Our Nature

Ok, so the Bible speaks of us human beings having the sin nature. This never sat well with me. So the other day I recalled a scenario of a toddler having sugar smeared on his mouth and upon being asked, ‘did you steal the sugar’, bluntly denies it. Now that made me just agree, it’s our nature. There can’t possibly be some conniving lesson that the kideo learnt that led him to know how to strategically or even stupidly so, lie and become deceitful and cunning. No lessons there, just pure nature. I love going around in circles with many concepts I learn about. I recently posted about Sin. I’ve been reading through it over and over again. I was then nicely surprised by God when during devotion I read Romans 7. I then not only understood but started thanking God for the rich revelation of who we are, who he is and the role of Jesus Christ in our lives. To many this may have been a revelation they have even classified as a fossil in their Christian walk, but trust me repetition of anything always breeds perfection, clarity and depth.

I really love this scripture, in one go it delivered me from many religious beliefs. I stood in awe when in some pauses I saw just how we are such a deceived generation, well very similar to previous generations but our era has its own amazingly shocking lies, many of which indoctrinate us into believing all sorts of lies. Please forgive me for the long sentences. God is exposing sin in us, he is teaching us that irrespective of our current beliefs, him being GOD involves us transforming *this word does TRANSFORM neh* each day into the truth of who he is. Ok. We have become so sin conscious and so work-for-purity orientated that we dissolve the actual mandate of Jesus. We are reversing the truths and depth of grace and love. We are disobeying the “house rules” as Creflo calls them, of the dispensation of GRACE. Sweet Lord forgive us.

We need to yearn to understand God at a whole new level, above what we read, hear and perceive. Let us look into this passage in Romans. I trust that God will enlighten your mindset to the transparency of your nature, the war inside, the grace of his sons sacrifice and how when enticed by all sorts of sticky foods, the choice remains with your thirst and love for him to wind up doing what is honorable, pure and right. We must yearn to not only BE right, but to equally DO right.  It I not easy, it’s not meant to be, should it be, we will never grow, there will be no character building in our lives. Do enjoy.

 ROMANS 7:7-25
⁷ But I can hear you say, “If the law code was as bad as all that, it’s no better than sin itself.” That’s certainly not true. The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it.
^8-12 Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.
¹³ I can already hear your next question: “Does that mean I can’t even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?” No again! Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God’s good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own.
^14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
^17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
^21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
²⁴ I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
²⁵ The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
   

Ephesians 3:14-21

Some of you may think I have an obsession of some sort with gentle brother Paul but hehehehe it’s far from that. I do though, admire the man. It takes a thick skin to permit God to use you. Yes I said permit. Many are called, for many ministries but intentionally sit on top of what God is leading them to do for all sorts of reasons. In a nutshell, we have refused God permission to use us, unlike Paul for instance. One of the many things I have learnt recently is that being called is really not some scary theory; it is God leading you to what you love and are most passionate about and using that to bless others and serve him with. Musicians, actors and actresses understood this way before us “ordinary” people. Doctors for instance, these folks do such a great job at displaying the power of God. Ok I know they are a sensitive breed to discuss in accordance to the will of God but my opinion on them is this: they are showing us the intelligence of God. Simply. Back to my point on being called, comedians are people I totally love; I hope and pray one of my children is called to display the gospel through jokes. Lord knows I love laughing, and I’ve been told my laugh is sometimes cute and at other times annoying lol. Being CALLED by God is not some complex concept, it’s simply allowing him to lead you to your passion and surrender to being used by him through that.

Paul says something that gives you and I a lot to ride on concerning our callings. Reading this passage will not only make us realize more of the will of God, but through Paul’s prayer, you and I learn more. I found myself smiling when I finally became convinced of the intensity that God wishes for me to have in loving him. God wants you and I to become aware and clear on the power our life possesses through his precious son Jesus Christ.  So God being God spoke truck loads here to us about his final plan for our callings. When God calls and equips us, he does so in order that we may become agents of who he really is. God is love. Much of what he is accomplishing in our lives involves him showing, clarifying and proving his love, first in ourselves, then to others and ultimately to become so rooted in love that in our calling, that’s all everyone can account to. How awesome will it be when one day you are described as that engineer that is so passionate about his or her job, the call of God through his or her career displays an array of love, for the job, the people and God himself.

