Category: Family

Salome had so many issues on her mind that she was shocked when she caught a glance of herself in the mirror, “Oh no, a frown has become a permanent feature on my face!”

During lunchtime at the office, she locked herself into one of the storerooms with her Bible. She started reading Psalm 91 but verse 1 caught all her attention: He who dwells in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (NKJV).

“Wow, Lord, I wish I knew where to find Your secret place, I desperately need Your guidance. Is that place somewhere in a garden close by, a church perhaps? Where is Your secret place?”

“Salome, do you regard yourself as a son of God?” Jesus asked.

“I am a woman, Lord, a daughter of God indeed.”

Jesus smiled as He replied, “Son in this instance is meant child of God. Yes, you are His daughter which makes you one of the sons of God.”

“You believe in Me, the light of this world and because you do, you have become a child of light, John 12:36

qualifying you to be a child of God.”

“There is one thing you need to realise, Salome; you have to listen to the Spirit of God every day for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Rom:8:14.

“Yes, Lord, but how?”

“That is actually very easy, My child. When you started to believe in Me, God sent His Spirit into your heart and now you may call God, “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6)

. The secret place of the most High is inside your heart, where the Holy Spirit dwells.

“So many children of God with the secret place of the most High inside of them, live their lives completely on their own, disregarding His presence!“

“Sometimes you feel lonely while surrounded by many. You have no idea how lonely the Holy Spirit feels inside of you when He is ignored by the person surrounding Him.”

“Do you realise that My purpose is to aid you, and not the angels?” Heb 2:16

“However, I cannot do that if you ignore the Spirit or Me. The Holy Spirit will guide you every day. He is living with you in your secret place, the place God prepared for you to have a relationship with Him 24/7.”

The frown gradually disappeared from Salome’s face while she clutched her Bible close to her heart. “Oh, thank You, Jesus! Holy Spirit, Your presence makes it possible for me to live under the shadow of the Almighty!”

God has given us of His Spirit, enabling us to know Him. With Him in us, we know how to love Him. Without God, there is no love because He is Love.(1 John 4:8,13)

I saw a picture of what happened in a church while listening to a preacher. Because everyone present believed in Jesus Christ, everyone had the abundant love of God.

The people were covered in love and anointed with oil until their cups ran over.(Psalm 23:5)

There were angels present too. Tiny drops of oil were raining down and multiplied in their hearts to start overflowing from their heads down onto the ground.

The more the preacher preached and more hearts were touched, more love flowed.

One of the angels had a white cloth, which he used to wipe the access love that flowed onto the floor. Every once in a while it became too saturated and he had to use a new one.

At the end of the meeting, the people left. The flow of oil ceased but the love of God was still noticeable in the eyes of every person. A visible trail of oily footprints lead outside, gradually growing fainter until it was not visible any more.

The angel with the cloth was tired and very pleased that the meeting was over. With a sad look on his face, he looked at the neighbourhood close by who seemed to be in desperate need of love.

“May I take these saturated cloths and wring them out over those people, Lord?”

“No, angel” Jesus replied, “the people who have oil made a choice to believe in Me. Furthermore, this love can only be passed on by people. They need to share the love of God to every other person crossing their path.”

“It would only be possible if the neighbours, who, by the way, know My Name already in this area, decide to follow Me too. Then they will receive their own rivers of oil.”

“Rivers of love will start to flow from their hearts which would not be possible to stop. It needs to be given away and flow freely wherever they go.” (John 7:38)

“If someone wants to introduce Me to people, they only need to give them love and tell them about Me.”

“People are powerful carriers of love.”

“Lord, help me to be the child You want me to be.”

“I’ve made you to be you, My child. Relax and just be.”

“Please, lead me to do what You want me to do.”

“I will assist you always, but not to override your will. You decide, but be careful though.”

“But I’ve made so many wrong decisions in the past, Lord.”

“Yes, you have and here you are, forgiven and clean.”

“Jesus, when this day is over, I want You to smile on me.”

“My day is never over and with you, I am always smiling.”

“I’ve made so many mistakes…”

“Stop!”

“But, Lord, I just want to …”

“STOP! You are experiencing an Oscar Pistorius

moment now because you realise you have done horrible things, things that is impossible to undo.”

