In, But not of ...

“From the outside looking in, you cannot understand it.  From the inside looking out, you cannot explain it”

I have a lot of trouble explaining to ex classmates and old friends who do not have a personal relationship with God what I do.  It just does not make sense to them.  This is not something difficult to understand and it is not that I cannot explain what I do very well. Some think that I should be doing something that is (to them) more meaningful with my life.  We have different views of what a meaningful life is, sadly for them, “more meaningful” means the accumulation of wealth and material.  Even worse, to some it means living reckless lives of drunkardness and explicit lust.  There are unspoken laws of our day that govern our decisions and if we do not intentionally tackle them head on, we will find ourselves deep in a pit of unrighteous living that is; in essence, meaningless.  You see, if you are living according to the unspoken laws, constituted by the majority; chances are that you are leading a miserable and meaningless life.  This observation has made me realize that even though I live in this world of the this day, I am not bound by it’s laws of living.  I have the privilege of having lived both a meaningless life and a meaningful life.  I have tried the anarchical life expected of me by the society of the day, and I am living a life of sure pleasure in changing lives in a meaningful way.

(Psalm 34:8)  Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

There is a man in the bible called Solomon, dubbed as the wisest man to have crossed the face of the earth. This man has tried it all and in the end he concludes that it is like “chasing the wind”.  He has every right to speak to us about meaninglessness and living meaningful lives.  Below is a scripture that is translated in a way that the society of our day will understand:

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 (the message)

I said to myself, "Let's go for it—experiment with pleasure, have a good time!" But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke.

What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane!

My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it?

With the help of a bottle of wine

and all the wisdom I could muster,

I tried my level best

to penetrate the absurdity of life.

I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do

during the years we spend on this earth.

I Never Said No to Myself

4-8 Oh, I did great things: built houses,

planted vineyards,

designed gardens and parks

and planted a variety of fruit trees in them,

made pools of water

to irrigate the groves of trees.

I bought slaves, male and female,

who had children, giving me even more slaves;

then I acquired large herds and flocks,

larger than any before me in Jerusalem.

I piled up silver and gold,

loot from kings and kingdoms.

I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song,

and—most exquisite of all pleasures—

voluptuous maidens for my bed.

9-10 Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What's more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted I took—I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task—my reward to myself for a hard day's work!

I Hate Life

11 Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind.

I do not know what it is you are thinking at this moment, but this sums it all up.  This man had all the things that u could think of.  He was up to date with the latest and in thing, always did as he desired.  The expression used to today is follow your heart; but can you trust your heart?  Follow your mind; can you really trust your mind?  Well, I realized that I could not trust these because they were in a bad place, it was messed up and I needed Christ to transform it for me.  Unless you meet Christ and he shows you what life is all about, you will keep chasing the wind.  You will continue performing a play produced, directed, written by the majority of the day. The stage is set, all eyes are on you and at the end of the show the results are revealed.  Your primary aim should be to please the Judge, not the audience because they do not have a say in the final decision made about your destiny; but the Judge!!!  Up to you!!

God Bless you all, Sello “Scalo” Mmane.

Focus

A very rare yet very important value is missing in the lives of many people in the world we live in today.  Focus is pivotal for the achievement of our goals in the time-scale we have set for them.  Everyone has a plan for their lives, and often it is quite precise and we have evidence in people’s speech: “I want my own car before I reach 30 years”, “I want to marry at 25”, and “I want to finish reading this book by next week”.  Amongst many other things, focus will play a very big role in the achievement of the goal that has been set.  Take a cheetah for example, although it boasts the title of the ‘fastest animal on earth’, it also has a disadvantage; because of its high speed it’s body temperature rises quickly, hence it has the pressure to catch its prey before it overheats and dies.  This then means that a cheetah has to focus on its prey until it reaches it, any mistake of miscalculation can result in hunger or fatal death.  Before the cheetah chases the prey, it has to identify the weakest in the pack, move slowly so as to not be noticed by its prey and then chase after its target.  Focus or the lack thereof, will reveal the probability of us reaching our God given dreams.

