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In the presence of Jesus: Martha’s lesson

We all have that moment when we think the presence of Jesus is the least important thing in our lives. There is too much to prepare for; life is busy, so the moment all this is going on, we easily put aside being in the presence of Jesus. I get it because I have many times gotten so busy with other things while Jesus just wanted me to be in his presence. I have missed opportunities to be with Jesus because I was distracted and frustrated by the preparations. I know I am not the only one, so to you, that was been distracted and frustrated with the preparations, it may be time to be in the presence of Jesus.

Just likE MARTHA

I have been watching the show The Chosen, and if you have not yet, I highly recommend it. I watched the episode that told the story of Martha and Mary and loved how well it showed the difference between the two women. Growing up in the church, going as far back as Sunday school, we know we were taught this story and the lesson we could learn from it. We were taught as children that being in the presence of Jesus was of the utmost importance. The teaching and lesson remain, except we grow and may have a lot more responsibility, distractions, and frustrations, so the presence of Jesus sometimes becomes less important. Just like Martha, we toil away in our kitchens (life) alone and forget the importance of Jesus’s presence.

For those of you who may not know Martha, let me introduce her to you and an important lesson we can learn from her. This particular story in Luke 10:38-42 gives us a glimpse into Martha’s life. She welcomes people into her home and from all the effort she puts into it, seems like second nature. Martha is receiving a special guest, and preparations are ongoing to ensure the special guest receives the very best. This is great! This special guest is Jesus! He deserves the very best. So she toils away in the kitchen to make sure there is a well-prepared meal ready for Jesus. While she toils away in the kitchen, her sister Mary decides to stay at the feet of Jesus and listen to him. She chooses to be in the presence of Jesus. To Martha this is not fair, her sister could be helping her prepare, but instead, she stays in the presence of Jesus? Is that even fair? Because I am like Martha sometimes, I totally understand her feelings at the moment. In the lens of Martha, what she is doing is of utmost importance, her sister should also treat it the same way. Her sister’s decision to be with Jesus frustrates her and eventually upsets her to the point she brings it up to Jesus. What Martha fails to realize at this moment is Jesus, the son of God is in her presence. Her preparations for Jesus were not wrong, and I am sure she was sincere in her desire to serve Jesus. However, this did not matter to Jesus, what mattered was Martha joining her sister Mary to partake in his presence. Being in Jesus’s presence still matters to him for us as well. If we could only step away from our kitchens and decide to join him.

Preparations vs presence

After reading Luke 10: 38-42, it is quite easy to tell if you have been more of a Martha or a Mary. Have you been more concerned about the preparations that you have entirely ignored the presence of Jesus? Or have you put all your preparations on hold just so that you can lean into the presence of Jesus? Let us compare preparation and presence, both are not bad things to to by the way, but each has its timing and if well balanced, could work incredibly well. With preparation from our example of Martha, preparations were distracting, frustrating, and brought unawareness of what matters in the moment. For Mary who chose the presence of Jesus, she experienced joy, revelation through his teaching, and closeness with God. Given a choice, I would decide like Mary did and hope you would too. An opportunity to be in the presence of Jesus surpasses all the preparations. I know that the decision is easier said than done especially for nature Marthas who are typically overtaken by the preparations. To us all I say, let us not miss any opportunity to be in the presence of Jesus because we are distracted. Martha nearly missed a physical moment in Jesus’s presence, let us not do the same by missing his presence in the spirit. Our spirit lets us know when we have put preparations above presence, and so we are pushed towards his presence. With the push of the spirit to be in the presence of Jesus, we desire his word, to pray, to obey, and to draw closer to him. Remember this is of utmost importance above the preparation. There are many amazing things you can receive just by being in the presence of Jesus. Jesus says to you;

I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. -John 15:5 AMP-

It is time to take your rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much love,

Xholiwe

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Laws and Holiness: What I have learned so far in Leviticus

I will outrightly say that I am not the Christian girl who woke up one morning and decided to read the book of Leviticus. I fought strongly to skip over this book because in my head I was convinced this book did not apply to me. What is in the book of Leviticus that can apply to my life? I would further argue in my mind that all the laws in the book are quite intense and I thank God for Jesus because I am free from the laws. I have been slowly reading the book of Leviticus and I see the importance of this book even for me as a modern-day Christian. Thank goodness that I have not been reading it alone, two of my friends have come alongside me to help me get through this book. They have been sharing their reflections and with each shared reflection, I am starting to learn the importance of Leviticus.

One main theme in Leviticus is that God through the laws called for his people to be holy. Laws and Holiness had to be a means for God’s people to still have relation to a holy God. These people could not approach a holy God while being unholy themselves (read Leviticus 19:2). To establish order on how to approach a holy God they needed these laws, and people to mediate. God helps establish these laws through Moses and the other priests to draw his people closer to him through Holiness.

