Category: Never Alone

Dark, ominous clouds rolled down the mountain towards the old farmhouse. It was cold. The doors and windows were shut but the icy air trickled through the frames sending a chill down Dan’s spine.

The burning wood in the fireplace cast eerie images over the furniture and walls. Dan looked down at the wine in his glass. Why do I suddenly feel so lonely, Lord?”

“You tell Me,” Jesus replied. “Your wife is preparing dinner in the kitchen and here am I too. Tell Me, Dan, why are you feeling alone?”

Jesus did not give Dan the opportunity to respond. “You are feeling lonely because you need someone to talk to, someone to share your feelings, dreams and your desires with and you think there is nobody listening.”

Dan’s eyes widened as he listened to the words. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, he looked outside. It had started raining and pearls of water were running down the windowpanes.

“Even if your wife were not here with you in the house, Dan, you would still not be alone because you have the Holy Spirit in you. I am also here… Talk to Me.”

“Thank You, Lord. Why do I forget that You are always with Me? I suppose it is because I don’t see You. It would have been so much easier, Lord, if I could.”

“You don’t need to see Me now, Dan, but one day when you see Me face to face, we will share these memories. Let Me share something with you now – I am always with you and yet, I feel so alone in your presence because you seldom talk to Me.”

“Once or twice a day you put your request to Me and although I do appreciate those moments, that is not a talking, sharing, caring conversational relationship. That is what I desire most of the time.”

“Keep in mind, Dan, in the same realistic way you perceive the clouds, the fire or the rain in crystal clear images of reality, I am also real and I am here, never to leave your side! Do not deny My presence, talk to Me! Let everything you see be My guarantee to you that I am present. Honour Me by accepting Me as a standing reality in your mind.”

Dan’s wife entered the room and found him smiling with his eyes beaming out a glow of joy and at the same time displaying a hint of sadness. “What’s going on, Dan, and who are you talking to?”

He explained to her what had happened and for the first time they understood what life in Jesus really implied. After a while, they sat close to each other looking at the flames in the fireplace. Although it appeared as if they sat in silence, both were busy talking to Jesus. Neither of them felt alone ever since.

Heb 13:5(b), For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

John 14:17-20. “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you, 18 – “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you, 20 – “At that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

There are only two horses on the racetrack. Both of them have the same chance of winning. The loser will only be second which would not be bad as second place is almost first. First would be good, but also not that great because it would only be one of only two places.

Consequently, because losing would only be second place, they strolled along the track, nibbling here and there on the grass at the side, or rolling in the sand on the track. The only time they put some effort into it, was when they realised they were very close to the end. One came first and one second.

There are billions of Christians, everyone on his race towards the end. Some are putting in all the effort whilst others take life as the two horses do, a casual stroll in the park.

Interestingly, we are not in a competition, although many believe we are. We are not even on the same track. Some of us have short tracks and others’ are quite extended.

Fortunately, God did not put us in a race to compete with each other. Everyone is running his own race. Every Christian who reaches his end of life on earth will be a winner and each will receive a reward according to the life that he lead (1 Cor 3:8).

Unfortunately, some of us landed on the wrong racetrack, only to discover our main competitors are rats, leaving us with bad rewards ( 1 Cor 9:25). I am sure our reward will not look like the salt grinders of the recent Brit Awards.

At my age, one suddenly discovers that there is not much track left. Moreover, I suddenly realise that it feels as though the race has hardly begun. For the first time one begins to ask, what have I done with my life and what would my reward look like compared to others?

One thing is certain, God will never compare our achievements with those of other Christians. Christian life is not about competing with fellow members in a so-called race referred to as life, but about the way we display our gratitude to and love for God and the way we support our fellow runners.

The essence of winning is not to reach the end very fast; otherwise, we would have been dead by now. The essence is the quality of life we live.

The best race is run in the understanding, and realisation of the complete awesomeness of God, how completely different He is from us but that He desires to have us with Him anyhow, regardless of our failures, that is, if we have allowed Jesus to be our Saviour (2 Tim 4:8)!

I can’t help thinking about running our race like the 2 horses do. To work hard and do our jobs the best we can while strolling along, nibbling on grass at the side of the track, rolling around and really enjoying the privilege of being alive!

A crisis showed its face in a family in a town called Bethany. “Mary, please dial Jesus on His mobile phone and tell Him about Lazarus.” Martha said. “Tell Him we will book His flight on the first plane back here. If He is close by, tell Him we’ll send an ambulance with Lazarus to meet Him wherever He is, but please tell Him it is very urgent”.

The family consisted of Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. One day, Lazarus fell ill, seriously ill.

