Back to the beginning

There are a number of striking examples in the Scriptures of people who discovered that their origin, not their past, culture, or anything else, is the most accurate reference for truth. Let’s start with Jesus Himself.

Jesus replied, “You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true because I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgements like that. But even if I did, my judgement would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father”
John 8:14-16

Jesus makes the statement that the dependability and truth of His words concerning Himself are based on the fact that He knows His own origin and destiny. He then emphasises this concept by saying that He does not make judgements from the narrowness of His own experience. Did you get that! Jesus says that the record we have of what he did and said is not the best reference we have to His identity! No wonder Paul writes at a later stage that he no longer knows Christ according to the flesh. Jesus discovered that the greatest truth about Himself and His own identity, is found in understanding His origin and destiny. Compared to that, personal experience is narrow, short-sighted and a poor communicator of identity.

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Free Song Download

To celebrate the release of the CD, there is a free, production quality, song download, called: “The Mystery”

http://hearhim.net/wordpress/music/

The CDs have shipped in South Africa. We expect the UK shipment in July. The iTunes listing should be ready in the next two weeks - will keep you informed.

A new MP3 download area has been added. I’ve started with two messages recorded at the Stellenbosh gathering:

http://hearhim.net/wordpress/mp3-downloads/

In His Light

It is with great fondness that I remember the first time I heard Mary-Anne sing. I was 18 years old – as was she- and together with a group of about 12 young people we travelled throughout South Africa in what we called an ‘Acts Team’. There was no set plan, no pre-arranged meetings – just a bunch of adventurous young people with a BIG message burning in their hearts. There are so many amazing stories/testimonies of how God revealed Himself to so many people through these outreaches, but that is not what I want to focus on here.
Some of the most special times were listening, worshipping and simply enjoying the Father’s presence. I never knew there were songs that could so accurately express the heart of God toward us, and our response toward Him.
Through the years I have continued to enjoy these songs, and new songs, but with a growing sense of frustration that so few others were able to enjoy them. When you find something of value, the greatest joy is sharing it with those you love. We (Mary-Anne and I) knew that the day would come when these songs would be published … but never knew it would take this long – 18 years!
Mary-Anne’s been saving money for a long time and a couple of months before our trip to SA, she started contacting recording studio’s to organise the recording. A couple of weeks before the trip everything fell through – the studio was no longer available and the whole deal was off.
We went ahead with the trip and enjoyed two marvellous weeks in Hermanus and Cape Town. We were just about to leave for East London and only had one day free – a Thursday, before our planned departure. Our friend, Francois Du Toit, suddenly picked up the phone to see what can be arranged. He was referred to a Producer, Tony Drake, that was described as one of the best – and because of that the likelihood of us getting any of his time was highly unlikely. We phoned … he was fully booked … except for one day … Thursday.
So began a series of events that I can only describe as God bringing together the right people at the right time to accomplish what we could never have done ourselves.

I have so enjoyed the ministry, the words, the quality music contained on this CD, over the past three weeks – I know you will too.

Within the next two weeks the CD will be published on iTunes and other digital download sites. The manufacturing of the physical CD’s will begin this week. I will keep you posted regarding where they can be purchased. If you want to pre-order, please email Mary-Anne with your order – maryanne.rabe@gmail.com.
Yipee!

You can find the song intros and lyrics by clicking on this link.

Far better than what we could ever imagine.

