Category: When eyes meet

I once listened to a short story on the radio about a spider that was afraid of light. He kept himself in his underground bunker during the day and only came out after sunset. One night he saw two lights approaching from afar.

His heart beat in his throat as he noticed them growing in size, accompanied by an underground rumbling sound. When the lights seemed to be onto him, he took courage, lifted himself onto his two hind legs stretching his front legs up into the air and…. it worked! The lights suddenly disappeared to his left.

This happened quite often and the spider’s confidence grew as the lights disappeared in a cloud of dust every time. What the poor spider did not know, was that his domain was right next to a bend in a dirt road. One night a car could not turn in time, left the road and ran the spider down.

The devil is also afraid of light because God is not only the Creator of light, He is Light.

People have a problem defining light exactly. They know it consists of light waves but what exactly are flowing in the wavy pattern? It travels very fast – obviously at the speed of light.

Light can reflect, bend, refract and display different colours when deflected at different angles. Colour is nothing but the reflection of light waves telling us that without light our world would have been a grey and shadowy place, if it would be possible to notice anything at all.

On the other hand, darkness is nothing but the absence of light. We can also say without light, nothing is.

God is Light. When Jesus was born, light came into the world and darkness did not comprehend or overcome it. The devil thought he could stand on his hind legs and stop the Light like the spider did. He failed. (John 1:5)

We live in a world saturated in light to live our daily lives, to experience beauty, pleasure and for our benefit, but strangely enough, some people prefer darkness rather than light.

Light is energy, created and sustained by God. One of the most dreadful places is hell because it is similar to darkness, a place without Light, without love and warmth and a place where the people call out to God in vain, because He is not there.

Last week I sent you a postcard reminding you to find your delight in God because when you do, you will notice the light of God giving off on you, just as it did on Moses. (Exodus 34:29)

A Christian once went to a heathen country and he noticed the people watching and following him closely. When he asked them why, they replied that there was a mysterious light shining from his forehead.

We are the light of the world and we should shine the Light of God on people around us. Our faces may not glow like Moses’ face, but we sure as light, are born to make a difference!

This is the last postcard I will be sending out this year.

I pray for you to have a blessed festive season, feasting in the love of God in the presence of Jesus while surrounded by family and friends.

I pray that you will experience the heart of God and that you would see Jesus.

In Matthew 5:8 Jesus said that the pure in heart is blessed because they will see God. This was not meant to take place after you have died and gone to heaven because the beatitudes are meant for people who are alive, still here on earth.

This means that you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to see Jesus. You can see Him if you are pure at heart. All of us are pure because Jesus paid the price for all our sins, reconciling us with God.

However, we constantly tend to carry stuff in our hearts that pushes Jesus away and causes Him to stand at a distance making it hard for us to see Him.

Jesus once said that our hearts would be where our treasures are. Our hearts are being filled all the time by what we regard as our treasures, It speaks for itself that hearts filled with love for God, family and friends will obviously harbour the pure love of God as well.

Yet, sometimes we are so overcome with joy in the presence of people close to us that we tend to forget that God is also present.

God is always present and Jesus loves us so much that these moments of our personal fellowship with Him, are His most favourite moments too. However, the fact that we sometimes forget Him when we have fun, accounts for some of His most sad experiences.

I pray you will see Jesus every day, not only for you to have an awesome experience but also that Jesus would have the same awesome experience!

Joan loves her two sons with a heart filled with pride and joy. They are still in the early pre-school stage, one almost ready for pre-school and the other in what some people would call the “terrible two” stage.

Their day starts with running around and it ends running to bed. In between these activities the house is filled with sounds of, “I’m hungry, Mom,” or, “Help me, Mom,” or, “Look what my brother has done!” or just, “Moooom!”

The two boys have learnt very early in life that they need to ask their parents for everything they might need. It hasn’t crossed their young minds that their parents also need things from time to time, even if it would only be to get some extra sleep in over the weekends.

Jesus taught us in Matthew 18 that we should become as little children, accept Him as our Dad, and ask Him whatever we might need that is wholesome and good for us with words like, “Please, Daddy, …”

Joan had a special prayer-list this morning and she started early. “Please, Dad, I need to rest a bit more, please heal the boys’ colds. I had to get up more than four times last night and every time it was difficult to fall asleep again. I’m so exhausted!” She patiently mentioned all her needs to Jesus, ended her prayer to get ready for work. She is a medical doctor and a long list of patients awaits her at the practice.

Then she heard Jesus say, “You know your husband has an appointment with an important client today and yet, you did not pray for him. A new prayer conference is starting in Cape Town this afternoon, you did not pray for that either. In fact, Joan, there are so many things that I had on My prayer list that I wanted you to pray for but you did not even ask Me if I needed something.”

