SAM HONIBALL BLOG

The good news at Christmas is that God didn’t merely attempt to reconcile with us; He actually accomplished it. And in God’s case, He was the one offended and He was the one who initiated forgiveness. You are adopted into his family. FOR GOD, THIS IS BOTH A LEGALLY BINDING ARRANGEMENT AS WELL AS AN EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL BOND. THIS MEANS BY FAITH: YOU ENJOY ALL OF THE RIGHTS OF GOD’S FAMILY—such as unconditional love, absolute forgiveness, and permanent security. YOU ARE HEIR TO HIS KINGDOM—heaven. YOUR OLD LIFE IS COMPLETELY WIPED OUT. All of your past is as if it never happened. YOU ARE NOW PROTECTED BY GOD’S FAMILY NAME. No one can remove you from His family . . . not even yourself. By faith, you have peace with God which gives you the peace of God in your heart. He is saying that you’ve got two choices in life: YOU CAN PRAY OR YOU CAN PANIC. Those are your choices. In every circumstance, YOU CAN WORSHIP OR YOU CAN WORRY. Worry has never solved a single one of your problems. It’s w

You can live life at one of three levels. The SURVIVAL level, the SUCCESS level, or the highest level—the SIGNIFICANCE level. Significance comes from knowing God, knowing His purpose for your life, and then doing it. The two greatest days in a person's life are the day he was born and the day he finds out why he was born. The first step to living a life of Significance is to receive Christ as your Savior. What would it take to convince you that you need to be saved? What would motivate you? As your substitute, here is what Jesus did for you: JESUS TOOK ALL OF YOUR SIN—PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE; AND HE MADE YOUR SIN HIS SIN. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Not only did He take your sin on Himself; He took your punishment, too. HE WAS PUNISHED AND SUFFERED IN OUR PLACE. Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought u

LUKE 2:10 (NIV) BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID. I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY THAT WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE. Notice what the angel said: · “I bring you good news…” · This news will bring you “great joy” · And this news is for all the people, not just some of them. God did not just visit us; He was born as we are. God became a man—a man named Jesus. May I ask you this, do you adore this man? Do you regard with the utmost love, respect and honor this man who is God’s gift of love to you? Do you know that you can never do enough to make Him love you more and you can never do anything which will make Him love you less? I don’t know what you are living with today. Perhaps Christmas is not a time of celebration for you. It might even be a time you dread, and you are just waiting for December 25th to get over with. God says, “I’m going to give you hope.” If you’re mistreated or lonely this Christmas, you need to turn to Jesus Christ and sense His relationship in you

God wants to recycle the pain in your life for the benefit of others. People are not helped by our strengths; they are helped when we are honest about our weaknesses. The blessing of pain is that it gets our attention and lets us know something is seriously wrong. Do you remember the story of Jonah being swallowed by the fish? Jonah was going one way and God said: I want you to go the other way. At The bottom of the sea Jonah finally said, “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord.” A great verse to show that God uses pain to get our attention. You will never know that God is all you need until God is all you’ve got. When it’s all falling apart and you’ve lost it all, that’s when you can see clearly the only One who is remaining beside you. Without problems you will never learn that God is the only real problem solver. God uses pain to teach you to depend on Him, The truth is some things we only learn through pain. Pain actually makes you humble, sympathetic

This time of year it’s good to do an annual checkup. This inventory is like spring cleaning. You take some time off, go away for a day and do an annual checkup. You look at your life and see what is in order and what not and then do some deep cleaning. Here are some things to review: o YOUR RELATIONSHIPS o YOUR PRIORITIES o YOUR ATTITUDE o YOUR INTEGRITY o YOUR MIND o YOUR BODY o YOUR FAMILY o YOUR CHURCH To maintain momentum the next step that follows evaluation is meditation. Meditation may be a new concept but it isn’t hard at all. Here are two simple keys to get you started on meditation. THE HOW-TO OF MEDITATION: REVERSE WORRY – If you know how to worry you know how to meditate. Worry is just negative meditation – you take a negative thought and you think about it over and over. When you meditate – take a positive thought (often a verse of the Bible) and think about it over and over. LISTENING – Meditation is a form of listening to God for His answers and directions. It’s a time f