You have probably heard this phrase quoted:“God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours”Unfortunately it is often quoted in the face of some tragedy. Usually, after some terrible event has occurred, that has left people stunned and speechless … this quote is used. What is insinuated, is that God was somehow involved in this tragedy, and we should not try to understand it … because we can’t.I don’t think there is any real comfort in ignorance. I find it very revealing that the ‘Comforter’ is also called the Spirit of Truth, who leads us into all truth.
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the original source of this quotation and I think you will be too.Isaiah:55:7,8 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; …. ”For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.”
Notice that having thoughts that are not His thoughts is described as wicked and sinful – a way of thinking that should be abandoned. God never stated that such a condition is simply human, and therefore we should just accept it. No; He challenges us to forsake such low level thinking. He plainly says that if you don’t think like Him, you need to change your thinking!
He desires for you to know His thoughts and His ways. Not only does He desire for you to know His thoughts, but He also wants to teach you how to think as He does. Let’s look again at that scripture:
Isaiah:55:7-11 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” declares the Lord. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
Just like the rain and snow bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth, so His Word bridges the gap between His understanding and ours. He wants to saturate our minds with His thinking; He designed our imagination as fertile soil in which His ideas would germinate and sprout. The fruit of thinking His thoughts, is living His life.
Our Creator desires to be known; our Father wants to be understood, but His desire extends even further. He longs for meaningful companionship – a being that can think on His level; a being that is able to communicate boldly and comfortably in His presence. Such a being exists – it’s the one He created in His own image and likeness … it is you.
We started with the quotation “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours” We showed how often this has been misunderstood and miss-quoted to insinuate that such a state is simply human. The context in which this scripture has often been quoted would suggest that God is worse than what we expected! Looking at the original setting of this scripture we discovered something completely different.
There have indeed been occasions where my thoughts were not His thoughts. However, discovering His thoughts has always been a pleasant discovery. He has surprised me time and again with His goodness. My best imaginations are always overshadowed by much better realities, when I see things from His perspective. He is better, bigger, wiser, more thorough, more involved, more loving than what we could ever have hoped for.
He is exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or imagine.He invites you right now to come and partake, to boldly come and commune with Him. There are no reasons to hesitate … just let Him surprise you with His goodness.
It is with this understanding that I want us to discover Romans 9-11. These chapters contain a progressive revelation of the goodness of God.
Imagine bending down and examining a beautiful flower. Then expand your focus and see the field of flowers in which it stands. Now look beyond the field and see the roaring river ripping through the landscape and in the background, majestic snow-capped mountains.This illustrates how these chapters expand our vision and stretch our understanding to appreciate the scope and exceeding greatness of Gods plan. Paul presents us with a problem or a question then answers it in such a way that it beckons an even bigger question. Each statement, question and answer expands our understanding of God’s master plan until the conclusion in chapter 11 … a climax which is most extraordinary.
Paul starts with a very specific focus – the Israelites.
Romans 11:1-5 1 I speak the truth in Christ —I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit — 2 that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my countrymen by physical descent. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The forefathers are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Here is the first problem that Paul presents: The Jews were the covenant nation through whom salvation would come to the nations. However, they hindered rather than helped this purpose. Jesus came and accomplished this mission … one would expect them, of all people to embrace this salvation … but no they didn’t. Even up to this day, the majority of Jews do not embrace this message. This poses a very important question regarding God’s faithfulness to His covenant people! It is this question that Paul answers in the following three chapters. He does not entertain a shallow theology that simply and callously accepts that the Jews got what they deserved (or chose). He seems to ask a much bigger question - what part does God play in this drama, seeing that ‘God’s call is under full warranty–never cancelled, never rescinded’ There seems to be a paradox: The Jews, in general, seems to be cut off from this salvation … but they are the covenant people ( to whom belongs the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants; see 11:28,29) … this causes Paul ‘intense sorrow and continual anguish’. Looking at the state of Israel, can we conclude that God has been faithful to His covenant? Paul’s answer is yes - but to come to that conclusion we have to look at a much broader context than the present.
