Abide in my love

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:9, 10 ESV)

Recognise the work of the enemy

Good morning, Lovers of God!

I want us to focus on recognition. Our daily living is plagued by the lies of satan and the only way to stop this infiltration is to know and recognise it when it approaches… Thus, we need to recognise the works of the enemy in our lives. In order to this, we should differentiate between God’s works, our works and satan’s works…

Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine! And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing. For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water. For this cause the underworld has made wide its throat, opening its mouth without limit: and her glory, and the noise of her masses, and her loud-voiced feasters, will go down into it.
(Isaiah 5:11-14 BBE).

Our works as in this passage is to make strong drink (alcohol) our lord. We are then not concious of God’s works allowing the enemy to enter into our lives AND his works will always lead to destruction as Jesus said:

The thief comes only to take the sheep and to put them to death: he comes for their destruction…
(John 10:10 BBE).

There is always a consequence, a cause, an effect in every action we take, good or bad… The enemy (satan) will always try to hide this from us, because if we know and understand the consequence(s) of our actions, we will not do it. We will be targeted by satan through thoughts, pictures, ideas and other lies in-order to separate our works from God’s works. Thus as Christians we are walking in God’s works and satan will do everything is his power to keep us from doing so.

For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:10 NKJV).

We need to listen to the voice of God and not the voice of the enemy. Therefore we need discernment!!!

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(Hebrews 5:14 NKJV).

We need to have our “senses exercised to discern both good and evil”… Our measuring rod (tool) is LOVE… What is not Love is not the works of God! Our works needs to be the works of God as Jesus said:

… “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
(John 5:19 NKJV).

It is then Love we need to know and measure everything we do against. Paul gives us an idea of what Love is and what actions Love takes:

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV).

For Love not to fail is to keep God’s commandments and Jesus explained it like this:

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
(John 15:10-14 NKJV).

Love then is the source, the measuring rod and the fullness of God’s commandments. Our love should be to lay down our lives for our friends like Jesus did when he proved His love and died on the cross…

Hold fast to this promise:

And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
(Revelation 2:26 NKJV).

Blessings,
Thomas

A God of reality

Holy and magnificences Father,
Glorious and awesome is Your Name!
God, I need You
Open my eyes, my ears, my mind, my heart
That I may know, understand and comprehend
That I may see and hear more and more of You
Come and display Yourself to me daily
Become a God of reality
A God that is real to me…
Be my God and Saviour today
I pray in Jesus Name
Amen

© Thomas Dreyer

Living The Wasted Life

A lifetime of living is recorded by thousands if not millions of people, yet most feel at the end of their lives that it was for nothing…

What then are you willing to waste your life for, or even have a fulfiled life for?

David wrote:

To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
Only to God is my soul in silence; from Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my tower; I shall not be greatly moved.
How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You will shatter him, all of you; you shall be like a bowing wall and a tottering fence.
Surely they have plotted to cast him down from his great height; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but they curse in their heart. Selah.
My soul, be silent only to God; for my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my strong tower; I shall not be shaken.
In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength; my hiding-place is in God.
Trust in Him at all times; you people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a hiding-place for us. Selah.
Surely the sons of men are vanity; the sons of men are a lie; they go up in the scales; they are altogether lighter than vanity.

(Psalm 62:1-9)

I read once in a book:

Captivate your mind and spirit with a ravishing vision of GOD,
diving to the bottom of His ocean,
there you will find a pearl of great price
behind a piece of white coral,
waste your life for this pearl
and you will be found in the door without a key.
(A man called blessed by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright)

Thus you will find entrance; That which you give or waste your life for will give you entrance to the greatness of the pearl you have chosen.

Whatever pearl and whatever life you choose will become your wasted or fulfiled life…

Truly waste your life for the pearl of great price found only in Jesus Christ.

Thomas Dreyer

There is Comfort When We Embrace Our Humanity

Have you ever dreamed about a different life? A life that is less complicated, have less pain, worries or stress.

We sometimes need to remember that we are only dust…

For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
(Psalms 103:14).