God is amazing folks. He does not deserve to be in competition with anything in the world. Not even our callings should compete with him. He alone is God. We must be careful when we analyze what God is doing, where he is leading us and how is he calling us to serve him, that in all we discover and explore, none of it becomes a mini god. See, it maybe to be on the pulpit, or through books, music, medicine, education, psychology, arts, food and so forth. In any of those, our role is to let God be the only God.  God is the source (our ultimate provider). He is the well we draw all we need from.

Ok, here is what Paul prayed for the Ephesian crowd that inspired this post:

Ephesians 3: 14- 19

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know that this love that surpasses knowledge-that may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. “

I think if you go through it with the AMP version you will just draw so much more than love, calling, power, faith and provision.

I am a SuperSHERO

SuperShero #4 – Sandra

“I was conceived under painful circumstances. From birth till I was 5 hectic fights between my parents were common. I became such an angry child. My mom decided to finally leave, being raised by a single parent was not easy but definitely worth it”
“I drew strength from my mother and learnt that I need to teach any man how to treat me like the Queen I am. I learnt that it’s ok to walk away from situations and people that don’t make me happy and that I have every right and full ability to free myself from any type of abuse”
” Growing up, I admired my mom so much for playing multiple roles so well but I longed so much to have a father figure, I envied everyone who had someone to call *daddy*. I still had this amazing love for my dad even though no one had any good to say about him. I started questioning God and blaming him especially when my never present father passed away, it made no sense because then I was father-less forever”
“I have spent my life questioning God, asking him why. I have to say, I am a great actress, no one knew I had issues, no one knew I was a ticking time bomb, I hid my anger and pain so well, I refused to be seen as weak and miserable.”
“At age 19 I was hijacked, beaten and gang-raped, I hated myself, I hated this country, I hated men, I lost my sanity and I resorted to isolation, I refused therapy and I neglected all my friends and family, I still did an amazing job acting all was well, I gained a lot of weight from the medical treatments and emotional eating and I hated myself”
7 months after I was gang-raped, a man who was like a father to me molested me. I was so crashed, broken, hurt and confused.”
“My biological father and my Spiritual father had both disappointed me and dismally failed to represent God in my life; I made a decision to stop crying and to stop questioning God. I hated men so much it scared me. I still did a great job at hiding it all; I would not allow anyone to see that I was in pain. It was until I finally accepted that God was my Father that I gained my sanity back.”
“I was stubborn, even after being fatherless, gang-raped and molested, I refused to accept it all, took it all and hid it somewhere in my brain and pretended all was rosy and well.
” I was in denial, secretly dying, depressed and becoming toxic with a smile on my face to the world”
“I came to a point where I could not keep it in anymore and I laid my heart down to God, I got on a painful journey where I promised myself I would express myself, cry, talk, cry, pray, talk, cry.”
“An expressive life is good, the shame is gone, I don’t hide the events of my life, I am a happy earthly-fatherless, gang-rape and molestation survivor, I am free from hating men, I’ve let go of questioning God.”
“All it took was to accept all that had occurred in my life, to stop hiding pain, leave being stubborn and secretive behind, FORGIVE my father, my dad and my rapists.”
“My painful and traumatic experiences made me realize that God is omnipotent and he uses every moment to refine, prune, mould and equip us for our destiny. I draw all my strength, peace and freedom from His promises”
Quote: I am a diamond: Planted by God in this filthy earth, refined by tribulation, deep boiled by circumstances, submerged in acidic events but in the process to shine for God’s glory on his finger, the pulpit._ Me
The prayer of my entire life: “Psalm 119: 10 I seek you with all my heart, do not let me stray from your commands. 18 open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things in your law. 27 let me understand the teaching of your precepts, and then I will meditate on your wonders. 37 turn my eyes from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. 50 my comfort in my suffering is this: your promise preserves my life. 74 may those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word. 116 sustain me according to your promise, and I will live, do not let my hopes be dashed. 125 I am your servant, give me discernment. 175 let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.