A couple of years ago I went hiking with some friends.  We were told that the nature reserve that we were at had a lot of some of the most beautiful birds in South Africa and that we would see a lot of them as we hike.  Now as we were walking around this bush along very narrow footpaths, my mind was preoccupied with seeing all these beautiful birds that I had heard about. I was looking around in the trees hoping to see some of them.  I noticed that whenever I looked around, I lost my path and had to bring myself back to the narrow footpath.  This kept happening for quite a while until I heard a distinct voice that I often get and it said: “never let the things on the side make you loose your way, no matter how beautiful and enjoyable they are”.   Now this hit me hard and at that very moment I knew that it was God rebuking me and reminding me to come back to the straight and narrow.  He was teaching me something that I lacked and was paramount for me to know and possess for all the things that he has in store for me.  We must stay on the straight and narrow if we are to reach all the things that God has promised us.

 It is probably one of the most difficult things because of all the enticing things that happen around us all the time.  In our quest to live lives of focus so as to reach our dreams and goals, we come against distracting things like the prosperity of our peers.  We feel like we are left behind in regards to success and we try to get it quickly so that we can keep up.  I know what this is, because there are certain unspoken laws in our society.  For instance, there is a certain age at which the society expects everyone to have achieved certain things.  Now, because we are aware of these laws, we try our best with our own strength to make up for this.  I know of a man in the Bible called Asaph.  He wrote Psalm 73, when he was grappling with focusing on God and also accumulating assets/possessions to live up to the standard set by the society of his day. To bring us to the point that we are discussing, in the second verse where he says:  “But as for me I almost lost my footing, my feet were slipping and I was almost gone” He then says something that blows my mind towards the end of the Psalm:  “Yet I still belong to you, you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you?  I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart, he is mine forever. Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.  But as for me, how good it is to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and will tell every one of the wonderful things you do.” 

I reckon he has summed it up; there is nothing else for me to say.  I just love the part where he says that God will guide him with his counsel and will lead him to a glorious destiny.  When I read it, I thought that if I was going to ignore my guide and take my own ways, I must forget about the “glorious destiny” that I dream about. 

“Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” NLT (Mat 6:33)

God bless you all, Sello “Scalo” Mmane!!!!

Sea of Forgetfulness

I recently read a very interesting story that just gave true insight to something that I had been thinking about.  Allow me to share it with u:

A certain man of God had been gifted with the revelatory insight into people’s lives.  During an evening service, he ministered to a Presbyterian pastor and his wife.  By the gift of the spirit, he revealed the couple’s past, uncovered the present situation and then disclosed to them what was to come.  This work of God greatly impressed the couple, and as the prophecies were fulfilled, one month later the Presbyterian brought two other pastors, each with their wives, to another service for personal ministry. 

The word of knowledge was exceptionally sure that night, and the second and his wife marvelled at the accuracy and truth in the prophetic word.  The third couple stepped forward for ministry and again the word of knowledge was present.  The prophet spoke to the husband, revealing his past, present and insight into the future.  Then the man of God turned to the third minister’s wife. As he began to speak of her past, suddenly he stopped.  “There was a very serious sin in your past” the woman, with her worst feat seemingly upon her, turned pale and closed her eyes.  The congregation hushed and moved to the edge of their seats. 

The prophet continued, “And I have asked the Lord, ‘what was this sin that she committed?’ and the Lord answered, “I do not remember!”

(Isaiah 43:25) “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”  There, you heard it from the Master Himself and not man.  So the next time you feel ashamed and guilty of your sins, remember that the final judge has cast your sins in the sea of forgetfulness.  He has removed it “as far as the east is from the west” from u. 

May you live with the conviction that you are forgiven and that “there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ”.

A perfect illustration from Jesus demonstrating this: John 8:1-11.

Unriable "Self-Reliance"

There is an unreliable friend of whom I have had since I realized he was there.  I relied on him to guide me through adolescence, he failed.  I trusted him with my most pivotal and difficult choices, and again he led me astray.  He has led me down time and time again, but I always seemed to give him another chance.  This person appears to be very intellectual and often makes objective sense.  Countless times, he has promised never to do wrong again.  Above all these things; he seems to be everybody’s friend.  I am sure that you already know who I am talking about; sly, sneaky, incompetent, self-serving, arrogant, proud and ignorant:  SELF-RELIANCE. 