Why ALL these laws?

I have asked myself this question, why all these laws? I am only 6 chapters in Leviticus, thinking these are many laws, and I have not even made it halfway. Luckily, my friend helped me understand why with videos and voice notes of her reflections. To help answer this question we have to backtrack a little bit. These laws are now being given to people who not too long ago were living as slaves in Egypt. During their time in Egypt, 400 years to be precise, these people may have even worshipped and offered to the gods of Egypt. How then would they establish a relationship with God and distinguish from the other gods they may have worshipped in the past? This was a new way of living life, something they needed to learn and have guidance. After 400 years of a different way of life, surely they needed to start over, and starting over meant a new set of laws. God had to provide them these laws, not as punishment, but for God in his holiness to dwell with his people. A holy God could not dwell with an unholy people, but he bridged the gap and instructed them through these laws on how they could make atonement and live holy lives. These laws called for them to be separate, they couldn’t do what everyone else was doing. Their desire for God’s holy presence, fellowship, and sovereignty meant fulfilling these laws given to them.

Living A Holy Life in Leviticus

What did living a holy life look like for an Israelite in Leviticus? I know it looked nothing like mine because of Jesus and I am grateful. I jokingly thought living a holy life in Leviticus was expensive and while I was listening to a podcast from the Bible project, they confirmed my thoughts. All jokes aside, living a holy life then and now does come with a price, which I without a doubt think is worth it! The Israelites were called to be holy and to do so they were to follow God’s commandments and direction. What God instructed, they were to do it. They made sacrificial offerings for atonement to God for their wrongdoings and also they freely gave to God as a way to honor him. At that time, I want to assume their way of living a holy life was not appealing to others who did not worship God and they may have even received mockery of how they lived their lives. However, their life lived under the direction of God was worth it. They bore witness to what God could do for them, these are a people who saw what happened to the many gods of Egypt. They also witnessed God mightly provide for them while in the wilderness, truly they would want to live a life holy and pleasing to the Lord. Having fellowship with a Holy God meant being holy as he is. (Read Leviticus 19:2).

We too are called to be holy, yes, we are not making sacrificial offerings of atonement like the Israelites, but we are to be set apart.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrew 12:14

The Israelites wanted to see God, we want to see God, and that all happens when we make the effort to live holy lives. What I have learned so far from reading Leviticus is that God wanted from the Israelites what he wants from us now, a reconciled and fulfilling fellowship with him. I have learned that the laws of Leviticus were not to punish the Israelites but to bring them back to complete reverence to God and desire for him to dwell with them. Just like us, they struggled with sin, but God made a way for them to not be without help through the laws he commanded. They could now follow these laws and through them make an effort to live holy lives. What a blessing! We can learn from them too! It is time for us to take our rightful place, it is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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Firmly may your house stand: Christ your firm foundation

Many of you may be familiar with Matthew 7: 24-27. This portion of the famous Sermon on the Mount describes two people building houses; one built on rock foundation and the other on sand. I had the great privilege to dive deep into this portion of the study with some women in small group. We shared what Jesus meant by this illustration and how personally how rock and sand foundations worked out in our lives. Jesus from this illustration did not mean us building physical houses on either rock or sand. He meant building our hope, trust, and faith on either of these foundations will determine how we withstand the storm. The storms could be the pain we experience, the setbacks, the loss, the changes that come with life here on earth. Much simply said it is the trials and tribulations of life, which God did say we even as Christians will experience here on earth.

It is no surprise that when we build ourselves on a sandy foundation, it isn’t long before our house comes crumbling down. A sandy foundation was one where we lived without Christ being our foundation, hope, and faith. So when the storms of life came, it was very hard to withstand them. With sandy foundations, it meant doing this over and over again without any guaranteed hope that when the next storm passes, will we still stand? On the flip side, there is the house built on a rock, this rock being Christ Jesus. Anyone who builds on this foundation can be assured that even with the storms that come, yet will the house still stand! How then can your house firmly stand?

building your house on a solid foundation

I am not a builder, but from watching enough HGTV shows, I think I roughly have an idea of how the process works. Typically, the builders will examine the blueprint of the house they are to build before gathering the required material. The process of building starts with the foundation, the builder can not put the rest of the material without the foundation. The foundation is so important that the builder can’t compromise on it. Compromising the foundation can cause the house to collapse. In a similar this is how you would start to build your house on a solid foundation, which is Jesus Christ. You will need a blueprint, all required materials, and a solid foundation.