a story of Grace

The concept of grace is widely misunderstood and causes a lot of confusion. I am no expert in it as I too, especially because I am a big believer in progressive learning, am finding out a new aspect of it on a daily. Seeking God in prayer and studying of his love letters (the Bible) to us gives us a clearer view of his heart. These are two things that have had the most influence in my faith walk. I use various methods to get to know God. These include reading books, boy do I love reading. I take my time with each book; all the books I read have all sorts of pencil and highlighter markings and notes. When I feel like I have caught a revelation, I write “end here” close the book, meditate on that word, look for scriptures that correspond with that particular lesson or discovery and run with it. I also love talking. Those who know me very well know I am a big mouth, see this has helped me have meaningful and insightful conversations with people. I’m always so excited to learn a different side of a certain concept and it really gives me a run for my money every time my stand or what I espoused as truth, is challenged and provoked to flee.

 

I watch a lot of TV as I have stated before. I have a daily routine that includes 3 of my favorite pastors that I just reserve to soak up all God chooses to say to me through them. I think one of the common traits among Christians is also reading one scripture with a few Bible versions. Fortunately, I own three NIV Bibles, one from my former pastor, Pastor Conrad from Elim, one from my friend Khomotjo and one from a man who used to play the role of my father. These have restricted my “vocabulary” so I have been petitioning for an Amplified or King James. Since my birthday is just around the curve of my calendar, I smell one of these. *hint hint nudge nudge wink wink* Nonetheless, using these has come in handy because they too come with a beautiful variation of God’s word. I have found it somewhat easier to understand certain explanations using them. GRACE in particular, I enjoy learning about from the NIV.

Earlier I was reading this and I was blushing all the way to pulling my laptop out and typing this post. couldn't wait to share it with you. See, I fell upon something good. I fell upon what I strongly believe is Grace alive. Like I mentioned earlier on, it is something that I believe needs progressive and continuous revisiting because if misunderstood, causes toxic confusion.   

Here goes: J first

http://www.faithgateway.com/gods-grace-is-all-we-need/#.UnJROP8aLIU

Romans 1

This one just put a smile on my face. I am a Creflo Dollar fan, I watch him daily and by the grace of God, I have benefitted from his devotion to spending time with God, hearing from him and delivering what he has to say to some of us. Watching him has made it less frightening to allow God to use me as someone who will transfer small to large revelations to small to large groups. I have come to realize that it is not skill, talent or eloquence based, but simply the willingness and a final resolution that nothing else will do than to just be used by God everywhere you are (this realization has really made me a better and happier me). It is so amazing how God has effortlessly taught me that I do not need a pulpit to do what he has called me, sometimes all I will need is to get into a taxi and greet someone and by the end of the journey he would have manifested himself. Think of all the times that God has just taken over a conversation, right then and there you where unconsciously meeting a need, filling a void, answering a question, mending a broken heart and giving hope to what seemed like a hopeless situation. The beauty of all this is that we may never know the impact we have and through humility on our part, God continues to work through our loud mouths and overactive imaginations.

Creflo Dollar was revealing some of the revelations that God has dropped into his spirit about the grace of God being revealed in Rome. I muted him after he read Romans 1 because I knew then and there that God was speaking to you and I here. I went back, and started from the beginning. See, I love this God, given the chance; he will just do some awesome things in your mind and life. Gentle brother Paul, I think I will name one of the twins Paul and the other Paulina or Paulette hey. Ok, back to the juicy stuff: Paul was just knocking really, doing his introductions and here, God got me.  There is a new dimension of understanding God and this dimension revolves around us. I have this little motto I live by “Discovering God; finding Me”. When we seek and are so eager to really know who we are, what we have been interwoven with, our complexities, flaws, strengths and greatest attributes, it can only be through knowing God. My friend Maropeng always says “Modimo re ka se mo fetje” “we will never conclude, completely comprehend or be finished so to say, in knowing God”.