“You asked Me to forgive you and now you are forgiven. You don’t need to undo, even if you could.”

“You are not perfect, If you were, I did not have to die for you.”

“You should have died because of your sins. That would have been true justice but I died in your place instead. That is mercy.”

“Since the day you were reborn, you have Me, you are forgiven, your sins washed away and you are going to heaven. That is grace.”

“Grace is something you have received that you did not deserve. It is the manifestation of My favour.”

“My child, accept this grace and cover yourself with it. Bathe in it, walk in it, dance in it.”

“Clothe yourself with grace and wear it day and night. Make it part of your ensemble as child of God.”

“Don’t let it be presented to you in vain… it is your unmerited gift from Me.” (Eph 2:8, 2 Cor 6:1)

“Try to sin no more but if you fail, remember this grace shining on you.”

It is year-end. The old year is casting the last long shadows on the footsteps of my life and here I am, a shadow of a man. Don’t shine a light on me though because then you would see I cast a mean shadow. What I am referring to is the person behind the image, the living human being that goes through life unseen.

My wife has many friends. I have none… Not even one. The only one I had didn’t know it until the day our ways parted. Now he is with Jesus.

All I have is no friends. Come to think of it, what do you do with friends? That is most probably the reason why I don’t have any. Never learnt how to use them.

When I was young, I needed friends but grew up alone. Gradually I learnt how to cope without them. Funny enough, I was always happy.

Life was a feast. That could be the reason why I didn’t have friends – I was too happy to be concerned about why I didn’t fit into the world of friends. My wife was my girlfriend and Jesus was my only friend but alas and at the same time fortunately, He is God.

With my happiness and my love for Jesus and my wife, I became a prosperous man. There was one problem – my joyous prosperity made me arrogant and self-centred. You see, My only friend was me.

All through my life, Jesus never let go of my hand. I on the other hand, childish little man with an ego big enough to do whatever I wanted to, naively believed that God would always provide for me.

Now, at the same time when I discovered my empty, lonely self, I also found that God has certain rules for men like me.

A man without a friend is like a voice shouting in the desert. Without a friend, nobody listens.

I discovered a person should be good to his friends because they might be needing him and vice versa. Strangers can also be friends.

What I’ve discovered most of all is that Jesus also needs friends! Be His friend!

Zelda scanned through her news messages on Twitter. A young sportsman has died, storms have raged in many places and Muslims have killed innocent women and children in Congo and other countries.

‘What has become of our world,’ she thought. Tired of reading her messages, she closed her Laptop and started talking to Jesus, “What is happening, Lord?”

“Time is happening, Zelda. You will be celebrating Christmas soon. Some anticipate a time of feasting while many have lost their way in what is really taking place around them.”

“We have a mutual enemy who noticed the growing numbers of My followers and he is doing his best to disrupt everything in an effort to stop that.”

“In the lives of people this angel of darkness is powerful and influential, Zelda. Due to his efforts, the world experiences troubled moments which are escalating as we speak.”

“It will be well however, with My children… if they stay close to Me.”

“I’ve warned you about this. The end of the devil is near and he is not taking it lying down.”

“You have Me with you and together you will make it. You have nothing to be afraid of but remember to stay close to Me.”

“But I am with You, Lord!”

“Not if you are afraid or downcast. When you focus on all the evil, you are taking your eyes off of Me. By doing that, you move further away from Me. Time moves on and so do I, keep up!”

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:23)

“I am constantly reminding you how important it is to pray. You are doing that but remember that if you don’t pray, evil wins by default.”

“If you do not gather strength and knowledge, you scatter fear, panic and hopelessness in your own mind.”

“Most of all, My child, I want you to stay close to Me because I love you. Something else, I‘ve conquered the devil for you but I don’t want to be alone in looking after people in the end times.”

“After all, you are My bride.”

Raymond had his own prayer agenda. One day when he finished praying, he asked Jesus to show him what else He wanted him to pray for.

“Raymond, I am glad you asked.” Jesus said.

“You have prayed this morning for your family, your business, a new government for your country and many more things that concern your day to day encounters in life.”

