Naaman's healing

Multipurpose pocket knife turns into a lifesaver

Sometime ago I went to the supermarket. While there my 8 year old needed to use the toilet and we asked for permission to use the toilet. She insisted on her right to privacy so she went in and locked herself up while I waited outside. When she finished she attempted to unlock the door without success. I spoke gently to her to keep her calm while I went to look for help. I found a staff member to whom I explained the predicament and we returned together. She gave her instructions on how best to unlock the door but that failed to work. I then asked the lady if they had some tools that we could use to open the door but she just looked blank. I checked the door again and noticed that it had a bolt which would probably unlock the door if turned in the right way. I brought out my little pocket knife which is on my keyholder and used it to unlock the door. Out came my worried 8 year old and even I felt much better. We were beginning to run late to pick up her sister from the art class. The pocket knife is a handy tool and I can't recommend it enough. I have used it to peel carrots, cut fruit, open hard plastic packaging and rescue my daughter from the toilet. Get one here: Pocket knife

Who is Jesus? What did Jesus say about himself?

Most people have probably heard something about Jesus but I would like to explore it from a biblical perspective. What did Jesus say about himself and what did the prophets say about him? What did his disciples and apostles say about him? When you have heard all about Jesus, what will you do with him?

What did Jesus say about himself?
Jesus called himself the Son of man. Jesus said he has the power on earth to forgive sins. Jesus knew what people were thinking about. He answered people’s thoughts and concerns without them voicing anything.

Matt 8: 2-6 (KJV)
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

Jesus is Lord of the sabbath
Matt 12: 8 (KJV)
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Jesus said that he is greater than Solomon and the prophet Jonah.
Matt 12:41-42 (KJV)
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus said that knowing him is by revelation from the Father. Jesus acknowledged that he is Christ, the Son of God.
Matt 16:13-17 (KJV)
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
John 9:35-37 (KJV)
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

Jesus knew what would happen in the future. He told His disciples about his crucifixion, death and resurrection before it happened.
Matt 16:21 (KJV)
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Jesus came to save the lost. He came to call sinners to repentance.
Matt 18:11 (KJV)
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Luke 5:32 (KJV)
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus said that he is coming again. When he comes he shall gather his elect. No one knows when Jesus will appear again. You need to know it for sure that anyone giving dates is a false teacher or prophet! Jesus’s coming will be witnessed by everybody. You will not need someone to tell you that he has come! If you need to be told by someone then know for sure that it is not the real Jesus! Jesus did not come to bring unity on earth. There is no unity between light and darkness. When he comes again his goal is not to bring unity but rather to separate the sheep (elect) from the goats. Godless unity brings destruction.
Matt 24:27, 30-31 (KJV)
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mark 13: 21-22 (KJV)
And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Mark 13: 32-33 (KJV)
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Luke 12: 51-53 (KJV)
Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Jesus is King. He is going to judge people. He determines our eternal destiny. Jesus acknowledged that he is the Son of God and King of Israel.
Matt 25:34 (KJV)
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
John 1: 49-50 (KJV)
Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
John 5: 22-23 (KJV)
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Jesus said that he came down from heaven and at the same time was in heaven. Jesus implied that he is God. When Jesus talked about the Father, people knew he referred to God. That is why when he said he was in the Father and the Father was in him, the Jewish leaders accused him of blasphemy. Jesus told the Jewish leaders that he was before Abraham. He told them that he is I AM just as God told Moses he is I AM.
John 3: 13 (KJV)
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
John 10: 29-30, 38 (KJV)
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
John 11: 25 (KJV)
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 14: 6-10 (KJV)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
John 8: 58 (KJV)
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus said that those who believe in him have eternal life.
John 3: 15-16 (KJV)
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus said that he is the Messiah.
John 4: 25-26 (KJV)
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Jesus said that the scriptures testify of him.
John 5: 39, 45-46 (KJV)
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

Jesus said that he is the bread of God and bread of life. Jesus is the giver of life.
John 5: 33-35 (KJV)
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

The power of fasting and praying

Fasting, in the bible, is also known as afflicting your soul. It is not pleasant. It is humbling yourself before God and acknowledging that only He is able to help you. In the old covenant whenever a solemn assembly was proclaimed, it was accompanied by fasting. When people afflicted their souls , they put on sackcloth (hard and itchy on the skin) and ashes in addition to not eating or drinking. Judges 20: 26 (KJV) Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 1 Kings 21:27 (KJV) And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

What did the Lord Jesus say about fasting? He said we should not do it for the wrong reasons. It's not for show. It is for God. Matt 6: 16-18 (KJV) Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

In the new covenant we, followers of Jesus Christ need to fast and pray. Acts 13: 2-3 (KJV) As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 14:23 (KJV) And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