What I absolutely love is how he continues to bring himself to our attention and teaches us heaps of himself in the smallest most intricate ways. Paul in his introduction reveals so much that just tickles my spine lol. Allow me to only play around verses 1 to 7, I am using my old purple high school NIV Bible neh: Romans 1:1-7 goes a little like this “ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God- 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in holy scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendent of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

My good God. I recall saying that repetition is profitable for our growth. If you have read or heard me say this, I will repeat it: “you too honey, are also among those who are called to belong to Jesus”. Identity issues aside, called to belong (I love this belong word, it is so beautiful, not binding but humbling attaching, you know!!) to Jesus as full view. You are what you belong to and what you eat hehehehe Pastor Joshua. No trained and qualified police officer reports or carries out any duties without belonging to a certain force or team or institution. Here are some things that screamed out to me when reading this:

Ø  The gospel was promised to us and then so beautifully documented and delivered, God does indeed keep his promises.

Ø  Certain people will be singled out, appointed and placed to deliver that gospel.

Ø  Only the spir

it of holiness will make the declaration of who Jesus is, and ultimately who we are. This spirit of holiness will single out all our deaths (dying to self on various sectors of our growth) and our resurrections (portions God has brought back to life, figuratively and literally).

Ø  It is only for his names’ sake that we receive grace, like there is really nothing we can ever do, good, better, best or amazingly so that can earn us the grace of God than the name and its sake, Jesus Christ. 

I hope and trust God that you will see more from this post than what I managed to put down, I love love love loving you. 

Foundations

There is something that has been surfacing in my life recently, Foundations. You know, we are a product of the seed. Pastors always say that you can never plant tomato seeds and peaches grow out of that. The foundation of something will showcase its end result. I come from a line of God-fearing women who loved and served God. It is only on one side of my family that I am fully aware and informed of such things. Fortunately I got the chance to have my grandmother with me almost all the time till I was 13. In between her national and international  ministry sprees and conferences, founding and being kept busy by The Wednesday Women’s Prayer Ministry and Beulah Prayer Tower and children’s shelter, she was my reason for being excited to go home after school. We fought quite often because she was old and I was very young. With every fight, came a story of her child hood or someone in the Bible. Koko R Sello, the model of who I am.

My mom epitomizes faith.  Like how after our car accident the doctors said I would never walk and her and my sister Peggy declared, prayed and trained me back to being a normal walking person, scars and all. She oozes of faith. Really, there are currently no words I have to describe the foundations my mother built up for me in my child hood; this is a post on its own.  I am most grateful for foundations that dressed me up for Sunday school, kicking and screaming most Sunday mornings, I am grateful for the El Shaddai Youth camps that they sent me to, even though I was the youngest and most demanding person there.  I am grateful for the prayer’s I’d get. My grandma did not play such games as being sick, you where sick, we pray first before you take medication. These are tiny principles with huge effects. I am so grateful for the foundations of trying to read her weird handwriting on all the notes she made during her devotions and sermon preparations. My mom has this habit of waking me up via phone call to wake pray, that time I was about to hug Brat Pitt in my dream and I just want to slam my phone against the wall, but we wake up, and pray. For whatever the Holy Spirit impresses on our hearts. 

Our foundations do not await our teen years where we go crazy, explore the opposite gender, taste alcohol, smoke this and that, get into a night party, steal the car, become rebellious. Once, my mom refused me to go to Monique’s house, I got so mad, I told them I would go, she thought I was kidding. We all went to bed; I got up, changed and left. My poor mother was so frustrated, she couldn’t even say anything at 02h00 in the morning I was waiting for my friends at the corner. She just politely asked me to come home. That night defined the 42 year generation gap between her and I. When we all sit and discuss my teen years, my sister Lerato and I laugh till we are breathless. Her and I where one mean team. Our foundations though, are clearly seen today. She is an awesome woman of God, happily married, good job, with a crazy little Greek speaking 1 year old son. I am rising on eagles wings in so many dimensions.

