There has been many historic struggles in the past that have made an impact on the how we view the world today. Many of which we look at today and wonder how those involved summoned up the courage to stand up for what they believed were their rights and be willing to fight for such freedom. One cannot help but think of the civil African American civil rights movement which looked to bring equal rights, or even the fight against Apartheid in South Africa. These struggles had people in the forefront, those who will forever be remembered as heroes and be revered all over the world, these are the Martin Luther Kings and the Nelson Mandela's. Although what occurred during these times was hurtful and painful at the time, the end result was definitely worth it.
The struggle with sin is one that has a long history with human beings, in fact the struggle with sin has been there since the fall of Adam in the garden. That fall made sin become part of human nature, that fall made it very difficult for human nature to follow the instructions found in the word of the creator. That fall set the stage for the beginning of a long battle with sin. Just like the other struggles that have booked their places in history, the struggle with sin causes a lot of pain. The flesh has never been a very obedient part of us, the flesh wants what it wants regardless of whether that pleases God or not. It is selfish, self seeking and not concerned about the consequences. So everyday becomes a struggle to obey God not always because you are not 'spiritual' but simply because you are going against what has been ingrained in your flesh.
Falling is not the issue when it comes to struggles with sin. The issue is whether or not we are willing to get back up again and look to serve God again despite our failings. We were born with sin but that doesn't necessarily mean we should live with it. Christ died on the cross so that we would be free from sin, 1 Timothy 1:15 - '' The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the foremost.''
Every time we fall back into sin we then have two choices to make, either stay in that state or repent of our sins. It is a struggle because we are constantly tempted, constantly losing our tempers and sometimes even grumbling about anything and everything.
The temptations we face daily are not unique to us only, there is always someone else in the world who is going through the same kind of struggles or who has made it through similar struggles.
1 Corinthians 10 : 13, ''No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it''.
Jesus came and lived on this earth with no blemish or a tint of sin on Him. In this struggle against sin he is our hero not only because he lived through it but also because his life was taken so that our sins may be cast away and we would be given a new life and a fresh start. A struggle will have pain in it and that will come in many ways, sometimes something has to be given up and sometimes certain things have to be done to ensure that you do not fail. Either way, we have been commanded to endure because the reward will be great.
So even though it is a struggle to keep standing in the faith because sinning has become the norm and everyone doesn't seem to be trying to avoid it...be the light and understand that although the struggle is hard to fight through without faltering, we have a Hero who is always there to help you through it. Leave it on his plate and he will deal with it, endure the pain for the reward is much greater.
Romans 5 : 3
God Bless
Kev n' Hannah.
Friday, 13 September 2013
Thursday, 10 January 2013
A Call to Purity
Romans 6 v12 (ESV) ''let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions ''
A few weeks ago a friend surprised me with his view on what Christianity should be and how we should conduct ourselves as Christians. He held the view that as a Christian you do not have to change the way in which you live, '' God desires us to come as we are''. He further stated that Christianity is not about changing who you are but believing in God to give you grace regardless of the way you live.
I was absolutely amazed at the way he viewed Christianity but I soon came to the realisation that this view is shared by so many so-called believers all over the world. So I took the opportunity to sit back and reflect on what true Christianity is and I began to realise that throughout the entire bible, God always requires perfection and Holiness. When one goes through the old Testament we see that God always required a sacrifice that was without any blemish or impurity. The new Testament is no different, first of all God sent Jesus Christ to come die for us, this was the best and purest sacrifice God could make for us to be saved and anything less would not have been sufficient to save us.
Romans 12 v 1 (ESV) ''...to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship''.
As already mentioned earlier, God has always placed a requirement of purity when it comes to sacrifice so when we present the sacrifice that we ought to present, it has to be pure. As a result there are a lot of things that a believer cannot find themselves doing because they know their duty is to stay pure. The way of living as a believer cannot be the same as that of the world, the believer should not strive to fit in with the world because we are after all not of it... the world should look towards the believers and be attracted to them because of the light that they emit.
Worldly standards should not be found amongst us, as a believer, one should hate sin, they should hate the thought of sinning.
God desires to come to Him as we are, but if you stay the way you were before coming to Christ then it means that you have not been walking with God.
Romans 6 v 4 (ESV) ''We were buried therefore with Him (Christ) by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life ''
Carry your cross, seek purity and strive to be who God wants you to be... never be tempted to conform to the world but stand firm.