Matthew 5:7 says “Happy are those who are merciful to others,” Everyone have experienced broken relationships. In our pain and our woundedness we can build walls to keep the pain out, to keep ourselves from being hurt again. When we do that we end up locking ourselves in a prison and locking other people out. To rebuild relationships you have to tear down the walls. The choice that you and I are going to have to make is this: To evaluate all of my relationships, offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me, and make amends for harm that I have done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others. Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sin, your Father will not forgive you.” C. S. Lewis said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” So how do you become a forgiver? How do you let go of the layers and layers

You remember that when God and Jacob are wrestling, the Bible says that God dislocated Jacob’s hip. He pulled it out of the socket. Bible says this, Genesis 32:31 (NLT) “The sun rose as Jacob left Peniel and he was limping because of his hip.” After you have had a genuine encounter with God, you’re going to have a limp. What is the significance of this limp? Three things: ONE, for his entire life Jacob had run from conflict. He’d run from his brother. He’d run from his dad. He’d run from his wife. He had run from his father-in-law. He’d run from God. God said, “We’ll fix that. No more running. I’m just going to touch your hip so you will limp the rest of your life. You’ll never solve a problem by running from it.” SECOND, it was a daily reminder to trust God. He touched him on his thigh. You know what your thigh muscle is? It is the strongest muscle in your body. It’s the biggest muscle. God touched Jacob at the point of his greatest strength. He said, You’re no longer going to rely on

The Bible says this, John 11:43-44, “Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot [picture that] with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’” It says he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was covered with a cloth. There’s significance there. That means that nothing that binds you up and keeps you from fullness of life, nothing that trips you up as you try to follow Jesus, nothing that covers you up and keeps you hidden from the rest of the world – none of that can withstand the life-giving power of Jesus Christ. When you gave your life to Christ, the Bible says he brought you from death into life. It’s just like Lazarus – you were brought from death into life. But there are still things in your life that keep you from fulfillment in your life. Jesus said I came to give you fullness of life. But there are things that bind us up, that hold us back

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek.” If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, meekness is not optional. In the original language of the Bible the word for meek is PRAEIS, which has different levels of meaning. On the surface it can mean mild or humble. The stereotype of what people think Christians are like – mild and humble, kind of weak, kind of spineless, kind of wimpy, they wear a lot of polyester, they say “Praise the Lord.” It fits the stereotype. But there’s deeper meaning to this word and it’s the one I really want you to get. In the Greek, the word was often used to describe animals whose naturally wild spirit had to be broken by a trainer. Why did that spirit have to be broken by a trainer? So they could become useful. So if you imagine in your mind a stallion, an incredible horse that can run like the wind, that can pull plows through a field. That’s not a picture of weakness. But a tamed stallion, that’s the image that he’s representing. MEEK IS STRENGTH UNDER CONTROL. That’s

We all have broken areas in our life. We carry around grief and pain that can be devastating. If we carry hurt long enough we identify with it and become a victim. To escape pain we use alcohol or drugs or we try to control those around us with anger. As we proceed on the road to recovery we will come face-to-face with truths about ourselves that we have been trying to hide all along. CS Lewis said: “God whispers to us in our pleasures… but shouts in our pain.” Pain is God’s megaphone to let us know something is seriously wrong and needs our urgent attention: - What pain has God been using as a megaphone in your life to alert you to your need for help? - Who or what have you blamed for your problems – either partially or completely? - What pain have you been denying? - In what areas do you feel stuck in the pain of your past – powerless to change? - What area(s) in your life are you now ready to allow God to start helping you? - What are you still afraid to turn over to God? - How are

Since the beginning of time men and women have searched for true happiness – usually in all the wrong places, doing all the wrong things. Jesus gives us eight keys to happiness in the sermon of the mount. Let’s have a look at the first one, Matthew 5:3 (AMP) Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! Do you ever do any of the following things? o Do you ever stay up late when you know you need sleep? o Do you ever eat or drink more calories than your body needs? o Do you ever feel you need to exercise but don’t? o Do you ever know the right thing to do but don’t do it? o Do you ever know something is wrong but do it anyway? o Have you ever known you should be unselfish but were selfish instead? o Have you ever tried to control somebody and found them uncontrollable?

