Warmed by God's Presence

Due to the tremendous growth at North Rand, we have had to put up a marquee to help with the 9h30 service numbers.

We have tried to make it special with banners, sound and video links and the latest addition - heaters for winter!

I must confess, that for awhile, I had a thought that people would avoid the marquee because of the winter cold.

This Sunday, I was not involved in the worship services, so I had the opportunity to sit with the folk in the marquee. There I discovered that the church and the marquee were so filled with God’s presence that the heaters were actually of secondary issue.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could live constantly in God’s presence?
He asks us to do that by seeking first the Kingdom of God and promises that all will be added to us after we do that! (Matt: 6:33)

Awesome!

My prayer is that we will allow God’s presence to be part of our daily life by focusing on Him and that He would grant the desires of your heart.

Prayer of the Righteous

It’s interesting to note that after Pentecost, when Peter and John were released from interrogation by the Sanhedrin, they returned to their community of believers and the first thing they did was to pray (Acts:4:23-31).

They prayed this:
Lord you are the Creator and have a plan for your Creation
Lord no one can thwart your divine plan
Lord heal your people

And the place where they were meeting shook as the Holy Spirit moved!
I believe we need to pray the same for our lives, for our country and the world (the prayer of righteous is powerful).

Take some time right - Yes right where you are - And pray:

Lord you are everything and everything is in You
Lord, heal me
Lord, heal you people
Let your Divine purpose work out in me
Thank you Lord for answering my prayer
Amen!

The Bride of Christ

Scripture teaches that Christ's relationship with His church (you and me) is likened to a relationship between a bride and groom. Revelation 19:6-9

In this case, Christ is the groom and the church His bride.

Go back a bit in Revelation (2 & 3) and you’ll find, in the seven letters to the churches, warnings on what the church should avoid so as to be presentable to Him:

- Being luke-warm
- Watering down the Word
- Forgetting our first love (God and one another)

So... the challenge then for us (the bride of Christ), is make sure where we are, spiritually, mentally and physically so that we can present Christ His bride the best we can...

For me it starts:

- By giving ourselves fully to God
- By reading our Bibles regularly
- By DOING what God has called us to do – to love Him and one another with all that we have


If you’re challenged by this, then pray with me:

Lord, I’m sorry for forgetting my first love and for being luke-warm.

Please forgive me and help me read my bible and DO what you’ve called me to do.

Thank you Lord, I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

HĒSED

On Sunday, we spoke about a Hebrew word – Hēsed.
A word difficult to transpose to English but means mostly mercy, loyalty and faithfulness.


Now here’s the thing: Hēsed is closer to a verb then a noun.

In other words, it’s something we do (action).

God shows mercy to us by His sin offering of Jesus.

Question: are we showing Hēsed to others?
- To those in need?
- To those we know don’t know Jesus?
- To those who have wronged us..?
- To those we have wronged..?


If not then now’s the time start:
Sit quietly for a moment
Allow the Holy Spirit to bring a name, situation to mind
Now act on it – don’t wait!