There are things that will not happen unless you fast and pray. Matt 17: 14-21 (KJV) And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Humility goes before promotion. In these dangerous times we need to fast and pray so that we may be accounted worthy to escape from the hour of temptation. Your soul is at stake. Luke 21:26 (KJV) Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Going back to the basics


In many churches today you can attend and come out wondering what Christianity is all about. A lot of deception has crept into churches and it becomes difficult for someone who is genuinely seeking the truth to even find it there. If ever it was important to know what the bible says and not what people say about it, it is more so now. People say all sorts of things and come up with all sorts of interpretations of the bible. And now there are a lot of questionable bible versions that eliminate some verses. I remember getting a paraphrased bible for free when I was in high school. I had to dump that one quickly because I got horrified when I tried to read it. The meaning was totally lost, so much that it was not long before I realised it was a complete perversion of God's word. Now I stick to the old tried and tested King James version.


The gospel of Jesus Christ
Church should be about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, it is not about keeping a positive attitude, making money or being successful in life.


The first ever evangelical sermon that tells us what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about is found in the book of Acts.

Acts 2: 22-38 (KJV)
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriach David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.


I just made some of the text bold to emphasize on simple truths: who is Jesus, what did he do and what must I do about him. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 2: 2 (KJV)says ' For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.' If you are a believer you should not just wait for someone else to interpret the bible for you. Read it for yourself and confirm if the interpretation is in line. If they quote a verse, check it out within the context. People like to pull out a verse or part of a verse and preach off topic.
A common scripture comes to mind. Romans 8: 1 People like to quote part of the verse which says, ' There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..' But it does not end there, it continues '...who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' If you go with the first part it means oh, if I accept Jesus then I am not under condemnation. But the verse as a whole means you have to walk after the Spirit which means staying away from sin (Rom 8 vs13, Gal 5 vs 16, 19-21)!

May God help us not to be swept away by waves of deception buffeting us from all sides!

Holiness

To be holy means to be set apart, upright or perfect. I must say what prompted me to explore the topic of holiness was a sermon I heard towards the end of 2010. The sermon somehow missed the point from my understanding of scripture. Instead of just jumping the gun and confronting the preacher I decided I had to study the scriptures first.One thing I do believe is that there is a lot of ´´you are okay as you are´´ preaching that can make christians complacent and is definitely from the evil one. We should pursue holiness. If we were okay as we are then God would not command us to be holy. Holiness is a process. The Holy Spirit reveals those ugly things in us bit by bit. It is such issues that we have to acknowledge and deal with in our pursuit for holiness.

We know that God is holy, that means he is set apart and not like any other. God wants us to be holy as he is holy. He wants us to be like him and to reflect his character as christians. That is why we need to stay connected to him through communion and fellowship with him so that his nature is imparted in us and begins to manifest in us.

Jer 2: 3 tells us that Israel was holiness to the Lord. This means that Israel was to be different in way of life from other nations by following God's commandments laws and statutes and doing things instructed by God himself. When they wantonly disobeyed God they violated their place of holiness and as such needed to be restored.

In Acts 3: 12 Peter says that the healing of the cripple at the gate called Beautiful was not by their own power or holiness which suggests that holiness in this instance comes from God.

Jesus's resurrection was by the spirit of holiness and declared him to be the son of God (Rom 1: 4). Although we are saved by grace through faith we are to live lives that are pure before God and that is also referred to as holiness. Living a holy life means we yield ourselves to the leadership of the Holy Spirit thereby refraining from living in sin.

Rom 6: 22 says that because we are born again we become holy as all our sins are cleansed from us by the blood of Jesus. Our remaining in Christ following him and being led of the Holy Spirit is what makes us holy. We have a part to play in the holiness context. God did His and we do ours. In Eph 4 the bible explains to us that we have to put on the new man who is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. This clearly shows that it is not enough to say I am born again , therefore I am holy and just live anyhow. We have to make a conscious effort to have our minds renewed by the word of God. The idea of putting off the old man and putting on the new man means we have a part to play in becoming like God in holiness. Holiness encompasses our way of life, how we speak to others and such things as being kind and tender. Holiness excludes evil speaking, clamour, bitterness, malice and wrath. Walking in love towards all man is part of holiness as we see in 1 Thess 3: 12-13. People who are established in holiness walk in love.

2 Cor 7: 1, when we fear God we will not continue to live sinful lives or doing as we please but we will continually walk circumspectly knowing God sees our every move. Fearing God means departing from sin and living the word. James 1: 22 says when we do not do as the scriptures say we deceive ourselves. When we shun sinful living we perfect holiness in the fear of God. People that fear God are holy and it follows that those that do not are not perfecting holiness.