Effective confession is like firing a gun. A gun that fires blanks sound the same as one that fires real bullets. If you have a snake in your garden you can fire blanks at it all you want and it will never kill the thing. However one real bullet will take care of the slimy creature in no time. That is one reason why so many Christians get frustrated with this confession thing – They are firing blanks and get no results. Again and again when God wanted to create something we get the phrase “And God said”. Last week we heard “The worlds were framed by the words of God”. So words are creative and powerful but they must be based on an underlying faith. (Rom 10:10) Consider the order, with your heart you believe, then with your mouth you confess. If confession is the gun, words based on an already present inner reality are the bullets and the gunpowder that propels those bullets is the substance of faith. So before shooting off your mouth load the gun with bullets (a clear inner image), fil

Why are there so many faith failures and frustrated Christians? Because over the years there has been a lot of good teaching on faith but very little on God’s prescribed order for using faith. Everything you see around you is the result of faith filled words. Think of God’s words as spiritual seeds that have the ability to produce physical things like trees, plants, planets and money. That is why the Bible is such an enormously powerful thing. It contains from cover to cover God’s faith-filled words empowered to produce whatever you need in your life. When you pick up your Bible you hold in your hand the seeds to produce finances, salvation of loved ones, healing, restoration of a marriage, a sound mind or anything else you could possible need. Many are too lazy to pick up the Bible. A farmer’s seed does him no good as long as it lies dormant in the sack. But when he plants it he gets a harvest. THE SEEDS OF PROVISION IN GOD’S WORD WILL NEVER PRODUCE FOR YOU AS LONG AS YOUR BIBLE GATHE

ISAIAH 54:8 (TEV) “I WILL SHOW YOU MY LOVE FOREVER,’ SO SAYS THE LORD WHO SAVES YOU.” The foundation for a stable life, no matter what you go through in life, is the unchanging love of God. I know that a lot of things will change in my life. But one thing I know will never change is that God will never stop loving me. If you’re going to build a love that lasts a lifetime you have to figure out how to overcome the Deadly D’s. Every relationship whether it’s a friendships or a marriage goes through the Deadly D’s – Difficulties, Disagreements, Differences, Discord, Disappointment, Defeat, Dead-ends, Depression, Delay, Doubt, Distance, Death, Debt, Demands, Difficulties. Those are not easy things to overcome. But those who survived the deadly D’s overcame the big D – Divorce. How do you have a love that lasts a lifetime? There’s some things that you must never do if you’re going to build a love that lasts a lifetime. We’re in 1 Corinthians 13, It says this in verse 7 “LOVE NEVER STOPS BEI

A lot of people think anger is always a sin. Not necessarily. Sometimes anger is the most appropriate response. Actually anger is a capacity given to you by God. God gets angry. There’s some times that you should get angry. Let me give you little facts about anger that you may not know. For instance, the average woman loses her temper three times a week while the average man loses his temper about six times a week. Women get more often angry at people while men more often get angry at things. Machines and stuff like that, that break down. Single adults express anger twice as often as married adults. Men are far more physical in their anger than women. You are more likely to express anger at home than anywhere else. “I ALWAYS LOSE WHEN I LOSE MY TEMPER!” What do you lose? You lose your reputation. You can lose the respect of others. You can lose your job. You can lose a sale. You can lose the love of your family. You could lose your health. It doesn’t matter how well you eat. You may ea

