LAWS GOVERNING KINGDOMS

Every Kingdom or realm has its own laws governing it's citizens.

My husband is very quick to admonish me if I drive without fastening my seatbelt that I am contravening a law of the country, and therefore committing a sin. I prefer to call that an unrighteousness, of course... as it is a manmade law that may also be harmful to me as I have experienced before.

If therefore I have committed a crime, I am guilty of trespassing the law governing our country; not just part of the law, but the complete law as that forms an integral part of the whole.

Just so, there are spiritual laws governing the Kingdom of God and therefore the citizens of the Kingdom of God.

One of these read and I quote :

                Rom. 6: 23: “The wages of sin are death....”

It is a fixed spiritual law with the death penalty as punishment.

We are all guilty of sinning; therefor we are all sentenced to death by this spiritual law.

Sometimes however, prisoners on death row receive a pardon from the President of the country.

Thus it is that we also, have received a special pardon from the Most High, King of the Kingdom of God – God Himself through Jesus Christ His only begotten Son.

We find another spiritual law in the Word of God in John 3: 16:

                         “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

                         that whoever believes on Him shall not perish, but shall have eternal

                         life.”

What a wonderful pardon we received and at what a price!! God Himself becoming man and taking our death penalty upon Himself dying in our stead that we may be pardoned.

Why would He do such a thing? John explains that it was because of His love and compassion.

We read in Ezekiel 3 :15 how he, the prophet, Ezekiel, went to his own people when they were prisoners and slaves in another country :

                        “ Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar;

                        and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven

                        days.”

Just so, Jesus, the Son of God came to earth and “sat amongst us” listening to our groans and moans, experiencing our challenges and problems; seeing our sicknesses and diseases for 33 years and because of His tremendous love for us, He created the new law contained in Rom. 8: 1 and 2:

                     “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,

                     who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For

                     the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the

                     law of sin and death.

 

We are no longer convicted. We have been pardoned, IF we are in Christ. And how can we be in Christ? If we believe on Him, as the Son of God, who died for us. It almost seems to easy to be true, but we must never underestimate the cost of the price that He paid for us :

Phil 2: 8 says that He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross which was the most shameful way to die in the time of Christ; naked, in public.

We have been pardoned by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus, the Christ.

True. But sometimes we fail to read or understand the last part of Rom. 8: 1 which says “to those who live not according to the flesh, but after the spirit...” What does that mean? It means that just as the Lord Jesus was obedient unto death, so we also must not live to satisfy ourselves and the desires of our flesh, but we must live according to the spirit and our relation to and in Christ.

Would Christ wilfully sin? No, definitely not. Are we therefore free to choose to live any way we like? Also not. We are to “be in Christ” – in effect to think with the mind of and act as from the mind of Christ...

These promises contained in Rom. 8: 1-2 are spiritual laws.

Should we choose to wilfully “move out of Christ”and live our old lives, we forfeit the freedom in Christ which He has so dearly earned on our behalf. Nothing can snatch us from the hand of God, except our own wilful disobedience and our turning our backs on Him and His precious love.

Thank You, Lord, that You chose to be obedient to death in order to create new spiritual laws to supercede and free us of the penalties and wages of sin. Please help us to live inChrist and move and remain in and through Him.

REBUILDING WALLS

                       “…The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been

                       burned with fire” Neh. 1:3

Yesterday South Africans were confronted with  the  shocking news that one  of  our  most famous athletes, Oscar Pistorius, the blade runner, was arrested and will appear in Court this morning on a charge of murder. Of course he is and will remain innocent until proven guilty.

The trauma experienced by the families surrounding this tragedy is unimaginable.

What happened? Could it be that a human being so highly regarded by all and revered by some for his ability to overcome his physical handicaps, could be so totally unable to overcome his psychological disabilities/torments to the extent as to cause the death of the one person supposed to be the closest to him?

It would seem that the moral and ethical  walls surrounding  our society has deteriorated to such an extent that we have no moral or ethical standards at all. Or if we do have, they are in such a ruinous state, that they are stepped over and  ignored without  any effort or conscious thought whatsoever.  Why do we no longer value life?  In yesterday’s  speech to  the  nation, Pres. Zuma stated  that  violent crimes such as the rape and very cruel murder of Annene Booysen  a  couple of days ago will  no longer  be  tolerated. But: What  can  the  Government, in fact, do  to control or stop these heinous crimes? I believe it is impossible for  the  Government  to  do  what  is  necessary without  a very, very serious review of  present court sentences and  applicable laws.

Although I am not a supporter of the death penalty per se, it would seem that in our beautiful country, South Africa, it is the only known deterrent that will have any effect at all.

During recent strikes by workers, numerous buildings, and even vehicles were burnt down by them. The very  structures  that  are  necessary to  help  assure employment, development and growth, are  the  structures, including schools, that are vandalised. Illogical….. destructive. Definitively not a positive contribution.

Poverty, hunger and unemployment are often given as factors  boosting the crime rate… actions such as the above will definitely not help any individual to combat these factors. Quite the opposite. We need to think and act in a positive pro-active manner.

What then is the answer? How do we go about rebuilding our society?

I believe Nehemia started the process the right way :

                            “Then I said: “O Lord, God of  heaven, the great and awesome God,

                            who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his

                            commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes  open  to  hear  the

                            prayer your servant  is  praying before  you  day  and  night  for  your

                            servants, the  people of  Israel. I confess the sins  we Israelites, inclu-

                            ding myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We

                            have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the com-

                            mands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” Nem. 1: 5

First, acknowledge God; who He is.