I have heard a lot of people refer to our current generation as the instant generation – agreed; but I would like to add that we are also a self-relying generation.  This is a generation that says: “I want it now and I will get it without anybody’s help.”  This kind of mindset is so dangerous that even the God is left out of our daily living - and for some of us; we only come back to him when we have messed everything up and we are in trouble. God then becomes one of our options of last resort when our intelligence (or rather our foolishness), friends and all that money can buy has failed us.  We always want to help ourselves in every way; we totally rely on ourselves to achieve all things that we need in life.  Some people even go to an extent of saying that they have every reason not to trust in God because of their great abilities, intelligence, financial and social status, etc.  This is a sign of the natural rebellion that is in all of us, any man left alone will want to do what will suit only themselves and nothing that pleases God.    This is evident in Adam’s sin; the promise from the snake was one that will give the human race a status.  The fruit of the tree promised to give them wisdom that will make them equal to God and thus never need them in their lives.  This is there reason why people live most of their lives and reject the Gospel, because their natural being tells them that they have survived long without him and do not see a need for God in their lives.  Sometimes it can even be Christians who forget their Master.  I work for an evangelistic organisation and I know that I need God in all that I do, but it is so easy to forget that you need him.  You can get so used to preaching his word that you forget about the master of the work that you do. 

I would like to believe that not acknowledging your need for the Lord; although not openly revealed, is PRIDE.  The sin of Lucifer that God despises.  I once said to friend that Pride was the sin of Lucifer and he said: Oooooh ok, no wonder God hates it, it reminds him of Lucifer, lol.   In essence, those who do not need the Lord are those that can do all the things that he has done; can do and will do in the future.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.  They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. (Psalm 20:7-8.)

We can either rely on ourselves and fail as we always have or we can put our trust in God and receive all the promises made to those who will trust in God.  The scripture speaks about a life of trusting in God and in trusting in what you have; check the outcome of both and choose which one you would like.  A life of depending on God is one that acknowledges human limits and embraces the divinity and unlimited abilities of the Almighty God.  I love what the Lord does to Job; it is recorded in the last chapters of the book of Job; from chapter 38-41.  The Lord speaks to God from the whirlwind and asks Job very difficult questions; I will share some of them randomly. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding?”

“Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?”

“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions?” 

These are very hard questions to answer, and even though some of us will acknowledge that we cannot answer these questions, our lives with not show that.  I love way that Job responded to God’s questions and I believe that is the kind of attitude that God wants from all of us; if it were not so, God would never have blessed job and given him more than he initially had.  This is his response to God after all those hard questions:

Job 42:2-6.  I know, LORD, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want.   You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions. In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.

So what will it be? Self-Reliance of Jesus Christ, You choose!!!

Knowledge Is Power!!!

Knowledge is power

Without question, there is power in knowledge and certainty.  We all search for certainty in our lives, nobody enjoys living with doubt.  I have this wristband that I wear; it quotes Hebrews 11:1 in this way: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”.  Now this sounds crazy to those who do not know Christ because he Himself is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15).  “Everything is possible to those who believe” is well quoted not only by Christians; but it has been heard in popular secular songs in the past, although the wording would slightly be different to the actual words in the Bible.   Are these words that we just say to encourage ourselves when we are facing predicaments and inevitable dilemmas in our lives or do we really mean these words?  I ask this because it is easy to speak of faith but never practice it.  I have observed little things in human beings that have given me the confidence that there is power in the knowledge of the magnitude of anything that will be used to fight battles or in practical life context; the challenges of life.  I found this true because it ultimately affects one’s behavior and approach to life’s situations.  Humanly speaking, David was not supposed to beat Goliath.  To some people it is insane to believe that that could be true.  Goliath blasphemed the Israelites’ God because he was bigger and had more strength physically.  I bet you that if he was David’s size, he would never even try to speak in such rude manner.

  Where I grew up people would do and say whatever they like to anybody, knowing that they have big brothers who would back them up when they get beaten.  People who knew their brothers would never even try to beat them even when they wanted to because of the knowledge that the big brother would avenge and it would not be a pleasant thing.  Those who did not know the older brothers would beat them up and later regret after getting a beating from the older brother; if they had they known the older brother, I assure you that they would never beat them up unless they have stronger backup.  Now I am not saying that we should tempt the devil and ask God to help us because he is stronger, lol.  The point that I am trying to bring is that human beings have faith or belief in something of higher, bigger, stronger power.  Imagine if we had the same power that God had, we wouldn’t need him in our lives, but because we know that he is of higher power and absolutely true, we trust him with our lives.  Another example from my personal experience is one of school exams.  After writing a paper, I would check which questions I definitely answered correctly and see if I passed or failed the exams according to the minimum requirements.  After I have done this, in my mind I would then be relieved and never worry about failing the exam paper.  I would then have the power/confidence to loudly say:  “I have passed that paper” even when I have not received my results.  I wouldn’t say a thing about the paper if I knew that my definite marks didn’t make the minimum requirements.  My power/confidence/assurance came from the KNOWLEDGE that I got the minimum marks required, even before the results are released.  David was so sure of the power in God that he stood up to a man of great strength and military skill and experience only because he knew that the God who delivered him from the mouth of the lion and bear would do the same to the blasphemous giant.   