Paul starts his argument by stating that there is more to being Israel than physical decent - not all Abraham’s descendants inherited the promise. (vs 6,7) Ishmael and Esau were physical descendants, but not heirs - the focus shifts from decent and personal choice to God’s election - His Choice, His initiative. (vs 8-14)
He illustrates the power of Gods’ decision, and the irrelevance of man’s contribution so strongly with statements like: “So then it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.” He emphasises the point even more through the story of Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against God. The Old Testament story is quite clear that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but Paul sees deeper and declares that what Pharaoh thought was his own choice, was actually God’s choice.
This will obviously raise some questions. Paul is aware of that and articulates it as follows:”You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”If God makes all the important decisions, how can He hold us responsible for anything?
Paul does not attempt to answer this question immediately, but firstly shows that such a question misses the point. It is completely out of context … similar to a pot questioning the potter. The potter obviously has a much broader perspective and purpose for his handiwork, than what is immediately visible to the handiwork.
He then makes a very clear statement - God is a potter who decided to make two pots – one, a vessel of Mercy, and another, a vessel of wrath! The object of His mercy contains both gentiles and believing Jews (vs 23-26). The other pot is the object of wrath - that makes sense in the light of the scriptural statement that only a remnant will be saved! But this thought is one of the most important keys to understanding the whole plot. I’ll explore it more a bit later - suffice to say that the remnant has always been seen as God’s strategy to save the nation, just like the ‘one’ was His strategy to save ‘the many’ and the church is the firstfruits of a harvest much larger than the church!
So his argument progresses to show that the true Israel is the Church ,,, and so God remains faithful and justified in what He has done … but he does not leave it there! This is not the end of the plot.
Paul doesn’t just adopt a new definition for ‘Israel’ and moves on, He again expresses his desire for Israel (in the traditional definition) to be saved. (Chapter10:1) ’did God reject His people?’ … ‘by no means!’ (11:1)Paul is not satisfied that God has been faithful to His covenant with Israel, simply because a few Jews believed, or because he(Paul) now has a new definition for Israel. 11:11-12 Paul asks: ‘have they stumbled beyond recovery?’ Paul’s answer is a definite NO!This is rather amazing, because he quotes from Ps 69 in which the same question is asked, and the answer in the Psalms is: “Yes, they stumbled beyond recovery”. Ps 69:28 “Let them be erased from the book of life”However, Paul comes to a different conclusion! He asks the same question, but goes on to give the opposite answer. He obviously never subscribed to our neatly formalised principles on ‘how to interpret the scriptures’
Anyway, back to the main point.God’s long term plan includes only one ‘pot’ … the object of His mercy. He concluded all under disobedience, so that He might have mercy on all. Being the object of wrath is always temporal … ‘we once were by nature children of wrath, but now…(Eph. 2)
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may endure the night, but there is joy in the morning. (Ps 30:5)
Israel’s ’stumble’ was part of a bigger plan for the Gentiles to be included … the inclusion of the Gentiles is part of a bigger plan to include all Israel (11:26)… which is part of a bigger plan to include all without exception.
We have the picture of the olive tree in 11:13-24 … So the conclusion: Not all descendants of Abraham are Israel(9:5); God has been severe in His dealings with them (11:22); they have been rejected (11:15) BUT this state is not permanent. ‘if they do not continue in unbelief, they will be grafted back in, for God is able’ So Paul makes this amazing statement that non-elect Jews, could become elect Jews! Being non-elect is also temporal!
But will this ever happen? Is ‘believing’ not a choice that some are bound to never make? 11:25-29 There is no gambling going on here - what God purposed will be accomplished.
11:31 From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at it from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never cancelled, never rescinded.
The above scripture makes it so plain that being an enemy (other terms used are non-elect, rejected, hardened) is only true within a certain context and period. God’s purpose however, has a much larger perspective and transcends the limitations of the temporal.
Wow - look at this in the MSG translation:30-32There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God. But then the Jews slammed the door on him and things opened up for you. Now they are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.
God our Father is at work in every person to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil 2:13) Some respond sooner than others. However, in the end every knee will bow and every tongue will adore Him.This is Paul’s ultimate conclusion: “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” (v32) No wonder Paul exclaims:
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgements and untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.(Romans 11:33-36)
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