God being God has remained faithful in teaching us all that we know, and has allowed us to go through funny, dangerous and even worthy challenges and stages that have pruned us to be the queens we are today. Our parents need a thank you gift for the foundations of teaching us about father Abraham and talking donkeys in the Numbers 22, my when my mom taught me about that I laughed so hard it irritated her. Here I was thinking these kinds of situations are found only in cartons. Our parents need to be reminded that who we have turned out to be is really in so many ways a result of their prayers. I recall not understanding how my mom can pray effortlessly in Sepedi, I would open my eyes and just stare at the ease of expression, and here I was juggling Modimo ntate and sweet heavenly father (I should have taken Sepedi in school hey). See, these are the minute things that have taught me the ease and joy of expressing myself to a God who created even languages. We are a product of our foundations. Thank your folks for your foundations honey.

Circumcision????

A word that is often related to the cutting of young boy’s foreskin has now been given a new meaning in my life. “Lord circumcise my heart to become righteous”. Can I just say, this sentence did a new thing in my life, something I am yet to fully understand. So here is my heart, not the literal and physical organ that God plugged into my chest. My heart, the part of me that is interwoven with my will, that part that stores the most intricate matters of my entire life, that container that stores all that comes out of my mouth. The shell that protects and hides my intensions and always guides me. “Listen to your heart, it will guide you, it inspires your gut feeling.” You know that phrase. Putting it in a silver platter with diamond decorations and handing it over to God and begging him to circumcise it into righteousness, stability, assurance and maturity.

This request, I have to say, is a bold one. I am typing this looking at the after effects this type of request has done in my life. Someone please hand me a mic, an usher and a glass of water, I need to testify: “saints of my awesome Father and King, my name is Sandra, my name is also Greek for unheeded prophetess. The meaning of my name does not tell of just a spiritual gift, but of the condition, unheeded. I am not revealed yet saints, I am a work in progress and I am going through the process of circumcision, painful, real, and boldly bearable. God has cut off the unnecessary skin on my heart. He has done great things. He has weaned me off of milk products; he has certified me to now chew on the meat meal he serves me. He has circumcised my will, he has trimmed my dreams, and he is pruning my life.” I will stop there saints (hehehehe this saints word neh, so old school serious).

I see something that just sent chills down my spine in Genesis 17:14 ‘And the uncircumcised child man whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant’ so these little boys could not get any acceptance as worthy souls without being circumcised. My good Lord. I just love how the script changes so beautifully concerning the issue of circumcision in Romans 4:11 ‘And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the Father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.’

 

Did someone see righteousness pop up again. Honey, this God is on a mission, to bring you and I up from which ever level we are nestling in, into a dimension of righteousness. Righteousness that suits him as a garment of our lives as his agents on earth. You have been destined to not only ooze of his love and splendorous image, but to walk in righteousness. We are being circumcised on a daily, to mature and rise up from the concepts that we espoused as true. God is challenging our intellect, he is shifting our minds. God is not putting us through this process for the sheer joy of it, but to transform and mold us into vessels that are useful and profitable for his people. We have been commissioned to ‘Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah… in Jeremiah 4:4’. Philippians 3:3 says ‘For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.’

I rest my case; we serve an amazing God who is on another mission far beyond what we can comprehend. He does not even bother himself much with the layers of foreskins that we are clingy to and sometimes unable to let go of. He is just faithful, to work on us even when we fail to play our part. He does not disown his own character, the Bible says. I am just in awe. Sing with me and J. MOSS as I close this laptop and get ready to start my day:

I’m restored and I’ve been rewarded

I’m redeemed from guilt and shame

Never rejected, just reconnected.

Now I’m exalted, because I know his name

P.s I love you