  • Blueprint – By definition, a blueprint is a guide used to make something. We also have a blueprint for our lives and it is the Bible. The Bible helps guide us on how to build our hope, faith, and trust in Christ. If we want to build our houses correctly, we follow the layout (words) and instructions that the Bible provides us.
  • Gather the required Material – To build our solid foundation in Christ we need the required material, we already know that sand does not build a solid foundation, so we gather the necessary material to help establish a firm foundation. This can be seeking God in prayer, putting faith into action, trusting his ways, spending time in his word, and listening to his said words so we can carefully follow them. (Read Matthew 7 v 25).
  • Establishing a solid foundation – If Christ is the solid foundation, then you need to start by knowing him and believing in him. if you are equipped with the material, now is the time to put it all into action and build. You are now establishing an intentional relationship with Jesus. This relationship is one you could never regret! Compromising the relationship can shake up your foundation, I speak for experience and encourage you not to do it. By you not compromising, you are assured a solid foundation even for the storms that will come.

Your life with Christ as your firm Foundation

There is this wonderful song that I highly recommend you listen to if you have not had a chance. It sums up what I will probably say here, it is called Firm Foundation (He won’t) by Maverick City and Cody Carnes. Your life in Christ does not mean that you are exempt from trials and tribulations. The difference between going through trials and tribulations with Christ as your foundation is that you go through them knowing that indeed he will not fail you. It will be evident in how he helped you get through tough times even in your past. Christ as a firm foundation in your life gives you peace, you find peace even when you go through trials because there is an assurance that he is there with you. (Read John 16:33). Your life may not be the perfectly perfect life that you may have imagined, but it surely is Jesus who helps keep you from falling. Christ as your foundation means that you hope and trust him with all your heart. (Read Proverbs 3: 5-6). There is no other greater foundation you would want to ground yourself in aside from that of Christ Jesus. Your faith will be tested as you experience life with Christ, but hold on dearly to what you know is true! Listen to his words and follow them diligently. Watch how with every trial your house shall still stand because you were wise to make Christ your foundation.

It is time to take your rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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What a friend we have in Jesus: The truest friend

Growing up in a traditional church meant singing hymns and I must admit it is hard to pick my favorite hymns since I have many! One of my many favorite hymnal songs is ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’. Singing this song as a child, I did not understand what it truly meant to have Jesus as a friend. I am now grown enough to understand the precious gift and privilege of friendship with Jesus. Jesus on earth was the perfect model of friendship and without going against his word, he demonstrated true friendship with those he called his friends.

This does not take away from his Majesty, it reminds us that he has a love for us that is so deep that even in his sovereignty he can still be a friend.

Jesus as a friend

What is Jesus as like as a friend? This is not a mysterious question we will only know when we reach heaven. When Jesus was on earth he was a friend to many and evidently, the stories tell us how good of a friend he was. He understood the need for connection and relationship more than anyone he surrounded himself with. Because he knew we were created to connect with each other, he too made the effort to cultivate and nurture friendships. Jesus as a friend is;

  1. Sincere – Jesus genuinely wants to connect and form a friendship with us.
  2. Intentional – Jesus is an active participant in the friendship we have with him and purposefully engages with us.
  3. Present – Jesus is attentive to our needs and our desire for connection.
  4. Truthful – Jesus tells us the truth even when we may not like it.
  5. Reliable – Jesus will be there for us always.
  6. Trustworthy – Jesus would not betray our trust in him.
  7. Selfless – Jesus loves and cares for us deeply.

What a wonderful friend we have in Jesus! From experience, I can confirm he has been the truest friend to me. It is such a blessing to be connected with Jesus in friendship. I feel like an unworthy friend at times because I don’t steward my friendship with him very well. I know we have all been there, but I hope this does not stop you from cultivating your friendship and stewarding it well.

Being a friend of Jesus

If we know how Jesus is as a friend, how can we be friends of Jesus? He says it clearly in his word, we can not miss it if we are desiring his friendship. In John 15:14 Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you”. What does Jesus command us to do? Let us read Matthew 22: 37-39, he says,

'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].'

By obeying these commands we can create friendship with Jesus. Obeying these commands comes with intentionality from us. Our love for God and God’s people must be sincere without wrong motives. When we continuously make the choice to obey these commandments, we draw ourselves closer to friendship with Jesus. We can also cultivate our friendship with Jesus by communing with him. Communing with him is finding opportunities to engage with him, after all no good friendship is without coming together. As you cultivate your friendship with Jesus, remember to converse with him through prayer, and read his word so it can help you understand him more. Take some time to share your joys and burdens with him as you would with a sincere friend here on earth. He desires as much as you do for connection and a deep relationship with you. Set aside all the things that pull you away from cultivating a friendship with him. Being a friend of Jesus is truly a precious gift and privilege that we should not take for granted. Through his friendship, we find such great love and care that can never be compared to any other. It is something we should desire and treasure. It is time to take our rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns.