“Don’t worry, My child, I will never hold this against you and I have told you to come to Me and ask Me for anything you need. You’ve done exactly what I have asked you to do. However, there is an increasing need among people lately, asking for urgent prayers and there are not many people willing to pray.

It would have been so easy to give everyone who believes in Me everything they need. However, I want people to take part in having My will done on earth. That does not involve physical labour only but mostly spiritual labour by praying for other people and activities.

By this time, tears were trickling down Joan’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Lord. All I think about is my problems and my needs and I forget that You also have needs. We often think that because You are God, You need nothing from us. Please, Daddy, take my hand, and walk with me through this day. Most importantly, tell me what You need me to do and say, and guide me in every consultation with my patients because You know their needs.”

The rest of Joan’s day was the best day yet and if she could see Jesus, she would have noticed the smile on His face. He shared the need of every patient with her because she listened, but especially because she knew Jesus cares.

We as Christians are a team with God. When we pray, “Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, we are part of a team in accomplishing the will of God. Therefore, God wants to speak with us, sharing not only His love but also His needs for us, telling us who to pray for or what to pray for. If we fail to hear Him, we should at least allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us to ensure that all the needs of Jesus are covered.

Take a picture of yourself and tell Me what you see: a jewel of a mansion or a shack next to a tree? Do you notice the paintwork, the cracks in the wall, or is everything the same as the day you were born?

What do you think I notice when I look at this picture? Don’t think for a second I would only be noticing the evidence of the distance you’ve travelled and the storms you’ve withered.
You call it age, the sum of days since you’ve put on the coat of flesh and bone. Yes, I know age has a tendency to display tracks where you were not supposed to have wandered at all.

However, if that is all you see, you are missing something huge. So, take a closer look at the picture. On the inside of the coat, you’ll notice your spirit that cannot age at all and that, My dear child, is what I see, when I look at you. The skin, the visible coat of flesh on the outside bears the wrinkles and spots of your journey through life, but what matters to Me most is the precious pearl inside.

A little child has a spirit eager to play and explore. The middle-aged feels just as great, has explored some but still desires to explore a bit more. For the aged the coat has become heavy and worn, but on the inside the spirit still feels as the day he was born.

The longer a spirit wears the coat, the more evidence that spirit would display of the relationship between himself and Me. So, with this picture in mind I put the question to you again – when you take a look at yourself, what do you see? Only, this time, forget the coat and look also at Me.

We’ve been friends since before you were born, even since the day your coat started to form. Your birthday was the best, but the day you crowned Me as your King, I will always cherish more.

Remember the joy, the hope and the peace! Nothing has changed as long as you notice Me, your close Companion for all eternity.

Don’t stop to live in Me! Carry on walking next to Me, keep on dancing while holding on to Me.

Love you,

Jesus.

PS – You’ll never grow too old to play and by the way, notice that inside the coat, right next to you, the Holy Spirit is always there with you!

Peter and John followed the man carrying a pitcher into a house in Jerusalem. “May I help you?” the man asked.

“We want to speak to the master of the house,” they said.

When they met the master, they told him that the Teacher was asking for the room where He may eat the Passover with His disciples. (Luke 22:11)

A smile lit up the face of the master of the house. “Come, let me show you,” he said as he led them upstairs.

The master of the house and his wife had this room prepared some time before because they wanted to let the room to guests. It was a busy time in Jerusalem and the room could have been let by now but the Spirit revealed to the master of the house that he had to keep the room for a special Teacher and His disciples.

His wife did not understand this because many people requested to have that room, but he stubbornly refused to let go because he was confident that Jesus would need it. As the master of the house, he made a quality decision.

Today, 1 November 2011, Sammy read this passage in Luke 22. He knelt down on his knees and asked the Lord to assist him. He told Jesus that He had made Him the Master of his house, his heart and everything he owns many years ago. “Why is everything out of control, Lord? Why have I lost so much money? Why can’t we survive any more ……”

“Sammy!” Jesus interrupted.

“Yes, Lord.”

“Do not blame your mistakes on Me! You made Me Master of your heart and I’ve been with you ever since. However, Sammy, even though you committed everything into My hands – I am not your butler to run your home for you. You need to be master of your own house.”

“You need to be master of your body and say no when you eat or drink too much, to decide to exercise more or to keep yourself respectable. To be master of what you look at, what you say or think, how you spend your money.”

“When you made Me your Master, you did everything correct except to listen to Me, to follow Me or hold on to Me. You gave your house to Me, but you kept the keys firmly in your hands. Frankly, Sammy, I don’t want those keys. I trust you to run your house while keeping your eyes on Me.”