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.” - David Platt
God bless
~Kev n' Hannah
A few weeks ago a friend surprised me with his view on what Christianity should be and how we should conduct ourselves as Christians. He held the view that as a Christian you do not have to change the way in which you live, '' God desires us to come as we are''. He further stated that Christianity is not about changing who you are but believing in God to give you grace regardless of the way you live.
I was absolutely amazed at the way he viewed Christianity but I soon came to the realisation that this view is shared by so many so-called believers all over the world. So I took the opportunity to sit back and reflect on what true Christianity is and I began to realise that throughout the entire bible, God always requires perfection and Holiness. When one goes through the old Testament we see that God always required a sacrifice that was without any blemish or impurity. The new Testament is no different, first of all God sent Jesus Christ to come die for us, this was the best and purest sacrifice God could make for us to be saved and anything less would not have been sufficient to save us.
Romans 12 v 1 (ESV) ''...to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship''.
As already mentioned earlier, God has always placed a requirement of purity when it comes to sacrifice so when we present the sacrifice that we ought to present, it has to be pure. As a result there are a lot of things that a believer cannot find themselves doing because they know their duty is to stay pure. The way of living as a believer cannot be the same as that of the world, the believer should not strive to fit in with the world because we are after all not of it... the world should look towards the believers and be attracted to them because of the light that they emit.
Worldly standards should not be found amongst us, as a believer, one should hate sin, they should hate the thought of sinning.
God desires to come to Him as we are, but if you stay the way you were before coming to Christ then it means that you have not been walking with God.
Romans 6 v 4 (ESV) ''We were buried therefore with Him (Christ) by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life ''
Carry your cross, seek purity and strive to be who God wants you to be... never be tempted to conform to the world but stand firm.
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.” - David Platt
God bless
~Kev n' Hannah
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Reality Check
Before I woke up this morning I was having quite an unusual dream. Even the atmosphere within the dream was rather unusual, and a friend and I begun floating upwards.. As we reached the ceiling I realized that the strange atmosphere was due to the world drawing to a close and us floating upwards was because the rapture was taking place! Stunned that the world was ending so soon, but excited that I was taking part in the rapture I did all I could to get through the ceiling, for some reason there were "slots" in there... Failing to pass through the slots, I beckoned my friend to come outside with me so we could soar into the sky properly. Before leaving I came across my mother and sister in the living room, realizing something was happening. They spoke of the rapture and noticed they were slowly floating upwards and together we went outside.. We soared.. It was beautiful..
Up above, we were in a room, happily conversing, people around us, the presence of the Lord apparent. As I walked around, quiet and observant, I noticed an old friend of mine. She'd been Muslim the last time we'd spoken.. I was so happy to see her, and she was so full of life, full of joy, chatting blissfully. I thought to myself how awesome it was to have so many loved ones here, all a part of the rapture. I had about 4 good Christian friends with me, but I couldn't help but wonder where my luke-warm-Christian friends were. And where my father and brother was..
I had a flashback to how moments before the rapture (still during the dream) I was doing something I wouldn't usually do... making out with some guy.. a wild friend. It was as though I'd just given in.. "It's not like I do this often anyway" seemed to be the justifying thoughts I'd had at the time. I immediately felt sick to my stomach as I thought back at that moment, and remorseful.. Did I really deserve to be a part of this rapture? I felt so... sinful. But mostly, I felt lucky. Lucky that the Lord had allowed me to be a part of the rapture, even though I didn't deserve to be. And that's when it hit me... this is what grace is.
As I woke up from my dream, all that was running through my head was "grace". It all felt so real.. I tried to describe this grace to myself, this unfathomable, abundance of grace and the very first thing that came to mind was "amazing grace". As soon as the words came, something clicked in my mind! And there was a brilliant moment where I trully understood how John Newton felt when he wrote the song, Amazing grace. Each lyric now, made more sense than ever. It was all so tangible now.. It was no longer just some message preached about at church, some song we sung during praise and worship. No. It was a reality. A beautiful reality.
And although it was all a dream : the heated scene, the rapture.. and although the message of grace was the main feature in all this, I felt so encouraged to pursue purity, now more than ever.
