Grateful

Hi Everyone

Blog time again.

Firstly I want to just say that I am sorry for not posting every week. I know that one of the things about a blog is regular updates, but this is not just another blog. This blog is inspired by God and I’ve also learned that sometimes we don’t hear God, not because we are not listening or not obedient enough or too full of sin, but quite simply because God doesn’t have anything to say to us at the time.

In the last couple of weeks God has been following a routine with me. He would start on a Monday or Tuesday by showing me certain things and making me face a few challenges head-on. Almost like a practical class. Sometimes it felt like He threw me in at the deep end and forcing me to swim or drown. Luckily I know that He will never let me drown. During the week I’ll usually learn a lot about myself and God would let me try to figure it all out by myself, as that is how my mind works and God knows me all too well. Then by the weekend God would start to reveal His plan behind the challenges of the week and the meaning of it all. I see this as the theoretical class. God would also deliver me from anything bad that would come out of the “lesson for the week”. Sometimes He would show me certain things about myself or my past that I had to repent and be delivered from.

But this is only my experience and I know that this “routine” might only be a temporary thing. God does not follow any formulae. He doesn’t follow any routine. Jesus healed everyone in a different way at different times in different places. Imagine if God did follow routines? Where would we be? If He had to rest every Sunday like we do? Where would this world be? What if He only healed people on a Tuesday or saved people from car accidents on a Thursday? Or what if He only loved us on Fridays? Then we could really say TGIF... and just for the record, in my book TGIF means “Today God Is First” and that goes for every day.

What I am trying to say is that we have an awesome God. He never sleeps. He is just there all the time waiting to love us and all we need to do to receive His love is to accept Him in our lives.

So my blog post tonight is not about us. It’s not about my personal experiences with God and it’s not about any How’s or Why’s when it comes to God. It’s just about saying “thank you God”.

Tonight I say thanks to Jesus for all the blessings in my life. For all the joy and peace and love that He gave me. I praise God for changing my life and washing me clean. I praise His Holy name for restoring me and renewing me and giving me a new life. I love God for loving me and blessing me with talents that I can use to glorify His name. I fall down on my knees and cry out to God the following prayer:

God I come before you tonight, unworthy of even calling your Name, but I thank you from my heart for what you did for me. For dying on the cross so that I can live. I thank you Father that you picked me up from the ashes and washed my sins away. I thank you that you restored me and filled me with your Holy Spirit. I thank you for giving me a purpose in this life and a new hope. I thank you for the calling you have on my life. I thank you for choosing me to be a part of the Body of Christ. To be part of the great work that is required on Earth. Jesus I thank you for caring for me and protecting me from all evil. God I thank you for all the blessings you bestowed upon me, the amazing love you placed in my life as well as the infinite love that you show me every day. Jesus I could not ever repay you, so I ask that you take control of my life and use me in your kingdom. I am your servant. Your love is deep and wide and furious. Your love heals. I can only say thank you Jesus. Amen.

Blessings until next time!

B

WWJD?

Hello once again.

It’s been two weeks since my last update and in this time God has drawn me so close to Him and showed me a few things that I have to share with you.

So let’s start and get straight into it. Sin. Yes, that ugly word that always makes you feel guilty when you hear it. It’s that thing that caused this world to be as broken as it is now. It’s not only something you do, it hurt other people when you do it and most of all, it hurts God.

So we know that sin comes from satan and we know that we sin every day. We also know that we need to ask God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, but is it possible to live a life without sin? We know that Jesus never sinned in His time on earth, but is it possible for you and me to live that way?

Now let’s remember something very quickly: Scripture says that we were made in God’s image. We also know that when we give our hearts to Jesus we are filled with the Holy Spirit who is a Person, a part of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not a ghost in the corner, it’s God Himself inside you.

So I knew this for a very long time and I thought, okay well, it’s just the way we understand it and that we were supposed to be like Christ but because we are humans we will never be like Christ and will always be sinners and the Holy Spirit inside me is actually just my conscience telling me right from wrong.. but that sometimes only happens after I’ve sinned and then it makes me feel guilty and you know that I’m just talking in cirlces here because I didn’t really understand it..