On Wednesday I accompanied a friend to her Biblestudie group. They were talking about “Christus ons trooster” (Christ our Comforter). God comforts us in pain, fear, poverty, disappointments…

I realised that we do not embrace our humanity. We want to be strong and powerful, but even David said that God remembers that we are only dust. You have to embrace your own humanity and then others… It is that we are frail and limited, not able to carry, performer and give what life demands from us daily. You may be offended and believe that you are able to do all of this, but are you?

Because Jesus experienced temptation when he suffered, he is able to help others when they are tempted.
(Hebrews 2:18).

We have a God that knows and understands who we truly are. We want to be strong and live this daily living as overcomers, but we will fail if we forget our humanity.

The Letter to the Philippians gives us a glimpse of the frailty of humanity, the embrace thereof and the knowing that we are utterly depended on a God that knows and understands this even more than we do.

Are you willing to acknowledge your humanity in total dependence on God?
Will you become a vessel filled and overflowing with all of this becoming a carrier thereof? Mankind needs to know the truth – we are not as strong and invincible as we might think we are…

When I worried about many things, your assuring words soothed my soul.
(Psalms 94:19).

Niks kan ons beter troos nie as die helder wete dat ons, midde-in ons ellende, deur die God van Liefde vasgehou word – Johannes Calvyn.

A song for going up to worship. O LORD, out of the depths I call to you. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy. O LORD, who would be able to stand if you kept a record of sins? But with you there is forgiveness so that you can be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and with hope I wait for his word. My soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, because with the LORD there is mercy and with him there is unlimited forgiveness. He will rescue Israel from all its sins.
(Psalms 130:1-8).

We need to come to the full knowledge and understanding of our humanity – that we are nothing with out God. The fact that we even have a breath is a gift from God for He breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life and man became a living soul.

Knowing that I am nothing and Jesus is my all in all – my source of life.

The story of life

Our lives began with a new beginning many years ago – a second chance of living the true life. This new life was a gift from God and was paid for by the life and blood of Jesus Christ – A life called for, a life needed and a life worth living.

Jesus our Lord and Saviour did not die for the Church, the Jew, the Christian or any other group you can think of, because He died for the whole world. His death brought this new life forth as a seed that died in the ground and brought fort a tree.

There is only one entrance into this new life and this is through Jesus Christ. You have to take hold of Him first that you may take hold of this new life also.

Your life story changed when you accepted Jesus and your past grew much deeper and wider. Now your story does not only begin at your birth, but began with a God many thousands or even millions of years ago…

What you need to do is find your place, role in this new bigger story of your life. To do so many mind sets and ideas needs to change. Einstein once said:

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”. (Albert Einstein)

An understanding of your new life and role can not be found in the same place you were before, thus you need to walk a road of learning, willing to let go of your old life and take hold of the even greater past of who you are becoming to be…

God’s heart is for all His people and He wants us all to advance and grow, but only according to His purpose. A selfish God? Maybe, but He knows what is the best for all of us. His selfish about His own and when you belong to Him you are part of it!!!

It might be that you need to spend time with God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to find the bigger picture…

There is a story that shaped your life and when you became a Christian that story got a whole lot bigger. Your past wasn’t the only story, but the Life and Death of Jesus Christ became part of your story. This story is the blueprint that gives structure to your whole being and also influence the way you interact with the world around you. Now the bigger picture consists of the detail of this story. We tend to look at the story from our own perspective, but forget that the Author of the story has a completeness in mind, a goal and purpose… Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith and we need to get in-line with His story. Our focus should be Him and His purpose for our lives. Thus our eyes should always be on Jesus. (Read Hebrews 12:1-29).

Micah 3 explains how God sits as a refiner of silver, purging the sons of Levi. This is a work of precision… (as seen in the following story)

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ 

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. 

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. 

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for  her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. 

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. 

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ 

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. 

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. 

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’

He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’ 

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

What would you say is God’s purpose for you?

It has some thing to do with looking like JESUS!!!

Your life is based on “What is God’s will regarding my life and what do I need in order to look like JESUS – some more purging?

Our destiny needs to be found in HIM, for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

Be Blessed,
Thomas