 In essence walking in holiness embodies being godly and obeying God. When we embrace God’s word and live by it after we are born again then we are holy. Holiness is all about being like God. That is what God desires of every believer. Holiness is evident in behaviour (Mark 6: 20). Holy people do not accuse others falsely and should not be given to much wine. In addition they are teachers of good things (Titus 2: 3). Holiness is something every christian should pursue since we cannot see God without it (Heb 12:14).

I remember hearing Philipians 2: 12 being quoted some years back when I was in the university. It made an impression on my heart and the Holy Spirit brought this scripture to my remembrance when I was thinking about the subject of holiness. So let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. It is not something to be trifled with.

My encounter with the Holy Spirit

I first encountered Pentecostalism when I entered secondary school. At that time there was a prefect in my hostel who was Pentecostal and started a bible study group for anybody interested. I was not particularly keen on attending the bible study as I somehow felt that in such places people aim to tell you how you ought to live your life. I did not fancy the idea of being told what to do and what not to do. You could say I was afraid of being dominated and ending up with no will of my own. Somehow, I felt compelled to go since all my friends thought it was a good idea and I did not want them to think I was not godly enough. In retrospect, I know that was bad motivation.

When I started attending the bible study, I was utterly disappointed. I had been attending a mainstream church since childhood. The person leading the bible study would start attacking my church and other mainstream churches. She made snide remarks about people in such churches not speaking in tongues. To me, she displayed such arrogance and the so-called holier than thou attitude. In my heart I thought if the Holy Spirit she spoke about made her so arrogant then I was not interested in it. I do not remember how many times I attended the bible study. Probably it was 2 or 3 times. After that I stopped. I could not stand being derided constantly for belonging to a church where people did not speak in tongues. I could not see why speaking in tongues was so important considering that our bible study leader prayed in other tongues and nobody could understand anything.

About three years later, I joined another bible study group which was led by another Pentecostal. This girl was very loving and it was easy to become friends with her. At that time I had relegated the issue of tongues to the back of my mind somewhere and did not pay much thought to it. We covered so many different topics about the bible and never for once did our leader deride other churches for any reason. Because of this I felt comfortable attending the bible study and really felt like a part of everything that was going on. My relationship with God improved tremendously through the bible study group. I also sought God for myself by finding out what the bible said about the various issues we discussed. I was simply not going to take what someone said about the bible without checking it out for myself. Eventually the issue of receiving the Holy Spirit came up again. This time the focus was not on speaking in tongues but being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I decided to check out what the bible said about being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

I found out that John proclaimed that Jesus would baptize his followers with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3: 11, Mark 1: 8, Luke 3: 16, John 1: 33). Jesus himself informed his followers that they were to tarry in Jerusalem so that they would receive the promise of the Father, which was to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1: 4-5). He told his followers that they would receive power following the baptism of the Holy Spirit and become witnesses of their master (Acts 1: 8). From the scriptures we realize that it is God’s promise to his followers that they receive the Holy Spirit.

What happened when the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus Christ? The bible tells us that the Holy Spirit descended into the room where the disciples were assembled like cloven tongues of fire and rested upon each of the people present. Every follower of Jesus who had patiently waited for the promise of the Father received the Holy Spirit. Thereafter the disciples began to speak in other tongues. Immediately afterwards Peter who had denied Jesus, stood up and boldly proclaimed the gospel. By the power of the Holy Spirit the people hearing Peter asked what they could do. Peter declared that they were supposed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins after which they would receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 38). In Acts 8: 14-17 the bible tells us that the apostles laid hands on believers so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. The sign that an individual has received the Holy Spirit is speaking in other tongues (Acts 10: 44-46, Acts 19: 6).

After searching out scriptures for myself I realized it was God’s will for me to receive the Holy Spirit. It is his promise to every believer. In my heart I accepted the scriptures and ceased to argue with them. I realized then that in this regard the church I was attending was not standing in truth. I do not remember asking God to baptize me in the Holy Spirit. It so happened that one day I went for bible study as was my custom. Normally we gave one another time to assemble together before formally starting the bible study. Those that arrived early would begin praying individually. On that day I think I felt rather pious. Usually I prayed quietly but for some reason that day I decided to pray aloud. I liked to pray quietly because I was uncomfortable that someone might just overhear my prayers. While I was praying out loud, somewhere in the middle of my prayer I started to speak in another tongue. I tried hard to speak my mother tongue without success. I tried to switch to English but what came out was another tongue. Finally it dawned on me that I had received the Holy Spirit. I was awed! I really thanked God for what he did for me that day. What I can say is that from that day onwards my spirit came alive. Suddenly things that I had always done without qualms began to prick my heart and God began to transform me. One of the major changes  I noticed was that there were some movies which I had previously watched without any problems but I could not stand to watch after my encounter with the Holy Spirit. I know I am not yet there but I have been moving forward inch by inch. God keeps changing me for the better. Every believer needs the Holy Spirit. If God himself gave the promise, embrace it! Expect to receive, and you will receive.