How frustrating it must have been for the two sisters desiring to call Jesus but not knowing where He would be. They would have loved to have our modern facilities to contact Him.

Jesus was not far from them but how did you get in touch those days, other than by asking people to give Him a message when they meet Him.

It becomes clear that this family loved Jesus very much and Jesus similarly, loved them very much (John 11:5). The two sisters managed to get the message to Jesus, informing Him that Lazarus, whom He loved, was sick. They put all their hope on the speedy return of Jesus but…. He did not show, and alas, Lazarus died! They buried him and for four days, Jesus still did not show up.

If we experience a crisis and need a doctor, we have modern means to take the sick person to the doctor or the ER. We can just pick up a phone and call whomever we might need. We have normal telephones, cellular phones, SMS’s, Facebook, Twitter and many instruments to communicate with people.

Martha and Mary had none of these to assist them. However, the message did reach Him. They knew He got the message because both of them blamed Him for not being present, as if He knew but chose not to come. In the end, we know that Jesus knew what would happen and that He would raise Lazarus from the dead.

What a wonderful privilege we as Christians have, being in the close and immediate presence of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. So close to us, only a whispering voice call away, the stretching-out-of-our-hand, the inner presence closeness never-to-be-absent near us.

Fact remains, regardless of the reality that Jesus is close to us, He desires to be noticed and loved by us, not only in times of crisis. We are so busy with our own stuff while only sending Him short valentine type messages occasionally. The time to seek Him and spend quality time with Him is now.

On a warm summer’s day, my daughter, Madelein, bathed her younger son of two years. Afterwards she sent him to play outside in the garden with his elder brother. They have a small dog, called Jack, who participates in all their games every time.

As usual, dogs often use the garden for other purposes too and it so happened that the younger stepped into Jack’s poop. Boy, the little boy did not like that! He came running back to his mom, yelling and limping on one leg, trying to step on the heel of the other foot.

Madelein washed his feet and everything returned to normal with one exception, my grandson didn’t call Jack on his name again. He changed his name to “Poop”.

We as grown-up Christians step into bad things from time to time too and need our feet washed as well.

In John 13, Jesus was washing the feet of His disciples when Peter felt uncomfortable having Jesus do this. Jesus told him that if He did not wash his feet, he would have no part with Him.

Upon hearing this, Peter replied, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head”.

Then Jesus answered him, “He who is bathed, needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean… “.

Even if we have bathed, just like my little grandson, we often need to wash our feet some time later.

Many people preach that confession of sins does not belong in the life of a Christian because he has been forgiven by Jesus. Jesus has paid for all our sins, past, present and future.

It is true, but it would also be very rude to step into a place we are not supposed to wander, hurting Jesus and then carry on as if nothing has happened.

When we accidentally bump into someone or step on his toes, we would apologise immediately. Sometimes we ask the person to forgive us. Neglecting to do that would be very rude. Therefore, when we sin, we should also apologise immediately to Jesus, asking Him to forgive us, knowing that He already has.

It is called good manners and it should be done especially when we love the other person. We are clean, but we still need to have our feet washed. At the same time, when we notice the dirty feet of the person who stepped on our toes, to wash his feet also, and forgive him.

Give and take make a pretty pair. The quality of our lives depends on what is given and what is taken.

So many awesome truths in life are not taken seriously, and unfortunately, the ones we do take seriously are not all that positive most of the time.

We oftentimes do not take the truths that Jesus loves us or that we live in the omnipresence of God seriously. Jesus explained how we should live.

“When they nailed Me to the cross, darkness fell over the whole land. This darkness was not just a cloud, nor an eclipse of the sun. It lasted for three hours until I died. Darkness fell over the world while the sun was still shining (Matthew 27:45-54, Mark 15:33-39, Luke 24:44). It was so dark people could distinguish the stars in the sky.

It became dark because our Father could not witness the punishment of His only Son, covered in the sins of the very people who punished Him. That is why I asked the Father just before I died, why He had left Me.

He could have stepped in and rescue Me, but He chose not to watch, and so He turned His back on Me because He loves us so much.

What I want you to comprehend, is that the light you are experiencing around you, are much more than the rays of the sun shining down on you.

Light was created before the sun and the moon were created (Gen 1:3, 16). The rhythm of day and night was put in place before the sun was in place (Gen 5).

Now, grasp the complete fact and miracle of the presence of God! Whether it is light outside when the sun shines or whether it becomes dark during the night, God is always present. God’s omnipresence covers the whole world around us.

The only time in history when God was absent, was during those three hours I was nailed to the cross.