“Your agenda mostly covers what is important to you and your family, your friends and country. I do not want you to change that but first, read 1 Peter 4:7.”

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. NKJV

“But, Lord, I am serious in my prayers.”

“Are you? Let Me give you a picture of what is happening today. Our Father gave us an insight in the Word of what is going to happen in the end. The signs are imminent that the end is very near.”

“God gave us this insight not because He is controlling everything like a puppeteer, but because He knows everything. He is concerned about His children during these last days because it is not going to be easy.”

“The enemy walks on this earth using demons to operate as puppeteers over all the people that are following them, including those who are ignorant of Me. They guide world leaders, world organisations, governments and more to have My children annihilated.”

“God is capable to do everything on His own but He wants us to make the difference. He uses angels to assist Him. They are looking after our affairs on His command. God creates and changes everything just by speaking and He speaks according to what His children are praying.”

“God did not make you His child to be blessed and prosperous. He made you His child to rule in the world. Prayers move the hand of God. He speaks miracles to life upon your request.”

“You think the president is the most important person in your world. Think again, you are. Your prayer can change the way the president operates without him realising it. Get your agenda in order.”

Malinda switched off the TV. With the remote still in hand she kept staring at the blank screen. Nothing interests her anymore.

Seven months ago she left Craig, told him that she didn’t love him anymore. They filed for divorce.

The glittering lights, the rush of life, the noise, everything became too much to handle. They simply couldn’t keep up.

Sitting alone in her small flat, she suddenly thought that nothing is the same anymore and yet, nothing has changed.

The rush and buzz is still present, but now she is so alone. Even among friends, she felt abandoned.

“I miss Craig, Lord. I’ve made a terrible mistake. I still love him. It’s too late, I know… I still love him!”

“Hi, Malinda,” Jesus replied, “why don’t you seek Craig’s face and ask him how he feels?”

“Seeking someone’s face means to talk and share things with the person. Call him, just ask him how he is.”

“You love Craig and he loves you. Both of you were entangled in seeking the things of this world and in the process, you lost track of each other’s faces. The same face that disturbed the butterflies when you saw him for the first time.”

“Wealth or prosperity can never replace looking into his face, touching his hand, smelling his skin or listening to his voice. Most of all, you need someone to share your feelings with.”

“Malinda, he longs for your face. You know what, I long for your face too. Together, you started your life with Me and then you neglected seeking My face. I do not only want to give My children advice on what they should do or avoid, I want them to have a close relationship with Me, seeking My face simply because they love Me.”

“I long for you to come and rest in Me. I want to hold you in My arms and just love you. I cannot do that if you don’t seek My face. You got too busy.”

“It’s not too late, My child. Seek the face of Craig and talk to him, ask him to join you in seeking My face like you did before.”

“Child, remember that I love you and that I am a rewarder of those who diligently seek My face.” (Heb 11:6)

“However, I don’t want you to seek My face for a reward, I want you to seek My face because you want to be close to Me. I am close to you.”

The Bible is the Word of God coming to life for the person reading it.

It speaks to humankind in general, but in particular to God’s children.

The Word says, “Hi, My most beloved child, I want to show you God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”

The Bible comes to life when we read it because Jesus is alive and living in us. Jesus is Lord!

All of us are hewn from the same Rock, Jesus Christ. We were created in His image. (Gen 1:27,

Isaiah 51:1)

Christians follow Jesus and are building their lives on the living Rock.(Matthew 7:24)

Some 250 odd years after the resurrection of Christ a plague, probably smallpox, broke out in Europe at the same time when Christians were persecuted. Every day 5000 people died In Rome alone. Of course, the Christians were blamed for the tragedy.

The plague devastated everybody, believers and non-believers alike. All the people fled from Rome, except the Christians who took care of both. They were Rock material with hearts of flesh.

Ebola is a new threat and once again, Christians are lending a hand to victims. Dr. Steven Rowden and his team who volunteered for Doctors Without Borders in Liberia, treated many who were left behind. (Eric Metaxas, Breakpoint Oct 15, 2014)

Among those was a 4-year-old girl abandoned by her whole family. When Rowden was asked if his faith was tested by the people dying he replied, “No, I got great strength from my faith and the support of my family.” He is rock material.