Much love,

Xholiwe

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Who knocks at your door: Draw your attention

In a modern world of doorbells, buzzers, intercoms, and text messages I would like to point out the good old-fashioned hand knocking. Knocking on doors has been used to draw our attention since time. The expected knock of family or friends coming to visit, the unexpected knock of strangers, the knock of urgency/warning, and many other code knocks you can remember. A common question we typically ask ourselves after a knock is who is at the door? If you have lived quite a bit like I have, based on the knock, you may know who is at your door. This is all physical, our ears hear and know and we proceed with action. Can I shift your attention for the sake of this blog? Keep the idea of knocking and knowing who is at the door in the physical. The Bible in many examples has used knocking to illustrate this call of our attention to God. In the book of Revelations, God says in chapter 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” How does the knock from God sound? Of course, it is not one we can recognize with our ears, but surely our hearts know when God stands at the door and knocks.

When the heart knows who knocks at the door

Aside from keeping us alive, the heart is the internal ear of one’s soul. There are several things that we can know based on our hearts. We know when we are in love, afraid, excited, nervous, heartbroken, calm, and at peace when we pay attention to our hearts. How then can the heart communicate to us and draw our attention to hear and know who is at the door? If the heart is the internal ear of the soul, it will know what the knock from the Lord sounds like. He is the Creator of it all after all! Think of it this way, when an app is down or does not function as it should, it will only respond to the app developers coding correction because they created it. This is the same way our hearts respond to God’s knocking. It is almost like a natural incline of our hearts to know who exactly is at the door. We can ignore the knocking for a while until we can not anymore. God gently knocks, he doesn’t force his way into your life or like a robber breaks through your doors and steals from you. He stands there and your heart hears him knocking, the question is, do you respond?

Who is the knock for?

The knock is for all of us! The word in Revelations 3:20 was addressed to a people who knew God and probably heard him knock several times. They knew what his knock sounded like, but eventually had their attention drawn to other things. They no longer wanted to allow God into their lives as they were filled with their own means of sustenance. We are no different from these people, we have been hard of hearing because of our very own means to sustain ourselves. We may not see the need to respond to God’s knocking when we are preoccupied with our lives. Yet, he still stands at the door and knocks to draw our attention to him and do life with him.

Opening the door and inviting him

Opening the door for the Lord to come in is pleasant, and the heart tells you immediately. The times I have tried to keep the door shut after hearing God knocking were probably the most difficult in my life. I thought I could get by just fine on my own until I couldn’t anymore. Overwhelmed by the hurt and pain I concealed, my heart drew my attention to the door, and opening it was the best thing I could ever have done for myself. It was a different experience and from then on I decided to keep the door open and always invite God in. Opening the door and inviting him in means you want to have an intimate relationship with him. He no longer is just a God you read about in the books, but you know him and desire to have him in your life. You fellowship with him and him with you (Rev 3:20). What a beautiful opportunity we have to open our hearts to the Lord. If you have been hearing this knock for a while now, please don’t ignore it anymore. Allow him in! Your heart knows who is knocking at your door. It is time for you to take your rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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Intentional encounters: Make the time

In the 24 hours we have in the day, we can do as much as we possibly can. Before bed, we may think where did the time go? Time does have a way of slipping by us so easily and we oftentimes tend to lack the intentionality of our time. Typically, what usually suffers is our intentional time spent meeting with God. We have limited our encounter with God to only our Sabbath days when there are so many more opportunities for us to meet with him in our daily 24 hours. I am guilty of this sometimes, I get caught up in my own timetable, and making time to meet with the Lord becomes difficult. In these situations, being intentional about connecting with the Lord helps take away the focus from our own timetable to then connect with God. Making the time, and preparing to have an encounter with God does change the day-to-day. If you are struggling with intentionally encountering the Lord, please keep reading.

INTENTIONAL about your time with the Lord

By definition, to be intentional is doing something on purpose. When we think of ‘purpose’ of this blog post we must think of preparation to successfully meet with the Lord. I was speaking with a dear friend of mine and she was sharing her amazing encounters with the Lord. She told me how before these many encounters with the Lord through confirming scriptures, dreams, and visions, she took time to prepare herself. She did a Daniel’s fast for 21 days and was intentional about how she spent her time. In her preparation, she ensured that her food planning was well-curated and this helped her avoid the temptation of meat and animal products. Every day during the 21 days she spent an hour in prayer. She went even further to put away all distractions, things such as social media accounts, TV shows, etc. All this was intentional and well thought through, I can’t go into detail about her beautiful encounters with the Lord in these 21 days, but rest assured it was great! While you may not be thinking about a 21-day Daniel fast as a means to encounter the Lord, you can still be intentional in your daily encounter with the Lord. Understand that God wants to be connected with you, he wants to spend time with you. How then can you be intentional about your time spent with him?