“Sammy, do not be discouraged. Notice that the sun rises every 24 hours. It has done so since creation. You have a new day every 24 hours to change what you want, do repair what is broken, to set right the things that went wrong. I am glad to be the Master of your heart but you are the master of your house. Live and master the challenges that cross your path and mend the mistakes you have made.”

“I love you and will be your Master for ever and I will assist you when you need Me!”

Every house has to have a master. Master has no age or gender, only the authority and power to rule what God put in our hands to rule over.

I stepped out of the house and was met by Bruno, my faithful dog. He came running to me, smiling from ear to ear, wagging his tail, jumping up and down and running circles around me.

Animals become fond of us very easily. Every time we get into their presence, they delight themselves in us.

When I was young we had a horse and when my sister or I would get into his paddock, he came running to us in anticipation of taking him for a ride, literary speaking. He knew he would get a handful of maize afterwards, therefore, he delighted himself in our presence.

When I was even younger, I once had a duckling that followed me all through the house. Wherever I went, this little duckling waddled along. He or she, I am not sure which, delighted himself in my presence.

Last week I sent out a postcard about a verse or two in Psalm 37 where God is telling us, “Do not fret, trust in Me”. There is something else in this Psalm that I did not share with you because it is so huge, it deserves a separate postcard. It had me thinking for days.

Verse 4 reads, “Delight yourself also in the Lord”.

Do you know how to delight yourself in the Jesus?

I am not going to tell you how you should delight yourself in Jesus. I want you to examine your heart and discover your joy, your own personal delight in Him. I promise, the more you do, the more joy you will discover being in the presence of Jesus. When you do, share your joy with Him and tell Him how much you love Him.

The animals I’ve mentioned above could not be constantly in my presence but even if they could, they would have delighted themselves in me all the time.

We as Christians are always in God’s presence. Being in His presence constantly remains a luxury and privilege that a born-again believer cannot afford to get used to! God is not a mere human being, He is God and He in turn loves us being in His presence! Amazingly, He finds His delight in us (Psalm 16:3).

However, He has to compete with you, finding your delight in sport, soap operas, books, cinemas, your personal computer, and… and… and… the rest of the never-ending list. He grants you your delights in other things but imagine how He would feel when He notices that He is your first love and your utmost delight is in Him! That is how He feels about us.

One day, while reading Isaiah 66:1, my somewhat selfish life turned upside down. God asked Isaiah the following question, “Where is the house that you will build Me and where is the place of My rest?”

We often ask ourselves the question what we can do to please God, to have Him smiling back at us. One major requirement God has for us, is that we should trust in Him (Psalm 9:10). It pleases God tremendously to see us putting our faith in Him while casting all our fears aside, because He is our Saviour. To honour God as our loving Father demonstrates our trust in Him.

The verb, “rest”, in the Bible, is often applied in the context of surrender and trust. Every time we surrender into the arms of God, we confirm that we put our trust in Him and at that moment, we enter into His rest. (Hebrews 4) (I don’t have the time to explain it now but the word, rest, as mentioned in Hebrews is not about the Sabbath or when we die, but surrendering into the hands of God in faith, causing us to have peace and harmony while we are alive.)

Awesome – God does everything for those who believe in Jesus. He is building our eternal home in heaven while we are able to find our rest in Him since the time when we became born again.

Getting back to the question God put before Isaiah, we realise that God is too big to fit into a building, a temple or church on earth. However, He decided to fit His presence into our hearts! (1 Cor 3:16, 6:15,19).

We are His chosen house!

God does not get tired either and yet, He desires to have a place of rest. It is difficult to grasp the full picture but the truth is……. that place of rest is also us!

We have the most awesome God, the only God there is in the universe and He chooses people like us as His temple and His resting place!

Do you know that this is the reason why you are alive?

We have one purpose in life and that is to serve God by making Him feel welcome in His temple, and then to conduct our lives in such a way through faith that He will find rest in us! That happens when we say something when we ought to, and do whatever is required of us the moment it is needed.

He also trusts us to keep away from doing or thinking anything that would hurt Him.

Whatever we do as His temple, His house, He should always feel welcome and able to find peace and harmony in and through us! Only then, can the question that God put before Isaiah be answered.

Pat looked at the old lady in front of him. She suffers from arthritis and he had already prayed three times for her but nothing happened. He then asked her, “Tell me, is there anyone in your life that you have not forgiven?”

“No, Pat, there’s nobody that I can remember that I had any problems with whom I was unable to forgive. I’m living in peace with everyone around me.”

The Spirit must have revealed something to Pat because he insisted, “Now, tell me once again, what about your husband?”

“Oh no! That doesn’t count does it?”

Pat did not tell us what happened in the end but the fact is that forgiveness is the most important task we as Christians have. It is probably the single most valid reason for not having our prayers answered.