We are following Jesus. Listen to the words of Isaiah 51:1; “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.” (NKJV)

We get tired and may even feel frail at times but we are still Rock material. Let’s listen to what Pauls said in 1 Cor. 10:4 about people who were rescued out of Egypt; “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”

We are righteous in Christ. We have access to the same living water. We might feel like trotting in mud sometimes but we should look at the Rock and then look at the hole of the pit, which we left on the day when He took us out of the mud.(Isaiah 51:1b)

I met Henry at a boutique, of all places. We were waiting for our wives who were paging through clothes neither of us could afford.

We started talking and I soon discovered that he was a Christian.

“Henry, you call yourself a Christian, a servant of God. What is your job description in this regard?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I believe it is about being a good person in general and to tell the people about Jesus whenever I get the chance.”

“In that case,” I replied, “you are not a good servant, not bad but definitely not good.”

He looked at me in shock and disbelieve. “Why do you say that? How can you judge me? What are you doing that makes you a good servant?”

“Henry, it is very painful to admit, I am not a good servant either. Jesus told me this morning (Luke 12:37) that a good servant is one who watches all the time and be eager to receive Him back every second. I have failed.”

“Just before Jesus was crucified, He found His disciples asleep while He was praying. He asked Peter why he could not stay awake for one hour to pray. Then He told Peter to watch and pray.” (Matthew 26:41)

“I’ve realised this morning that I have been on watch duty for God but fast asleep too.”

“What were you supposed to have done then?” Henry asked.

“We know about the persecution of Christians all over the world. That is part of watching but then we should pray for those people too. We know about Ebola, watch and pray. Pray for the people effected by disasters all over the world.”

“We know about people without moral conscience robbing, beating and even murdering others and they are getting away Scot-free most of the time. Watch and pray.”

“You see Henry, behind every bad person or virus is the evil one. The devil will try every bad move on people or animals because he hates the One who created them.”

“We are not watching and praying as we should. We are so concerned about our personal prosperity, fame and fortune that our prayers are focused on ourselves all the time.”

“It is so awesome to know that if we are watching as we are supposed to, Jesus will gird Himself and let us sit down to eat while He serves us!” (Luke 12:37)

“I don’t expect Jesus to serve me!” Henry said.

“Me neither. However, by not serving Him the way we should and by asking for His blessings in our lives all the time, we are making Him our servant anyway.”

Frank and Lynn admired the view of the ocean from the veranda of their beach house. Their day was made when they spotted whales and a school of dolphins playing in the water closer to shore.

“Creation is absolutely awesome,” Frank said. “It is an amazing fact that the sea is filled with fish, and on land we find billions of animals and birds and neither know about the existence of the other.”

“True,” Lynn answered, “Only man knows both worlds because God gave him dominion over everything.” (Gen 1:26)

“He has dominion but he is responsible for so much pain today. Murder, robberies, rape and everything bad are done by man, against man. I sometimes wonder why God is still keeping His eyes on us because we are causing all the problems. In fact, why did God create man?”

“He created us simply because He wanted to, Lynn. God is Spirit and He made a physical environment with man who also has a spirit. I think God smiled with pride when He created us and was filled with joy and excitement. He is so proud because He knows our heart.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I can think of a few reasons. The first one is an athlete, Cameron Lyle. He prepared 8 years for his victory and then sacrificed everything for a stranger who suffered from leukaemia. He donated bone marrow, a choice that ended his athletic career. He had the heart of a child of God!”

“Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh, is another person with a heart of God. He calls sick children in hospitals and talks to them in Character to support them.”

“I also saw a man on the news who worked in a recycling business. He discovered money in an old refrigerator he dismantled and took the money back to the previous owner who forgot that she put some of her savings in that old machine.”

“A cashier related how a young couple with an infant, tried to pay for some necessary items in a grocery store, when their credit cards were denied or did not have sufficient funds to cover the bill. A man waiting in line behind them, handed the cashier his card and paid the full amount.”

“There are many more examples.”

“You see, Lynn, there are so many people with hearts of God among us, that we should know why He made us.”

“God made us with the potential to reveal His heart, His love to the world and that is the very reason why He did. He is love.” (1 John 4:8)