One verse in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:5 tells us the ways that love deals with difficult people. It says “LOVE IS NOT RUDE. LOVE DOES NOT DEMAND ITS OWN WAY. LOVE IS NOT IRRITABLE, AND LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WHEN IT HAS BEEN WRONGED.” One of the ways that God builds your love is he tests it by putting you around unlovely people. WHAT FORM OF RUDENESS IRRITATES YOU THE MOST? Here are some examples: o People who call you and then say, “Who is this?” Before they identify themselves. o People who hoot in traffic jams that are going no where. o People who light their cigarette then hold it towards you instead of smoking. o People who cheat at the ten-item grocery express line. o People who come from the opposite direction and steal the parking spot you’ve been patiently waiting for. How do you respond in love to difficult people? The number one form of rudeness in our society today is INTERRUPTING PEOPLE. Not listening. It is rude to not listen. It is rude to not let somebody fini

EPHESIANS 4:29 SAYS “DO NOT LET ANY UNWHOLESOME TALK COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS, BUT ONLY WHAT IS HELPFUL FOR BUILDING OTHERS UP ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS.” Are my words building? Are they building other people up according to their needs? Words can build or they can tear down. Words can build a marriage relationship or tear down a marriage relationship. Words can build a child’s self esteem or tear down a child’s self esteem. Words can build a relationship with a co-worker that you’re trying to share Christ with. Or they can tear that down. We have to stop and think: is this going to build up or is this going to tear down? Is this what the other person needs from me or is it just what I feel like giving right now? This verse also talks about don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. When you think about unwholesome talk the first thing you might think of is swear words. And obviously words that demean another person is going to be unhelpful, it’s not going to be a healthy co

Jesus Christ accepts you completely. He loves you and accepts you. That doesn’t mean he approves of everything you do. No, he doesn’t do that. But he accepts you. You can accept someone without approving of what they do. A good example is one day Jesus was walking down the street and some religious leaders who were trying to trap Jesus caught this woman in the act of adultery. It’s interesting they didn’t catch the guy. But it says they caught the woman in the act of adultery. They bring her before Jesus and throw her down before Jesus. This woman was caught cheating on her husband. What are you going to do about it, Jesus? You know this famous story. Jesus looks at all of the accusers and says, “Ok, anybody who has never sinned, you get to throw the first stone.” And of course they all start going away. What is Jesus doing here? He’s giving acceptance, not approval. He didn’t approve of what she was doing. The first thing that Jesus did was he defended her dignity. He said, I’m not go

MATT. 22:36-39 (LB) “WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMAND?” JESUS REPLIED, “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, AND MIND. ‘THIS IS THE FIRST AND GREATEST COMMANDMENT. THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT IS SIMILAR: ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF.” I hate to tell you this but the truth is one day all your trophies are going to be trashed. Given enough time somebody’s going to throw them away. That bowling trophy! That merit badge! That report card! That certificate of accomplishment! That gold watch that you got for retirement! Nobody’s going to remember those things. I doubt that you have any of the awards that your grandparents got. When people are dying they don’t want things around them. What they want is people. They want the people that they love and they want to love those people. The truth is everybody – every one of us – will eventually learn the basic truth of life that life is about relationships not accomplishments. Everybody’s going to eventually learn

Why didn’t God just create you to take you to heaven? Have you ever thought about that? Why does he let you spend sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety years here on a broken world where there is sin, suffering, sorrow, sadness, problems, pressures, stress? LIFE IS ALL ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO LOVE. In fact, one day Jesus was walking down the street and a guy came up to him and he said, Lord what is the most important command in the Bible. Jesus said, I can summarize the entire Bible for you in two sentences. If you get these two things you get it. You get what life is all about. It’s called the GREAT COMMANDMENT. We’ve looked at it many times. JESUS SAID, MARK 12:30-31 (LB) “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND ALL YOUR SOUL, AND ALL YOUR MIND AND ALL YOUR STRENGTH. AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. THERE ARE NO COMMANDS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THESE.” Learn to love God with all your heart and, by the way, learn to love everybody else. He said if you get those two things, you’ve got it