In one of the previous postcards, I shared with you how Jesus told me early one morning to forgive my wife for everything she had done to me. A few hours later she was admitted for an emergency operation.

After the operation the doctor told me that her situation was nothing less than a miracle, one that might not have taken place without forgiveness being involved.

I discovered yet another aspect of forgiveness. We tend to forgive everyone around us who has wronged us by telling them verbally or in our minds, “It is fine, I forgive you.”

One person we usually neglect to forgive is that good looking person you notice when you look into the mirror every day. It might feel a bit awkward but next time you look into the mirror tell yourself, “Hey (you), I forgive you.”

Every memory reminding you about your sins, mistakes, wrong decisions, failed relationships or whatever you wrongfully have done, tell that person you call, Me, “I forgive you,” because Jesus already has. Who are you not to forgive yourself?

My grandma always closed her letters with, “Greetings to everyone and do not forget yourself.”

I close this postcard with the same words, “Greetings and do not forget to always forgive yourself!”

One day in the parking lot in front of a bank, I noticed a parking attendant standing close by. When I saw him, Jesus said, “Go talk to him”.

It was just before closing time and I answered that I would do it immediately as soon as I got out of the bank. When I had finished my business, the attendant was nowhere to be found. Then the words of Jesus echoed in my mind, “It’s too late now”.

I never want to hear those words in my life ever again!

To follow Jesus does not always mean just to walk behind Him, following in His tracks. We have our daily tasks and we are busy doing our normal everyday jobs the way we should but when we hear Jesus talking to us during the day, we should listen and then do the obvious – obey.

I am so partial to words like, “I love you, you are so special to Me, I am so proud of you”, but I hardly listen to words telling me what to do. With the parking attendant I listened, but when I did not obey, it was even worse than not listening.

Jesus uses people to reach people. We are His arms and ears and voice when someone like a parking attendant cries out for help.

To follow Jesus is equal to be like Jesus in each and every circumstance in life. When we were still covered with sin, He was willing to become us when He died on the cross. When we became Christians we accepted Jesus as Saviour and then we became one with Him (John 17:21). We should live accordingly.

We represent Jesus by being Him wherever we are and looking for people in need. In this way we, with His aid, notice the pain, hunger or worry in the eyes of others and be there and willing to care for them.

If I represent Jesus, then everyone around me could also be a representative. Jesus said that whatever we do for someone else, we would be doing for Him (Matthew 25:45). To follow thus also entails to look for Jesus wherever we are, which in my case happened to be the parking attendant. When I saw the attendant my ears were open but my eyes were closed and I only noticed a person.

I pray the attendant found Jesus.

Jesse is beautiful donkey. She has the job of pulling the old stone mill every day for a few years now. Every morning she is put into her position and then she starts walking round and round until her owner decides she has done enough for the day, when at the end of her shift, she is fed and lodged down for the night. The road she travels is the same every day and all she has to do, is follow the tracks until someone stops her. The monotony of her daily task does not bother Jesse at all.

To us looking at her, it might seem like a terrible job but she is quite content with where she is and in what she is doing.

We are so much better off than this poor donkey that seems to be traveling this one monotonous road all of her life. However, considering our own positions, what we do and how we go about our daily tasks and our ministry to others, I wonder if God doesn’t perhaps see us the same way we see the donkey. The only difference is, we should know better.

We are church, believers who are supposed to follow Jesus to a destination and that destination is not only to enter into heaven or lead others into heaven. There is a much higher purpose but we seem to be constantly evading it.

We are missing the point of our Christian existence completely, continually learning and studying to get somewhere but we never reach the end of our road.

In Ephesians 4 Paul said that Jesus gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers to equip us for the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ. And for 2000 years now we have been doing just that….. 2000 years!!

You might think there is nothing wrong in that because people need edification…. constantly. Really?

Paul wrote that all this teaching should not continue forever. He says it has to carry on until we have reached a certain point – “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of Christ;” (Eph 4:13, 14).

So many mature Christians still need to be led by the hand every day, signifying that self-edification and edification of the body of Christ, is not even on the menu yet. Many attitudes still are: “Put me to the yoke,

Lord, I am willing, oh so willing, to go round and round every day, yoked to You, content till You unyoke me, feed me and bed me down for the night.” However, Jesus unyoked us 2000 years ago telling us to follow Him.

And we talk about the end of the world being close at hand! What must God feel when He looks at us? We have been taught by the Master Architect Himself and we are still going round and round the Rock every year. He desires mature followers, able and equipped for the effective working together of every member of the body of Christ, helping and building each other up, praying and interceding, able to withstand the devil and willing and able to help others stand as we are called to.

Sorry, Lord! Today I will start following You!