When I tell you to seek His face, it is not because He isn’t close by. It is because I want you to reach out your hand and touch Him. Take hold of Him while He is still near, take Him, breathe Him and rejoice while embracing His presence.

It is still light because the Light is still present. Take My hand, I give it to you! This is more than giving your life to Me which you might have done already. Take My hand so that I can walk this day with you and experience everything in life with you.

I give it. It is for you to take!”

Paul looks down at the computer on the exercise bike, only 30 seconds to the end of the circuit. When the meter finally reaches the end, he proudly gets off, cleans the equipment and sits down to rest a while.

While driving back home, Paul feels proud because he believes he has achieved something the past 7 or 8 months since he has joined the gym. “Finally, Paul, you are fit,” he says to himself. “Thank You, Jesus!”

At that point, Jesus interrupts his thoughts. “Paul, go to Jeremy’s house. It is on your way home. In fact, you need to take the next turnoff. They are experiencing a crisis. Go talk to them.”

He takes a glance at his face in the rear view mirror. “Lord, I would prefer to go home and shower first because I am not very presentable at present. I’ll do that and will go immediately as soon as I’m done.”

Silence…

“Lord Jesus, why are You so quiet? Would it be fine to take a shower first? You do understand?” Paul says as he passes the turnoff to Jeremy’s. Silence…

“Please, Lord, speak to me!”

“Paul, you are so proud of the fact that you have become fit doing all that hard work in the gym. You may be physically fit, but you are unfit for the kingdom of God. When I ask you to do something, it is because it is necessary to do it at that point in time. Ten minutes from now will be too late. I know you need a shower, but they will understand.”

Paul turns the car around and drives to Jeremy’s home. An hour later, he greets Jeremy and his wife to go home. Finally, mission accomplished. In his heart, he feels so good. He could assist them and he made a difference in their lives.

On his way home Jesus says, “Well done, Paul, your obedience makes you fit for My kingdom on earth.” (Luke 9: 59-62)

“Thank You, Jesus!”

You are old enough to go wherever you decide to go, but too young to wander off on your own, you know.

Too big to be carried, and yet too small to be left alone.

Too old to be called “baby,” too young to be hailed as fully grown

I want you to know, My child, realise and take to heart, you are everything you ever want to be, and on top of that, you have everything that belongs to Me

When Adam sinned, creation did not fail, When I died on the cross, it was not the end of the trail,

The relationship that Adam turned askew My death on the cross completely renewed

Behold, you are saved and baptised into My household You are strong, powerful and blessed because I am continually with you

You are old and mature enough to live life to the full you are My most precious child

I hold you by your right hand and, I love you too much to let go I’ll only do that, the day you come home

In whatever way Don’t you ever let go of Mine!

Psalm 73:23

In the dimension of God, nothing is not just nothing, the reason being that He uses nothing when He makes something. When God created, He spoke everything into existence simply by speaking, and out of nothing, everything was formed. God is still using this principle when He opens blind eyes and heals deaf ears and restores shrivelled hands, all out of nothing. (Mark 3:1-5)

God also moves things from existence into nothing. Cancer cells are removed, ulcers and blood clots disappear into nothing when healing takes place.

We should get used to nothing. In the world of a Christian, we should not say “nothing is a problem”, because nothing is not a problem. In fact, when Jesus forgives us our sins, He also removes them and they become nothing. God will not remember them anymore because they simply stop to exist. Why do we look back at them and keep on reminding ourselves about nothing?

After we have accepted Jesus as our Lord, the devil is still pointing his finger at us trying to convince God that due to our sins, we are most unworthy to be God’s children. When God would ask him to produce the evidence, he would point the same finger in the direction of our sins, which would of course be nothing at that stage. The devil, with nothing as evidence and loving nothing more than himself, would leave, still accusing us of nothing. Thus, in the case of the devil vs. Christ-followers, it is evident that nothing remains absolutely nothing. Case closed.

Now everyone who would notice, would see Jesus standing in our place taking the blame for all the evidence of our sins, paying the price by dying on the cross, changing our blame into nothing. Now we are blamed for nothing.

Nothing but Jesus prevailed, because He was resurrected so that we may be free and live in a world where nothing would be capable of separating us from God. Nothing will not ever be the same again.

Then we suddenly remember, nothing would have succeeded to rescue us, had we not accepted Jesus as our Saviour.

Sadly, there is nothing any person who does not believe in Jesus can do to get himself saved, anyone denying that He is the Son of God who died and is alive today, is lost forever. If we do nothing to tell them about Jesus, nothing would help them, and as we all know, nothing is capable of absolutely nothing in the absence of God.

Since the day of Jesus’ cross and our own salvation, we should be stop doing nothing!