In one of my favorite movies: The book of Eli, Denzel Washington goes on a journey to save the Bible and in the process comes against opposition which puts his life in danger.  He then meets this woman who goes with him and asks a lot of questions because she really does not understand what is so important about this book.  He then shares something very interesting which the woman who asked him the question, seemingly ridicules. He says: “One day I heard a voice, its hard explain but it was like it was coming from inside of me. But I could hear it as clear as I can hear you speaking to me now.” The lady them replied in a very sarcastic tone: “you did all this because a voice in your head told you to do so?” he then replies: “I know what I heard, I know what I hear and know that I am not crazy and I know that I wouldn’t have made it without help.  Now to this woman, it didn’t make sense why he would risk his life just to protect a book.  He knew that it was not craziness and that he would get all the resources he needs to achieve his goal and that includes the protection.  His knowledge affected how he behaved; he was never intimidated or scared of his adversaries because he knew he wouldn’t die, the one who sent him promised to protect him.  His knowledge gave him power to come against anybody.  We get our confidence from God and nobody else. 

Assurance, security, certainty, confidence, positivism, firmness; these are all things that we need.  This is something that lacks in human beings so much that we cannot be trusted; hence we have to sign oaths and be legally bound to do what we promised.  This is never the case with God; he will definitely deliver all that he has promised.  "So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us."  Hebrews (6:17-18)

The bible says that God made an oath to convince us human beings of his promise, he would never lie or deceive us, but for our sakes he made an oath so that we may believe.  He did not make an oath because he is scared that he might not do what he promised, but he did it for us to be convinced/assured of his promise.  I reckon that is why God requires no doubt in him because he has given us everything that we human beings need to believe; an oath.  I have heard people say : “please promise me that you wont hurt me” just so that they may satisfy their deep insecurities.  Jesus does not want us to be insecure in him, so he gives us every reason to believe that he will deliver his promises.

The story of the cross is true; I believe, although not scientifically proven; I live with this certitude that He reigns and is alive.

Double Impact: GRACE & MERCY!!

Grace is something very crucial for us as Christians to understand because it not only brings us into the Kingdom of God, but also sustains our Christian walk with Christ.

We are not only saved by Grace (Eph. 2:8) but we are also sustained by Grace (1 Cor 12:9) because of our shortcomings and sins.  Jesus in all his splendour came and died for us all sinners who in essence deserved to die because of the sin that ruled our lives.  He took upon himself, the penalty that was meant for us.  Now, our redemption is not enough for us to live lives that will be pleasing to our God because we now have to unlearn all the things that we have known from birth which is sin. God knows this so he tells us in 1John 1:9 that "he is faithful and just to forgive if we confess our sins". I read 2 Peter 1:3 and it assures me that God has given us all the things that we will need to live godly lives, and I asked myself the question how; and I got the answer: GRACE!!

Freedom
For a long time the devil has been using the same strategy to shut christians up.  The devil has been using guilt and shame as his weapons to distruct all the plans that God has for his people. Because of our sins, we think that God does not love us anymore and we are afraid of coming to him for forgiveness and end up living in our sin because we think that our best works are like "filthy rags" anyway.  This is a completely distorted and warped view of our gracious Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to live a life free from guilt and shame hence David asked God to have mercy on him and clean him from his guilt after he commited adultery.

There is a story in the bible that intrigues me; written in 8 verses and yet one of the best illustrations of Jesus’ unfailing, unconditional and sincere love and grace.  A woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus and according to the Law of Moses; she ought to be stoned to death for her sin.  Jesus the writes on the ground and says to her accusers; “let him who has no sin among you be the one to cast the first stone” and continued writing on the ground.  The woman’s accusers all left and she was left alone and when Jesus asked her where her accusers were, she said they had all left and that there was nobody to condemn her. Jesus in his grace, mercy and awesome love responds:  “neither do I condemn you, now go home and sin no more”.  Now this is a woman who according to the Law of Moses deserved to die, she did not deserve a second chance, but Jesus Christ in all his glory and splendour gives her grace and allows her to live and live a changed life.  Now you might have heard people write you off and say how you deserve to die and how God will never forget your sin, but God looks at you and says; “well I do not condemn you, I will give you another chance and I will help you to live a life that pleases me”.  God was gracious to David when he sinned with Bathsheba and after Nathan spoke to him he writes Psalm 51 and his opening words are “have mercy on me according to your unfailing love.” 