Also, I can't help but wonder.. my dad... my brother.. my other friends.. where were they? In as much as it would be a victorious day when the rapture does come and I am taken to my maker, I do not want to mourn for my loved ones who are left behind. My former muslim friend? Someone must have led her to Christ! Someone must have prayed for her! I want to be that someone who prays for others... That someone who smiles when they spot those people they prayed for, evangelized to and fought for in that special room. I want.. to do something meaningful, not for me, but all for Christ.
~Hannah
~Hannah
Friday, 28 December 2012
Christianity - The good fight
1 Timothy 6 v 11 - 12(ESV)
''but as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of Faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses
Every good fighter has weaknesses and every good opponent has the ability to exploit such weaknesses. When the two fighters come together, it becomes a battle to see who will be able to outplay/outdo the other fighter and this usually makes for good viewing as a spectator.
As a Christian, a fight is something that you should be able to relate to because of its relevance in your Christian walk. Paul wrote to Timothy, urging him to pursue the things that would benefit his Christianity and help him stay in line with the will of God for his life(righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness) and knowing that this would be difficult to do he also told him to fight.
The Christian walk has never been an easy path to walk, it sure has its challenges, from the times of the believers getting persecuted and killed, for believing Jesus was the son of God, to the modern times of true Christians getting ridiculed for standing against things like abortion, homosexuality and other socially accepted world views.
Standing up for the right thing and living the right sort of life for a believer has never been easier, Christians all over the world are now constantly having to watch the world slowly decay, and some have to deal with daily persecution from people around them. When you look at all these things you start to realise that the fight lying in front of the ' modern ' Christian is no easy one.
A Christian is not just a person who does what they want, as long as if it feels right, but a Christian is an individual that recognises that they no longer have a life of their own because their lives are hidden in Christ.
Christians will often find themselves in a position that could possibly make them compromise, and these sort of situations come around in all shapes and sizes. Always remember that sin is sin and there is no way around it. God requires perfection from us all because he is Holy and he will not look at sin no matter the magnitude of the sin. 1 Thessalonians 4 v 7 '' For God has not called us for impurity but for holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you''
Remember that a Christian is supposed to represent Christ, when the world sees you they should see Christ in you and nothing other than that.
Always fight to meet the mark, but at the same time understand that without Jesus and without God's grace and mercy, our fleshly efforts to try and meet he mark are futile. Pursue God with a humble broken heart that is looking to the potter to mend it and make it into what he desires. Fight the good fight of faith and remember that this fight was won a long time ago... yours is just to see out the remaining rounds without losing the plot and getting knocked out.
God Bless
''but as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of Faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses
Every good fighter has weaknesses and every good opponent has the ability to exploit such weaknesses. When the two fighters come together, it becomes a battle to see who will be able to outplay/outdo the other fighter and this usually makes for good viewing as a spectator.
As a Christian, a fight is something that you should be able to relate to because of its relevance in your Christian walk. Paul wrote to Timothy, urging him to pursue the things that would benefit his Christianity and help him stay in line with the will of God for his life(righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness) and knowing that this would be difficult to do he also told him to fight.
The Christian walk has never been an easy path to walk, it sure has its challenges, from the times of the believers getting persecuted and killed, for believing Jesus was the son of God, to the modern times of true Christians getting ridiculed for standing against things like abortion, homosexuality and other socially accepted world views.
Standing up for the right thing and living the right sort of life for a believer has never been easier, Christians all over the world are now constantly having to watch the world slowly decay, and some have to deal with daily persecution from people around them. When you look at all these things you start to realise that the fight lying in front of the ' modern ' Christian is no easy one.
A Christian is not just a person who does what they want, as long as if it feels right, but a Christian is an individual that recognises that they no longer have a life of their own because their lives are hidden in Christ.
Christians will often find themselves in a position that could possibly make them compromise, and these sort of situations come around in all shapes and sizes. Always remember that sin is sin and there is no way around it. God requires perfection from us all because he is Holy and he will not look at sin no matter the magnitude of the sin. 1 Thessalonians 4 v 7 '' For God has not called us for impurity but for holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you''
Remember that a Christian is supposed to represent Christ, when the world sees you they should see Christ in you and nothing other than that.
Always fight to meet the mark, but at the same time understand that without Jesus and without God's grace and mercy, our fleshly efforts to try and meet he mark are futile. Pursue God with a humble broken heart that is looking to the potter to mend it and make it into what he desires. Fight the good fight of faith and remember that this fight was won a long time ago... yours is just to see out the remaining rounds without losing the plot and getting knocked out.
God Bless
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