Today there is an EPIDEMIC OF LONELINESS in our society. Four out of ten people experience intense loneliness.“Everywhere you look, there are signs that PEOPLE ARE HUNGERING FOR FELLOWSHIP, community, and a sense of family. Beer commercials don’t sale beer, they sell fellowship. No one is ever portrayed drinking alone. Always in the context of enjoying each other’s company. People long to be connected. There are many ANALOGIES for a CHRISTIAN DISCONNECTED FROM A CHURCH: a RUGBY/SOCCER PLAYER without a TEAM; a SOLDIER without a PLATOON; a VIOLIN PLAYER without an ORCHESTRA; a SHEEP without a FLOCK. But the most understandable and biblical picture is that of a CHILD WITHOUT A FAMILY. That FAMILY IS THE CHURCH. God does not want his children growing up in isolation from each other, so he created a spiritual family on earth for us. A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT A CHURCH FAMILY IS AN ORPHAN. THE CHURCH PROVIDES PEOPLE WITH THINGS THEY CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. So next time you go to chu

The Living Bible says "IT'S FOOLISH TO THINK WEALTH BRINGS HAPPINESS!" Things can bring happiness for a while. But the thrill doesn't last. The excitement wears off. When you get something and open the package you think, Wow, this is great. But after a while it's not so great any more. You're bored with that piece of art or that furniture or that car. Why? WHY DON'T THINGS KEEP YOU PERMANENTLY HAPPY? BECAUSE THINGS DON'T CHANGE. HUMAN BEINGS LIKE CHANGE. If things don't change we get bored with them. That's why we have a thing called fashion or style. Because things don't change we get bored with them and we have to have something new. Pretty soon you have to redecorate, or remodel or repair or replace or at least rearrange it. Things don't give permanent happiness. I wonder how many of you are still thrilled about the Christmas gift you got last Christmas. You don't even remember what you got last Christmas! Things do not bring la

Dr. Leonard Keeler, inventor of the lie detector machine, has tested 25,000 individuals and came to the conclusion that human beings are basically deceptive. No kidding? How can we be honest in a dishonest world? How do I tell the truth? We first have to look at why people lie. WHY DO WE LIE? The Type of Lie / The Motive The cruel lie - You tell it to get revenge. The cowardly lie - You tell to escape consequences The conceited lie - You tell it to impress The calculated lie - You tell it to manipulate other people The convenient lie - You tell it because it takes effort to tell the truth Jesus is saying the real problem is not my mouth but my heart. What's coming out of my mouth, these lies, are really an indication of what's inside of me. It's not what comes out that matters it's what's inside of me. Matthew 15:19 "For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, lying and slander." Jesus said that what's in your heart is wha

Six men in Walmer, Port Elizabeth pulled off a daring robbery by ramming their bakkie into a bank on Monday, 15 June 2009. At 3.45pm a red bakkie crashed through the window of an FNB bank, six men armed with pistols jumped out of the back, threatened the cashiers and demanded cash. Having stolen an undisclosed amount of money, the men jumped back into the bakkie, reversed out of the bank and drove off. No one was injured and no arrests had been made. Most of us would frown upon an incident like the one mentioned above and on the eighth commandmend that says: You shall not steal. It's however amazing the number of ways that we can steal. In the dictionary the word for stealing has 138 synonyms. Let’s look at just six ways that we can steal: 1. Deceiving customers by overcharging. 2. Defrauding employers by taking supplies home. 3. Delaying payments. 4. Defaulting on loans. What in your garage or on your bookshelf do you need to return to somebody? 5. Defrauding or deceiving the Gov

Nothing destroys a family faster than adultery. God says I've given you a drive called sex. Properly controlled and expressed within a marriage it's beautiful and fantastic. But outside of marriage it is destructive and detrimental to your health as a human being, emotionally, spiritually, in every way. The following things can cause affairs in a marriage: 1. Unmet Needs 2. Unfulfilled Expectations 3. Unresolved Conflict 4. Undeveloped Self-Worth Dr. Willard Harley, in his book His Needs, Her Needs. Has identified what he thinks are the top 5 needs of most men and the top 5 needs of most women. See if you see any similarities between these two lists: THE TOP FIVE NEEDS OF MOST MEN ARE: 1. Sexual Fulfillment 2. Recreational Companionship 3. An Attractive Spouse 4. Domestic Support 5. Admiration THE TOP FIVE NEEDS OF MOST WOMEN ARE: 1. Affection 2. Conversation 3. Honesty And Openness 4. Financial Support 5. Family Commitment Did you see any similarities between those two lists?