Pray for our people. From the President of the country to the humblest, homeless person on the  street.

Confess our iniquities – those of the nation, our Government and ourselves and our families.

Get to know what God expects from us according to the Scriptures.

Teach our children these laws and standards, the greatest of which is LOVE ONE ANOTHER, from an early age.

                            “Adjoining this, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his

                             house, and Hartush son of Hashabneiah made repairs next to him.”

                             Neh. 3:10

                             “Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his

                              own house.” Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite

                              his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son ofShecaniah, the guard at the

                              East Gate, made repairs…. “ Neh. 3:28-29

And if we read the whole chapter we find that everyone made repairs to his own home, opposite his own home, and next to his own home.

We must each start with and in his own home. If  necessary, we need to teach our parents and grandparents as well. The time is now, and we are the now generation. The responsibility rests on every individual alive to save our human race from self-destructing.

Rebuild the wall of our nation by living example in each and every home. Honesty, cleanliness, integrity, friendliness, compassion, helpfulness – these are the things that will build a nation who cares about life and the living.

This is a very difficult task and one that cannot be attained and completed without help from above. Nehemiah also realised this. He prayed :

                              “…but I prayed : ”Now strengthen my hands”. Neh. 6:10

Parents, fathers, mothers, are needed who live and teach children according to the Word of God, being living Word, so that our children will grow up having high moral and social standards and respecting themselves and other people. They cannot respect themselves if they are made to believe that they are nothing, have nothing, can be nothing; if we look and talk down at them. We must do our utmost for our children from the day that they are born. We must respect them as human beings and treat them accordingly. We must teach them to respect themselves, each other and all other living creatures. We must teach and expect from all adults to respect children and their rights. We need to do so with all our hearts.

                            “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people

                             worked with all their heart.” Neh. 4:6

                            “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

                             When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were

                             afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realised that this
                             work had been done with the help of our God.” Neh. 6:15-16

Thank You, Lord, that there is never a moment when it is totally too late. Thank You that we may start rebuilding our homes and walls right now; that we may start teaching others to do the same now. This is the moment! We are the instruments! You are our Helper! You will strengthen our hands and arms to fulfil this momentous task. Help us to make a firm decision and to commit to this task for life.

MIRROR YOURSELF...

                              
                              ^" As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."
                        Prov. 27:19

When I read this verse this morning, I marvelled yet again at Solomon's wisdom.... I looked into my mind, at my thoughts, and saw a clear, vivid reflection of who I am.

I read it in the Afrikaans, 1983, version, which if translated directly says : " As in water you see your own face, so you will see yourself  reflected in what you think...."

What a wonderful way of assessing who we are ... let's exercise our thoughts to be pure and kind.

Lord God, thank you that our faces  may reflect You if we keep our minds stayed on the One who is good and pure and kind and loving, gracious and forgiving. Help us to exercise our minds to this end.

LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE WATERS...

We spent the past few days at Beaufort West, visiting my new husband's son and his family.

Beaufort West, of course, is situate in the Karoo, which forms the northern part of the Western Cape. The Karoo derives its name from the Khoi word Caro which means dry land. This normally is a very apt description of this area, as it is semi-desert and I have not been there for about 10 years, but I cannot recall ever seeing the Karoo as green and beautiful as this time round.

The dam just outside Beaufort West is full to overflowing and even along the way there are small natural dams of accumulated rain water! What a lovely sight! Wild flowers blooming - white, yellow, orange, blue...really lovely. Eagles being carried by the wind in blinding sunlight...

We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with the family and I, in particular, was spoilt, as Estè, Leon's wife, has her own small beauty salon, adjacent to the flatlet on their premises, and I was given a manicure, medicure, facial treatment, the works... One could get used to being this spoilt...

When we first arrived it was very hot. The second day the temperature outside was approximately 40 deg. C! We slept in the flatlet adjacent to the salon at night, and because of the heat, we only closed the security gate to the flatlet and left the door wide open.

I woke up to the sound of the birds chirping in the early morning and lay there watching as the day dawned. I could see a number of different types of trees. In the distance was a very tall, straight tree, and a bird settled right at the very top to announce the arrival of the new day.

It suddenly dawned on me that even though that particular tree was planted very firmly in one spot, and had been standing there for probably twenty years or more, it fulfilled God's purpose for its existence 100%. It offered shade to humans, shelter to lots and lots of different birds at the same time, without discriminating against any particular kind of bird, or lizard, beetle, worm, primate, or chameleon, that  may be looking for a shelter.

It sent it roots deep into the earth to find moisture to feed itself. It shed it leaves when due, and produced new growth, and fruit, nuts, seeds, or berries in season, providing food also for its inhabitants. It flowered on time, allowing butterflies and bees to also feed from and be productive using its nectar.

All of this without the ability to move if and when its own resources became depleted or having any protection from the elements. No defense if being attacked at all. And even when wounded by branches being cut or torn off, it proceeded to grow ever taller, fulfilling its function, inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen so necessary to humans to survive....

I was reminded of the Scripture :

                  "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
                   and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Ps. 1:3

and

                  "He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the
                  stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
                  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jer.
                  17:8

and                 

"The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which                   he has planted;" Ps. 104: 16 He, the Lord God, has planted each one of us exactly where He intended for us to fulfil our purpose. Thank You, Lord God, that we may know and understand that You have a place and a function for each one of us. Help us to understand Your purpose for our lives and to joyfully stand proud to Your glory and honour.