  • Start your day with devotion and prayer.
  • Listen to praise and worship music.
  • Study your Bible and seek understanding.
  • Listen to a podcast/sermon on a specific topic you want to gain more understanding from.
  • Write your prayers and thoughts by journaling.
  • Create times when you fast and pray.
  • Create absolute quiet time where you can just focus on your time with the Lord with no distractions (especially your smartphone). Allow yourself to quiet the noise of each busy day.

These are a few things that I do that help me intentionally make time to spend with the Lord. You may look at the list and think these feel like chores, and honestly when I have fed my flesh more than my spirit, they have felt like chores to me too. Almost like a to-do list that I am supposed to check off and feel great about my accomplishments at the end of my day. But these intentional things listed above are far from feeling like chores when continuously done with the purpose in mind that we get to encounter God. The idea of intimately connecting with our creator holds greater significance when we make the time to do these things. We intentionally prepare ourselves for an encounter knowing that he too wants to commune with us. In our intentionality, we find the very thing that we so desperately need. 

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence].

1 Chronicles 16:11 AMP

The scriptures invite us to draw near to God and to continually Seek his face. May your intentions to seek God and draw closer to him be pure and true. It will surprise you what God can do with your intentional ways to encounter him daily. Encountering God does do so much for one’s journey, I can testify to how being intentional has helped my closeness to God. In your intentions to encounter the Lord, your faith is built, you are strengthened, you establish discipline and most importantly deepen your relationship with God. Intentionally making time for the Lord means that you recognize his significance in your life! If it has been a while since encountered the Lord and want to re-establish your connection start with making time for him in your day. He is waiting for you and eager to draw nearer to you as well.

It is time for you to take your rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much love,

Xholiwe

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To love God and to love his people

The Gospel when studied gives us such great understanding of God’s love for us. I remember my very first memory verse as a child was John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave us his beloved son. Such great love! We are often reminded that God loves us through his word and as we continue to be taught of his love in the church. I was fairly new to my now home church when my pastor said the mission of the church for new members was to love God, love his people, and make disciples. I have fixated my thoughts this week on what it means to love God and his people. Often times we get so enamored by God’s love, which is great! But we then forget that we are to love him and love his people. How then do we love God and love his people?

Loving God

Loving God should be easy, at least that is what I think. God’s love is not something we have to earn because it is given freely. Why then do people find it hard to love him? Well, there are several things that can stop us from loving God, but I will share the obvious one which is the sinful nature of man. It can be quite hard to love God when sin pulls us away from knowing God and inevitably loving him. Another thing that makes it hard for us to love God is loving him wholeheartedly. There are many competing things in our lives that can easily distract us from fully loving God. But to love God requires all of our heart and not some of it. (read Mark 12:30). I think of David when it comes to loving God, a man after God’s own heart. Was David sinful? yes, aren’t we all? But his heart ran after God relentlessly even in his sin, he loved God. The Psalmist as he is fondly known, through his many highs and lows showed us how to love God. How then can we love God;

  • Be obedient to God’s commands
  • Be intentional with your time spent daily with God (in your waking, your work, your routine tasks) make God part of your day.
  • Love his people.
  • Intimately pray to him, no need to rush. Have a conversation with God.
  • Like David, worship and praise him at every chance you get.
  • Mediate on his word and allow him to bring a greater understanding of it to you.
  • Love him with all of your heart!

It is quite obvious that God desires to have a relationship with you. His love for you is readily available. Love God just like David, even in the highs and lows of your life, it does make a greater difference to love and be loved by God.

Loving his people

Do you know that by loving God’s people, you love him too? God commands us in his word to love one another (read Mark 12:31). The question is how do we love others if the others do not love us back? We love them anyway! Unlike God’s love that is freely given, sometimes we do not love like God does, we instead hold back our love for others. We allow resentment towards others to take precedence over loving them. We only love those who love us, but God says to love even our enemies! It is all people! The temptation to not love others can be so easily done because, unlike God, people are flawed and because of this we conclude it is perfectly okay to be loveless towards the other. But if you read your bible, you know that this is not true. The Bible shares many stories where people did not love each other and what happened later was nothing to desire. The envy of brothers led to them selling their brother into slavery. The hate towards God’s people kept them enslaved for 400 years. The deceit of receiving God’s blessing led to sibling rivalry. I could go on and on to show you how not loving one another is destructive. We can pull from all these examples and see why it is important for us to love one another. So then how do we love God’s people;

  • Pray for others. (This includes your enemies!)
  • Serve one another with integrity.
  • Extend compassion to others.
  • Do not judge others.
  • Forgive those who have wronged us.
  • Give to others sincerely.
  • Work towards living in peace with others

If you are like me and you try to imagine a world where everyone loves one another as commanded by God, that love for others can start with you and become a reality. I can admit that I sometimes fail to love others as commanded and ask God to help me love others as he does, even my enemies. I don’t always get it right, but I still seek God’s help when loving others. You can do the same too! Keep this verse in your thoughts as you love God and his people.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] [a]love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. - Mark 12:30-31-

It is the greatest command after all! To love God and to love his people! It is time for you to take your rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns.