I think a lot of Christians don’t always understand this because we get told by everyone that we are sinners so I think that many of us are just in a “cycle of sin”.. we sin every day and then just before we go to sleep we pray to Jesus to forgive us for our sins and the next morning it just starts all over again.

Now  Jesus has been working with me for a few weeks now, showing me things that I had to hand over to Him and things that I had to be delivered from. In the last 2 weeks, especially the last week Jesus started to make me very sensitive to sin. I mean everything that’s wrong in His eyes.

Allow me to tell you this first. Before I got saved I thought it must be difficult to stick to the rules. I always had a bit of a rebel inside me who would question any kind of rules and how relevant it is to the cause etc etc. So being a Christian seemed like very hard work for someone like me. Staying inside the rules and not question it... limiting myself and giving up my “freedom”, or at least the freedom I thought I had at that stage.

Luckly for  me Jesus opened  my eyes and I got saved and then I started to experience what real freedom meant. The freedom that Jesus paid for with His own blood.

So back to a week ago. Jesus started to show me every little thing that causes us to sin. I became so aware of everything I did that I moved a little slower through the day and thinking about what Jesus is trying to show me. I saw all the traps that satan sets for us every day, not only for myself, but for the people around me too. 

Things that stood out for me was how easy it was to get involved when people are busy gossiping. For others it’s easy to react in anger. Many people idolise others, especially celebrities and sports stars. Some people are so obessed with their hobbies or even their problems. Most people are obsessed with money and I could write a book on the problems that money can cause. Other things that espcially men should watch out for is woman dressed inappropriately. The saying goes:”It’s okay to look at the menu, as long as you eat at home”. I’m afraid to say that this is not true. It’s just another one of satan’s games. Yes, there are a lot of pretty human beings out there and the TV and magazines sells sex like it’s going out of fasion. Have you noticed how every magazine has the word “sex” on the cover these days. Can you control your mind to be blind to this? Can you look the other way?

I walked in the shopping mall across my office during my lunch break and I looked at the eyes of other men when a pretty girl walks by. They take a second and sometimes a third peek.. they always do. Even a man walking with his beautiful wife(I assume it’s his wife) at his side can’t resist taking just another look while he thinks that no one knows. I’ve got bad news for that guy. God knows.

Now I know that you would think... okay, Bertus, so now God showed you right from wrong but you are still a sinner and that does not mean that you can live like Jesus did.

Well that’s not the point here. I can not really explain to you how good it feels to see sin and turn away from it. Making a conscious decision that I want what God want’s from me. What Would Jesus Do? ..really got meaning now. And the best thing about being sensitive to sin is that you just get a whole lot closer to Jesus in the process. When you see it everywhere, you feel how God is guiding you in the right direction. You see a clear difference between things from satan and things from God. I felt God’s presence every minute of the day. His Holy Spirit guiding me and holding my hand throughout the day.

I’m still no saint, please don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that I might have sinned a couple of times while writing this blog, but I can tell you this: I don’t want to move away from Jesus ever in my life. Walking in His presence is already such an amazing feeling and to add to it, turning away from the things that hurt God is just so rewarding.  It does not mean you can’t have that beer or be passionate about your rugby or even making good money. But when you open your mind and heart to God, you know that you can enjoy these things within God’s boundaries without feeling guilty about it. You can also know that when you are closer to God, that He will not only show you right from wrong, but also help you in making decisions, decisions that might change your life.. know that when you have God making your decisions for you, it will always be the right ones and it will always be blessed.

Now I challenge you for this week.  Just open your mind to the Holy Spirit. Let Him guide you throughout the day. When you are confronted by satan, ask yourself.. What would Jesus do? Then do the right thing.

My prayer for you is that God will guide you and lead you in this world of darkness to show you His bright light and for you to be filled with His joy as you walk in His presence. I also pray that you will be delivered from the guilt that satan wants you to feel every time that you step out of line and I pray that you only love God more as you receive His grace.

Have a blessed week.

B