Exodus 20:13 is very simple, just four words: "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER." Probably your urge to murder doesn't happen very often, except when you're on the highway. So not a whole lot of you need this message -- you think. - By the time the average child has hit 6th grade they have already witnessed over 8,000 murders on television. - They have watched over 100,000 acts of violence on television. - We live in a violent society. Every 22 minutes in somebody is stabbed, shot or beaten or strangled to death. - More kids die from violence than they do from illness. More kids are killed by suicide that by traffic. People say, "It's my life and I have a right to live it and to take it." God says, "No, you don't. I gave you your life and only I have the right to take it away." The facts of abortion in America are shocking and we’re catching up fast: - 26% of all pregnancies now end in abortion, one out of four; - 30 million have been killed throug

"HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER, SO THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG IN THE LAND." (Exodus 20:12) It's no secret that families are fragmenting at an alarming rate. The average marriage last 7 1/2 years. Sixty percent of all second marriages fail. Every thirty seconds there is a divorce. There is no time limit or age limit on this. It just says honor your father and mother. Even if you may be 80 years old and your parent 100, you are supposed to honor your father and mother. The Bible says that the way you treat your older, elderly parents is the demonstration of your true faith, of whether you're really a Christian or not. I TIMOTHY 5:8 (LB) "ANYONE WHO WON'T CARE FOR HIS OWN RELATIVES WHEN THEY NEED HELP, ESPECIALLY HIS OWN FAMILY, HAS NO RIGHT TO SAY HE IS A CHRISTIAN. SUCH A PERSON IS WORSE THAT THE HEATHEN." Is it not significant that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, dying for the sin of the world, one of the things that He did not forget was to care for His

Do you ever find yourself as fatigued on Monday morning as you were on Friday afternoon? Do you ever bring home work in a briefcase and used the weekend to catch up on work you haven't got done? Do you ever get tired just thinking of what you've got to do? Do you ever feel guilty when you relax? If you answer yes to one or more of the above questions, chances are good that you may be a Workaholic. It's interesting to me that God has more to say about taking a day off than He does about either murder or adultery. The fourth is the longest of the Ten Commandments. It's as if He's saying, "I want you to take this serious, this is not a suggestion. I am commanding you to take a day off every week. It's the antidote to burnout, the prevention against the stress-filled world we live in. PROVERBS 14:30 (LB) "A RELAXED ATTITUDE LENGTHENS A MAN'S LIFE." When you don't follow God's principles, if Christ is not the center of your life, the manage

FORGERY IS WHEN YOU USE SOMEBODY ELSE'S NAME TO GET WHAT YOU WANT. There are a lot of spiritual forgers in the world who misuse God's name by saying, "God told me..." and you're supposed to say, "It must be true then". It may not be. We take God's name in vain when we claim to be committed to Him but we don't back it up with our life style. A guy says "I love the Lord, He's number one in my life!" Are you involved in any kind of ministry? "No" Are you meeting with Him every day, reading the Bible, daily quiet time? No. Tithing? No. What does He mean to you then? Just words. ISAIAH 29:13 says "THESE PEOPLE WORSHIP ME WITH THEIR LIPS BUT THEIR HEARTS ARE FAR FROM ME." Our lifestyle can misuse the name of God. If you call yourself a believer act like one. If you're going to call yourself a Christian don't drag Christ's name through the gutter by your lifestyle. Your walk needs to match your talk. If you&