Much love,

Xholiwe

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Thoughts on Peter’s Repentance: The bitter weeping of repentance

I have been on this thought of repentance for a while now and I hope my thoughts also allow you to think of repentance much more deeply. Over the weekend I read a chapter in Andrew Murray’s book called ‘Absolute Surrender’, my dear friend recommended this book and I would highly recommend it to you. Especially if you are struggling with absolute surrender or in other words repentance to the Lord. I am far into the book, but this chapter, quite shorter than the other chapters I have read, highlighted Peter’s story. I must admit this chapter was so thought-provoking, hence me thinking my thoughts louder to you.

If you were by any chance raised in the church, as kids we infamously were taught that; Peter walked on water with Jesus, he was one of the close disciples called by Jesus, and he loved Jesus so much, that he eventually became a diligent messenger of the Gospel. I personally loved these stories and as a kid, it was a great way to establish my faith and love for Jesus. Our study school teachers may have intentionally left out the fact that Peter was flawed, just like most of us. I understand them, as a kid, I wouldn’t fully understand, but how I wish it was much clearer. Well, I now get to learn more about flaws as I figure out my own flaws with the Lord. Another famous story of Peter that was taught in Sunday school, was Peter denying Jesus. I wouldn’t fully understand the magnitude of this moment for Peter until I had denied Jesus in my actions.

Back to the book, after reading this short chapter in Andrew Murray’s book, I think, it brought much understanding to the denial and what it meant. In my thoughts I was thinking, how could Peter a man who walked on water with Jesus, gave up his career as a fisherman to follow Jesus, saw Jesus perform miracles, and defended Jesus still deny him. Andrew had the answers to my questions, he said in his book “I do not know a man in the Bible who gives us greater comfort. When we look at his character so full of failures and at what Christ made him by the power of the Holy Spirit, there is hope for every one of us.” This immediately gave me hope! As I read this, I thought of my own failures and how much at that moment I related to Peter. But if not for the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe as you read this, you feel the same way and I hope that gives you comfort.

The turning point of Peter

Think with me for a minute, would you? Peter denied Jesus, right? something he said he wouldn’t do even when Jesus said he would. The time comes, and at the third crow of the rooster, Peter denied Jesus. This was just as Jesus had told him. He must have been devastated, disappointed, and guilted by his action. This fulfillment led Peter to weep bitterly because he knew what this meant to him. But according to Andrew Murray, he said that weeping bitterly was Peter’s turning point. What changed in Peter’s heart in this moment? Most scholars of the bible and theologians say that this was the moment of Peter’s repentance. I think this was not the idea I had for Peter’s repentance, bitter weeping? Why would a friend of Jesus weep bitterly, he should have an easy turn point, right? He worked with Jesus for three years, and he surely must not weep, what does he even have to weep about? Well, he wept bitterly because in that moment he knew that his self-will was not greater than God’s will. In his action of denying Christ, it meant that he did not deny himself. Andrew says, “There is no choice for us; we must either deny self or deny Christ. There are two great powers fighting each other – the self-nature in the power of sin and Christ in the power of God. Either of these must rule within us.” Peter in his realization of choosing self knew he denied God and this is Peter’s turning point. What is yours?

Peter was not the only one

Sincere repentance comes with changed actions. Peter showed us this after this turning point. He was about Jesus’s work until his very last breath. He spread the Gospel and I am certain that came with a lot of denying of self. He was human just as we are, so I could imagine that even in the temptations to choose himself, he would go back to that very moment he denied Christ. He was not a man without sin, but his actions showed that he chose Christ even when he was put to death. He was persecuted for the Gospel, yet he continued to pursue Christ. The bitter weeping meant something, it meant a change of heart, an entire purge of the choice of self.

You may be exactly where Peter was, given the choice between self or Christ. Peter was not the only one who had to fight between the two choices. If like Peter you chose self and denied Christ, do not be guilted by your actions, but instead make it your turning point. You can change the choice you made and fully accept Christ. Walk with Christ like Peter did and find Christ again. You may not have a rooster crow for the third time like Peter did, but you do know the actions of self that drew you further away from Christ. It may cause you to weep because you then realize the magnitude of your actions, but take heart, weeping bitterly is sometimes what is needed for us to remember Christ and repent. 

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover or pretext for evil, but [use it and live] as bond-servants of God. - 1 Peter 2:16 (AMP)
for you have been born again [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] not of seed which is perishable but [from that which is] imperishable and immortal, that is, through the living and everlasting word of God. - 1 Peter 1:23 (AMP)
Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you. - 1 Peter 5:6 (AMPC)

It is time for you to take your rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns.