There is no way that the accuser can get away with making you feel guilty or ashamed when you are in Christ, God will affirm his love and faithfulness to you.  The bible says that when we sin and we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive.  Now this does not mean that we should sin all the more because we can always come back to him and ask for forgiveness. Paul clarifies this in Romans 6:1-23. Guilt and shame will make it hard for you to boldly come into the presence of God and sometimes not because you are bad person, but because you realize how sinful you are how holy God is. Shame and Guilt did not allow Judas Iscariot to live. “If anybody is in Christ all things are made new, the old is gone and the new has come”  Will you accept today that God will never accuse you and receive his grace and peace as you walk with him or will you continue to live in misery with guilt and shame as your friends?

May we all come to know and truly believe this: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO THAT WILL MAKE GOD LOVE YOU LESS BECAUSE “…He does not treat us as our sins deserve … as far as the east is from the west, so has he removed our sins from us” Psalm 103:10,12. 

Faithfulness of GOD

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is thy Faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Without question, there is some comfort that we find in the assurance that there is somebody there with us.  We feel much safer with the knowledge from an authority that assures companionship at all times.  Human beings love companionship so much that they would rather have you lie to them with words such as ‘I will be with you forever’ than to have you tell them the sad reality that you will not be with them for very long.  Companionship not only makes the journey seem shorter, but is relieves one of the fears of anything that might come their way. God know this very well; hence we find well quoted scriptures like “never will I leave you, nor forsake you” and “…I will be with you until the end of age” in the bible.  I read a quote that puts it in this way: “I would rather walk with God in the dark, than go alone, and walk in the light” and at a first glance one gets the TRUST aspect to this statement, but when I read it again; I realized the writer’s crucial need for a companion who will be there with him in his journey.

Exodus 32:23 “For they said unto me, make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.”  This happened after Moses had gone up to the mountain to speak to God.  Now in this case the Israelites not only replace a leader, they also replace a companion that they had sure hope and faith in.  They had been led out of Egypt by the Lord of hosts who was their companion, and now they wanted to replace him (the God of heaven) with an idol god.  This shows the great need that people have of a companion, whom they will trust to be their guide and lead.  They would rather have a companion that cannot help them at all than wait for Moses to come and lead them through the only true and living God, just so that they may satisfy their need for a companion.  The companionship that human beings are seeking is that of somebody of higher power than themselves. If that was not true, the Israelites would not want to make an idol which they thought would be able to lead them to their destiny; the belief was that it is powerful. 

God promises to be faithful to us, and his power and ability gives him credibility for us to trust him.  One who has a history of not being able to stay faithful is often untrusted and all attempts to assure people of his faithfulness are throw out.  God has a history of faithfulness to his children.  I learned a wonderful lesson from the eagles; it is said that they patiently wait on the wind thermals and just spread their wings and are taken away to the highest heights with total dependence on the wind.  In fact, they say that if they flap their wings; they may die because they will get tired.  This blows me away, because this then means that the eagles learn from a young age that the creator of the winds will never let them fall.  They do not have to worry about their abilities, spreading wings does not require a lot of work and God does the rest.  Imagine a life of trusting on the power of God than your own.  God will never call you and leave you alone to achieve his will on your own, in fact; he will achieve it through you. (Phi 1:6) And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ). If you don’t believe me ask Moses, The Disciples, Paul, Jonah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They all experienced the faithfulness of the almighty God.

God will never make you sign an indemnity form stating: “just in case something bad happens to you on this journey of taking your cross and following me, please don’t put that on me” on the contrary; he is so sure of the power that is in him that he will say: “Trust me, walk with me and I will never let you down.  Should you encounter any problem along the way please come to me, I will know exactly how to deal with that”

Jeremiah 1:19 “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you."

(Psalm 124:1) If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

A retrospect of my life attests that I never would have made it without God; and for that I will forever be thankful to my king.