Psalm 127

Good day We've spent the past few weeks taking a look at the absence of love, the presence of love, the importance of love, the standard of love that should be used and reflected on how we love others in comparison to how God loves and treats us. Today's message will be the final in this series and we'll be taking a look at some of the ways in which we can develop in loving others as God expects us to. 1. Choosing to love. In the previous messages I took some time to stress the importance of love and I think it should at the very least make us all aware of the fact that walking in love is a commandment from God. Based on this, we should take comfort and courage in knowing that God would never expect something of us that He didn't believe we could accomplish - otherwise He'd be setting us up to fail / sin ... and He wouldn't do so, meaning we are capable of loving others as He expects us to. We can therefore comfortably make a quality decision to believe that thi

Good day In the previous message we took a look at the following question, " What standard of love should we use?" and we ended off by saying that the standard with which we're expected to love others is reflecting on how God loves us and loving others the same way. This reflection should make us realise that if love is of God (1 John 4:7-11), then His love towards us should serve as the benchmark with which we should love others. In the below passage Jesus defines what this love looks like - a measure of love that He demonstrated by laying down His life for us on the cross - and that we in turn would love others the same way. John 15:12-13 (AMP) This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. Now we may not be required to offer up our lives as a substitute for someone else, as Jesus did for us, but there are some

The Most Important Things You Should Know About Healing - Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-U8LerWvLM

  "Do we have authority that we don't know about, that we haven't discovered, that we're not using?" Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin asked himself this question when he was a young preacher. "I had had little glimpses of spiritual authority once in a while," he writes in "The Believer's Authority." "Like other I had stumbled upon it and had exercised it without knowing what I was doing." "As a result of my studies, I concluded that we as a Church have authority on the earth that we've never yet realized." "A few of us have barely gotten to the edge of that authority, but before Jesus comes again, there's going to be a whole company of believers who will rise up and with the authority that is theirs, they will do the work that God intended they should do." The Believer's Authority - Part 1 - Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4FJ4bJkyeo The Believer's Authority - Part 2 - Rev. Kenneth E

23 minutes in Hell - Bill Wiese https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYxKRoONrfY "My sincere hope is that this book is the closest you will ever come to experiencing hell for yourself"--Bill Wiese saw the searing flames of hell, felt total isolation, and experienced the putrid and rotting stench, deafening screams of agony, terrorizing demons, and finally, the strong hand of God lifting him out of the pit--"Tell them I am coming very, very soon!" Wiese’s visit to the devil’s lair lasted just twenty-three minutes, but he returned with vivid details etched in his memory. Since this life-changing ordeal, he has spent the last seven years studying the Scriptures to find answers and has listed more than 150 Bible verses referencing hell. Everyone is curious about the afterlife, and now Wiese shares his insights to commonly asked questions such as: Is hell a literal burning place? Where is hell? Do you have a body in hell? Are there Degrees of punishment in hell? Are there chi

Driven By Eternity - by John Bevere Make Your Life Count Today and Forever One day you will stand before God and give an account of your life. The most important question you can ask yourself now is, will you be ready? Most Christians know their response to the cross determines where they will spend eternity. But did you know that how you’ll spend eternity is determined by what you do in this life? God wants you to discover your calling—He’s not trying to keep you in the dark. In fact, He longs for you to find the meaning and purpose that comes with knowing why you’ve been placed on this earth. In Driven by Eternity, best-selling author John Bevere uses an eye-opening allegory and extensive Scripture to unveil how our daily choices shape our eternal existence. Life beyond the final breath is much more than a destination. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Discover your God-given destiny and make your life count both today and forever. Lesson 1 -  Defining Eternity: https://www.youtube.com

Good day In the previous message we discussed the importance of love and took a look at the below passages of scripture which emphasizes the priority it should hold in our lives: Jesus commands us to love others! - 1 John 3:23 (NKJV) He says people will know that we are His disciples by the love we have for one another! - John 13:34-35 (AMP) The bible says that though we can possess all knowledge, understand all mysteries, prophecy, have faith, give all our possessions away to the poor, etc. That if we don't have love - we are nothing! - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (AMP) That love is the fulfillment of the law! - Romans 13:8-10 (AMP) That he who does not love, does not know God! - I John 4:7‭-‬11 (NKJV) Now it's very important to point out that when we discuss the importance of loving others, that we don't view this through the lenses of our own understanding. In other words, when the Bible says that God wants us to love others, this isn't based on our definition or standard

Good day In the previous messages I shared briefly on the absence of love, then on the presence of love, and in today's message I'd like to speak about the importance of love and making it a priority. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (AMP) If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all. Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogan

  Good day I'd like to lead us in a prayer that I believe the Holy Spirit recently led me to pray: "Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for reminding us to place our trust in you. Right now we just want to take a moment to let you know, and to acknowledge, both to you and to ourselves, that we need you ... we need you Lord ... in every single area of our lives, we need you ... Regardless of what it may be - maybe it's in the workplace, maybe with our families, maybe we're in need of your direction, provision, WHATEVER it may be - we just acknowledge right now that we need you to help us ... that we can't do this without you ... and we just want to thank you. Thank you for caring for us the way you do and for allowing us to cast our cares upon you (1 Peter 5:7) ... we choose now to rest in you. To rest in your finished work on the cross. To receive your peace, and by faith, welcome and receive your help. (Psalm 46:1). We thank you now for this in

Good day In the previous message we took a look at Matthew 22:36-40 where it speaks about God's instruction to love Him and to love others. We also looked at an example where this commandment wasn't carried out, or where love was absent, and the severe consequences it carried. In today's message I'd like to focus on the opposite by taking a look at a Biblical example where love was present. In Acts 2 we see the account of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Peter then addresses the crowd and shares the gospel of Jesus Christ and about 3000 people were added to their number that day. It then goes on to describe some of the characteristics of what this new community of believers looked like: Acts 2:42-47 NKJV "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, a

Good day I trust you're doing well. This will be the start of a new series where I'll be discussing the importance of love. As Christians, the word of God should be the foundation on which we base our outlook, thoughts, opinion, decisions and actions regarding the various areas of life. We see this is 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work." If we believe that God created the Heavens and the Earth, and if we esteem the word of God for what it is, His word and will towards us, then we should also trust that the Creator knows what His creation needs to do in order to best succeed in life. Th

Good day Recently I was reflecting on a particular area of my life and it seemed/felt incomplete. In that moment, and I believe it was the Holy Spirit, the following phrase came up, "Don't confuse something that's incomplete with something that's in progress". With most areas of our lives, whether it's the quality of our relationship with God, our spouse, our ministry, our career, etc. it's all in progress. Our journey with God for example - which influences the quality of all the other areas of our lives - is in progress - it hasn't reached a stage of completion for us to say it's incomplete. Incomplete means "not having everything that it should have; not finished", and is often viewed upon/received as something that is final, as though there's no coming back to it, and this perspective is influenced by how we understand the word "complete". See below examples of how the word "complete" is used in sentences: No t

Good day We've been having some warm weather in Cape Town recently and I've found myself needing to water the lawn more consistently because of the heat. There were 2 points that stood out for me while doing so: Point 1: Just because the grass is green and appears to be in a healthy condition, it doesn't mean we stop watering it. Point 2: We shouldn't wait for the grass/lawn to die before we start watering it. I then thought about how this can relate to our relationship with God, where we're the grass/lawn and watering speaks of how often we spend time with God. Point 1: Just because life is going well (Where we're growing in our relationship with God and serving in His kingdom, our needs are taken care of, the family is doing well, the quality of the relationship with our spouse, family, friends is healthy and thriving, from a career perspective things are going well, etc.) - It doesn't mean we neglect spending time with God, as though the decision to spend

Good day We can often find ourselves in a position where coming to God is like an after-thought, like it's the thing we do after we've run into trouble, after we've made the wrong choices then trying to figure out everything on our own, after we've experienced the worry, anxiety and stress of trying to solve things in our own ability ... then we come running to God for help ... but why wait? Why is coming to God not our first option? Why is it often the last thing we seek to do, like it's our last resort? In the previous message I asked the question, "Can I trust God's love?" and concluded the message by saying that yes we can but that the quality or depth of that trust is different for different people because in order to grow that trust, hope, expectation, confidence - faith - in God, we need to grow and develop our relationship with Him - and this is not a once off event or action. It takes time and development (just like any other relationship). We

Good day In the previous message we took a look at the fact that God is willing and how He demonstrates that willingness in the form of His word (what He's declared regarding us and the priority He places on His word), and also in His love towards us. So we know God is willing because He says so and we know He's willing because we've come to trust in His love towards us, the latter is what we'll be focusing on for today's message. 1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. In the above verse we are instructed to love, not only by our words, but by our actions as well (another example of this is found in James 2:14-16). Now God would not ask us to do this if He was not prepared to do so Himself. This means that God's love for us is not just in word alone but also in deed and in truth. An example of this is found in the below verse. I John 4:8‭-‬10, "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God i