Much love,

Kholiwe

Posted on by thornstocrowns

Godly Convictions: The antidote to repentance

As a Christian, I have heard people say this too many times, either directly to me or to others. Those who are not of the Christian faith say our faith has a bunch of rules and obligations, surely we must be in bondage in their mind. Are we truly free while chained to the rules and obligations of your faith? A quick response to this is yes we are! I have never had a quick response to this question, because to some extent they are right, our Christian faith does have several rules and obligations. However, what they may not yet fully comprehend is the freedom that comes with these rules and obligations. Simply put, the Godly conviction (“rules and obligations”) we have lead us to repentance, over and over again. We need these Godly convictions as they are the antidote to our repentance. While it may seem that we are in bondage to others, these convictions fuel our continued walk in freedom with Christ Jesus.

What are Godly convictions?

By definition, conviction is to hold firmly to a belief or opinion. Godly convictions therefore would simply be to hold firmly to the beliefs and opinions that come from God. Where do we find these convictions? In the Bible, the very word spoken by God through people to his people (us). If let’s say one has never come across a Bible, they still innately know what is good and evil. It doesn’t take the Bible to convince them otherwise now does it? Take for example, if I was not of Christian faith and mistreated another helpless person, I would still have some innate thought that this was wrong. But if this is not a conviction I have, it would be difficult for me to want to change or in other words repent. This is why Godly convictions are important because they are catalysts that thrust us into repentance. What are some of these Godly convictions we must uphold:

  • Put must God first! – by first, this is above other gods, self, others, things, etc (read Exodus 20:3)
  • You must love others as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)
  • You must live a life different from that of the world. (read 1 John 2: 15-17)
  • You must live a life of genuine servitude. (read Romans 12:1)
  • You must forgive others (read Mark 11:25)

I could list several more Godly convictions, but there are many, and the Bible has them all. I wanted to share these 5 in particular because these are the core Godly Convictions that have to this day pushed me and others towards repentance of our sins.

Godly convictions in action

The question of bondage to these Godly convictions may come up, and sometimes, it is just so hard to answer them. However, what would help answer these questions is an already-written story in the Bible. There are many stories of people who held firmly to their Godly convictions. One of my favorite Bible stories is that of Daniel, talk about living a life differently from the world he lived in. He could have like most conformed to the Babylonian ways of life, but he took his Godly convictions and put them in action. In his story, we notice that not many took it well, to the extent that they requested he be punished. He was punished for putting God first, think about how strong his beliefs were that even the food sacrificed to idols, he would not eat. When punished in the lions’ den, an amazing thing happens, God keeps him safe. He comes out of the den of lions alive! People hear of Daniel’s God and in my head, I can’t help but imagine that there were several people who said I need to repent from idol worshipping and worship the God of Daniel. (read Daniel 6:26-27). What a beautiful story! There are many other notable people that put their Godly convictions in action and we see their repentance or that of others through them. Here are a few;

  • Job – Even in great suffering Job held firm his beliefs and opinions of God. I am sure those that saw Job fully restored, had to repent.
  • Samson- He struggled with getting with the wrong women, only towards the end of his life were he lost it all that his Godly convictions were evident and they helped him repent before his immediate death.
  • David – Anionted by God to be King, David was the least amongst them, but he had Godly convictions and through out the Psalms we see it. The many times he would seek repentance for his sins. This is because he had such a reverence for God. The Bible says he was a man after God’s heart. I can tell from his story that this man’s was relentless in his beliefs.
  • Paul – need I say more? I write so much about Paul because talk about thorns to crowns! You would think he is the only character I know in the bible. Paul went from persecuting Christians to leading them to Christ! Paul’s repentance story is so different. He went from having no Godly convictions to being so transformed that that was all he could talk about. Many came to repentance and believing in Jesus because Paul took his Godly convictions quite seriously. Just read all the books written by him. His message of repentance is quite evident.

To wrap this up, you must also have your story to tell. If you are of christian faith, your Godly convictions should be evident in your life and should always push you towards repentance. You may not be thrown in a lions’ den like Daniel, but you must hold firm to your beliefs and opinions of God even when it is not well accepted by others. If you are not of christian faith, but are thinking about it, then use these Godly convictions to push you towards repentance. It is time for you to take your rightful place, it is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much love!

Xholiwe

Posted on by thornstocrowns

The Sobering Thoughts of Good Friday

After attending a Good Friday service yesterday at my home church, I couldn’t help but take my thoughts to the moments Jesus Christ said his last words and took his final breath on the cross. I love to have these moments of sobering thoughts because that final breath on that cross holds such great significance. With every passing Good Friday that I have walked with the Lord and deepened my relationship with him, it becomes much clearer to me that what he did was far too great to be taken lightly. I hope as you remember what Jesus did for you on that cross, these sobering thoughts can help you understand the magnitude of his death for us.

