an interesting take on this. Read what he says and let me know your comments:

“Why do so many today want to wander off to South Africa or Kenya or India or Russia or Honduras or Costa Rica or Peru to help with justice issues but not spend the same effort in their own neighborhood or community or state? Why do young suburbanites, say in Chicago, want to go to Kentucky or Tennessee to help people but not want to spend that same time to go to the inner city in their own area to help with justice issues? I asked this question to a mature student in my office one day, and he thought he had a partial explanation: 'Because my generation is searching for experiences, and the more exotic and extreme the better. Going down the street to help at a food shelter is good and it is just and some of us are doing that, but it's not an experience. We want experiences.”

Is our mission about an 'experience' or about serving Jesus and others?
Worth thinking about!

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Dumb-founded!

Let me tell you a true story. This really happened to me and I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief.

The other day, I went to visit the now 'newish' Library in the centre of PMB. I have to confess that I had never been to see the Library, so I went, half out of interest, and half out of needing to do some work.

As I sat working on my laptop I realised that I needed to plug in before the battery ran dead. So, after spotting 5 empty cubicles on the bottom floor, I politely asked one of the Librarians if I could use one of the plug points. She looked at me as if I had just asked her for a million bucks or else it may have been that she swallowed something very sour! Anyway, this is what she told me,

"No we can't allow you to plug your computer in - if we do then the municipality will have to pay a huge electricity bill every month." (By this she implied that every person in PMB would want to follow suit...)

I tried hard to act like a good Christian, but my mind was swimming as I walked away. I thought of the students who may want to study there, but could only do so if they used pen and paper, or had a mega long battery life on their laptops. As I walked out, I noticed dozens of PC's, with empty chairs staring at them - what about all that wasted electricity?! But, hey what do I know!

So, needless to say, I nearly choked on my cornflakes this morning, when I read about the municipality wanting to put a 1200% electricity price hike on small businesses. The cheek of it! The municipality won't give it's citizens access to a plug-point (for 15 minutes), because it is going to cost them too much money, but hey they feel quite comfortable ripping honest citizens off .... to the tune of 1200%!!!!

Something is rotten in Denmark and I think that it is really starting to stink!

That's my rant for the month. I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Maybe I am just having a bad hair-day, but feel free to comment.

Living in Grace
D3LM3