In South Africa we are all well aware of the BIG FIVE when it comes to animals, but when it comes to family values, God have His BIG TEN. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 He says two things about them: REMEMBER them and TEACH them to your children. They are not the ten suggestions; they are the Ten Commandments. They're not optional. God says, you do these things and things will go fine in your life. If you don't do them, you're going to really mess up. In Proverbs 3:6 (LB), we read, “In everything you do, put God first and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success. “ This brings us to the question: “How do I put God first in my everyday life? Let us look at the acrostic F – I – R – S – T to give us five ways to put God first in our life and in our family: F - FINANCES Put God first in your finances. Proverbs 3:9-10 says "Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of all your income, and He will fill your barns to overflow." God says give Me the first part back

I recently came across the following calculation that a Government made of the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 years of age. Directly translated to our Rand currency it came to R 160 140-00! That doesn't even touch College or University tuition. For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child's name here). For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless. But R160 140-00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into R8 896-66 a year, R741-38 a month, or R171-08 a week. That's a mere R24-44 a day! Just over a Rand an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice says not to have children if you want to be "rich". It is just the opposite. What do your get for your R160 140-00? o Naming rights. First, middle, and last! o Glimpses of God every day. o Giggles under the covers every night. o Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. o Endless wond

A lot of people spend their lives in fear (false evidence appearing real) and worry. No-one can enjoy today while worrying about tomorrow. David is not worried when he concludes the 23rd Psalm with these words: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Where does one get this kind of confidence? As a believer there are three reasons why you don’t need to fear the future: · Because God is good and He is Watching over me. · Because God's grace is Working in me. · Because heaven is Waiting for me. Even when bad things happen to us, God will insure that good will come out of it. Romans 8:28, "We know that all that happens to us is working for our good! IF we love God and are fitting into his plans." Psalm 23 can be summarized as follow: Jesus is all you need. The Good Shepherd provides: Protection, Provision, Peace, Providence, His Presence (companionship) and Paradise. That wraps it all up! With thi

If the Bible is a book of blessing, if it promises comfort, strength, hope, wisdom, joy, power, and purpose; why do so few Christians experience it? The main reasons for this is that because of wrong attitudes and sin in our lives the seed of the Word does not get into the good soil of our hearts and therefore we do not become doers of the Word. Every businessman ought to memorize Joshua 1:8. If you'll do one thing God promises to bless you with success. And that promise is IF you meditate on His word. I found the following acronym among the writings of Rick Warren and it can be a great help if you apply it while you read your Bible: (S-P-A-C-E-P-E-T-S) S - IS THERE A SIN TO CONFESS? P - IS THERE A PROMISE TO CLAIM? Look for promises, there are over 7000 promises in the word of God. A - IS THERE AN ATTITUDE TO CHANGE? C - IS THERE A COMMAND TO OBEY? E - IS THERE AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW? P - IS THERE A PRAYER TO PRAY? There are lots of prayers in the Bible. You can take those prayers a

In the University of Christian life, Problems 101 is a required, compulsory course we all must take to qualify. One thing about problems, they are of a wide variety, they come in all shapes and sizes. Problems are a fact of life, if you don’t have any, check your pulse! Jesus said: “In the world you will have tribulation”, Peter said: “Don’t be surprised when you have problems” but James surprises when he says: “Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way (or you face trails of many kinds…). The reason James can so boldly make the statement, to consider it pure joy when we encounter problems, is because he knows that problems have purpose. He knows that pain can be productive, pressure can produce and suffering can accomplish much. Christians are a lot like tea bags. You don't know what's inside of them until you drop them in hot water. So the first thing trails do is to test our faith. Secondly our patience is developed and lastly our character

THE GOSPEL IN MINIATURE: John 3:16 can be called “the heart of the Bible" “God”… …The greatest Lover “So loved”… …The greatest degree “The world”… …The greatest number “That He gave”… …The greatest act “His only Son”... …The greatest Gift “That everyone”… …The greatest invitation “Who believes”… …The greatest simplicity “In Him”… …The greatest Person “Will not perish”… …The greatest deliverance “But”… …The greatest difference “Have”… …The greatest certainty “Eternal Life”… …The greatest possession