Sobering thoughts of his teachings and MIracles

Jesus did not start his full teachings until he was thirty. It was only after his baptism that he began to read of his teaching and miracles (read Matthew 3: 13-17). He was the son of God but humbly allowed a man to baptize him. Even man felt unworthy, yet he allowed it. When he began to teach and perform miracles people could not resist hearing him teach or bearing witness to his miracles. Why was this significant before? Unlike what was taught to them, this was different, his teaching dealt with the heart and sinful nature of man. He did not address people to condemn them but called them to repentance. From the start, his purpose was to reconcile them with God through his teachings. I have been studying the sermon on the mount with my Bible study group, which I consider one of Jesus’s greatest sermons by the way. From this sermon can get a full scope of his reconciliation message between God and man. In Matthew 7:29 it says the crowds that gathered at the mount concluded that he taught with authority, unlike the teachers of religious law. Similarly, those who bore witness to his miracles were never the same again. How could these very same people who sat under his teachings and saw his miracles still watch him be crucified? The sobering thought here is Jesus was humble, taught with authority, and performed miracles all for the sole purpose of reconciliation. He came to change the narrative of the old through his teaching. The greatest teacher I know to date. It is something people needed to sit under and bear witness that truly the Messiah was on earth.

sOBERING THOUGHTS OF god WITH US

Before his death and resurrection, through Christ Jesus, God was with us. Emmanuel! God was with his people (read Matthew 1:23). He was born and grew up just like you and I. He was cared for by his earthly parents as some of us. He felt like you and I, joy, sadness, pain, and other emotions. He formed relationships and lived with mankind on Earth. He worked! can you imagine that, he actually worked and probably at the end of the day needed to rest from a day’s work, just like we do. How can we not see the magnitude of his purpose to reconcile us with God? For God so loved the world that he gave us his son Jesus! And through Jesus, people were with God. The sobering thought here is that God was no longer only reached by one man, or by one group, but all could come to freely and be near God through Christ Jesus!

sOBERING THOUGHTS OF gOD’S WILL THROUGH CHRIST

We read several times in the gospels that Jesus even after miracles happened, asked that it not be shared. It was not yet time. The timing of it all was not up to him, it was as God willed. He was on earth to do the Lord’s will. It was God’s will that his son would die on the cross for us all. Because of God’s will the timing of everything was important and what happened during Jesus’s time had to happen, what happened before the cross was God’s will;

  • Jesus born of a virgin.
  • Jesus saved from Herod’s order to kill male children.
  • The baptism of Jesus.
  • Jesus being tempted by the devil.
  • Jesus’s teachings and miracles.
  • His disciples who followed him and would later spread the gospel.
  • The denial of his teachings by teachers of religious law.
  • The hostility and fear of the Roman Empire.
  • The sharing of the last meal and washing his disciples’ feet.
  • The betrayal of Judas.

All of it was in the will of God. However, before the cross, Jesus in great anguish asked if this crucifixion could pass him by, yet if not, that God’s will would come to pass. And so it did. The son of God was arrested to be crucified, even Peter’s wrath could not stop the will of God. For what crime? There was no crime he had committed, but declare he is the Messiah that those of old have spoken about. The sobering thought here is that Jesus came to do God’s will for you and me! He at the hands of the very people he came to save, was arrested to be crucified. He freely gave himself to the will of God. The more you sit with this thought, the more it reminds you of how great Good Friday means for you.

The sobering thought of the cross

I looked at the cross yesterday during our Good Friday service and tears ran down my face. As Christians, that symbolic cross we look at is a reminder that the son of man, came down from heaven to render us free from sin and shame. He took the suffering and the brutal pain of the cross so that we would be free. His act of such great love and sacrifice allowed us to be reconciled with God. Even when we think we are undeserving of the act of love on that cross, he did it! Jesus felt the pain of the cross and as he hung, he called out to his father, he cried out as darkness settled on earth. In a loud voice, he said “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?). He was surrounded by the world and some of the people of the world did not know what all this meant for them. Jesus in the last of his life asked that God would forgive them for they did not know what they were doing (read Luke 23:34). Jesus even in his death remembered that it was for the people he came to die for and even though they did not know it, he asked God to forgive them. This very same forgiveness is why we are here, forgiven for our sins. Thank you, Lord. Jesus committed his spirit to God and said it was finished (read John 19:30). What was finished? The will of his Father! The sobering thought here is that Jesus fulfilled the will of God, it was finished. What does that mean for those that were present then and what does it mean now for us? Because Jesus gave himself as a living sacrifice for all humanity, we can freely come to God. If we confess that Jesus died on the cross for us all. When repent and accept Jesus as our savior, our reconciliation is established through the cross where Jesus died. The greatest act of love! Keep these sobering thoughts with you as you go into celebrating his resurrection. He has risen! He is alive!

Much love,

Xholiwe