irresistible

There’s something which I simply find irresistible; something to which I can’t help but respond. The love of God is a force to which I have no defence and neither do anyone else, I believe. That’s why love never fails – it is persistent, never loses hope, and eventually, once the recipient sees it for what it is, love gets the response it always knew would come.
No person who sees and understands the love of God our Father, wilfully rejects it. It is not a will that is free that reject this love; it is a will in bondage. No person has ever out of his/her own free will rejected our Lord, rather it is because of ignorance, because of blindness that some have made uninformed choices. The good news, however, is that God, and we, are in the business of making the truth plainly known.
He loves to reveal Himself, so that those who do not know Him, and ignorantly rejected who they thought He was – their own ideas of Him – might see Him for who He really is, and respond with the only possible response: “…bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all …“ Phil 2:10, 11
Such an encounter with God is not far from each one of us. We do not need to search or persuade Him of our need – He is both willing and able to make Himself known to any and every man, in a way that is as unique as the individual. The good news is that He took, takes, and will take the initiative to do this! Rom 10:20: Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
The will of man – no match against the will of God
A most vivid example of this is the story of Saul’s conversion. I was taught, and I can confidently assume that many Christians were taught the same, that the one thing God would never violate, is man’s free will. I still agree with that statement, but as you can guess, my perspective of it has drastically changed. The erroneous conclusion normally drawn from the previous statement is that a man’s free will is more sacred and more powerful than God’s eternal purpose. For, although God desires that “all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), ultimately a stubborn man who refuses to accept this truth will rob God of His desire. Also, it incorrectly assumes that a person who rejects God is free, for he/she does so from a free will! Let’s return to the story of Saul, who later became known as Paul, and I will refer to him as Paul from now on. You can read about his background and encounter with Jesus yourself in Acts chapter 9 and Philippians chapter 3.
Paul was a Pharisee – the strictest religious group of his day. Self-discipline and meticulous observance of rules and regulations defined this group. His enmity against the followers on Jesus was no theoretical debate, no, he took action. He was obviously a very determined man to be described as “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”. We are not dealing with a weak-willed, indifferent person here. He considered Jesus and Jesus’ teaching to be his enemy and did whatever possible to stop it. Later Paul described himself as the chief of sinners.
Do you think Paul’s strong opposition and determined was a problem for Jesus? Can you imagine the Father and Jesus conversing regarding Paul and saying: “What will we do! We can’t interfere with his ‘free will’”Ridiculous!Jesus knew that Paul’s enmity against Him was rooted in ignorance; He knew that if Paul saw Him for who He truly is, there would be no argument. Jesus knew that Paul did not act from his own free will, but from deception, and therefore He had no problem with interfering in his life. His stubbornness was no obstacle to the love of God.
His initiative – our responseWhen Paul saw Jesus, he needed no prompting to make a quality decision for God; he needed no argument to persuade him to repent and submit to Christ. No! When he encountered Jesus his first words were: “Lord, who are you”. He might not have known by what name to call this being, but he knew that this was the Lord. There was an instant recognition and an instant response. God is irresistible; God is inescapable!He never gives up on anyone and He never fails.
No wonder that Paul’s whole testimony and message is centred around the initiative of God and not around the contribution of man. In Galatians he emphasises that this encounter with God had nothing to do with his decision, but all to do with God’s decision! If fact he was zealously persecuting the church …”But when it pleased God … who called me by his grace …to reveal his Son in me.” Gal 1:15, 16.It was God’s initiative, God’s decision, and God’s faith in Paul that saved Paul!Paul writes about salvation in the book of Ephesians and declares that even faith did not originate in him – faith too is a gift of God!Eph 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.Eph 2:8 (Message): Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!
Romans 9 focuses on God’s initiative and presents some very inspiring examples.The example of how God determined the destinies of Esau and Jacob is striking and summed up in verse 10: “ and her babies were still innocent in the womb–incapable of good or bad–she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative.” Wow!
God at work within us
Phi 2:9 – 13: Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Did you get that last part? “…it is God who works in you both to will and to do …” I am so glad that our Father does not consider my will off limits! I’m so glad He influences my desires, my will, my everything.
Now, what I find very interesting, is the fact that this statement follows so close after the declaration that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. I used to think that God will eventually force every creature to bow their knee to him and coerce a confession out of them. One could imagine a dictator taking delight in forcing such behaviour from his enemies, but it is unimaginable that a the God of truth would find any delight in an outward form of submission and ignore a will that is still at enmity against Him. The way in which Love – God is love – destroys His enemies, is by making them friends … “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” He is at work within, to will and to do … and the outcome of this work is a being that wants to acknowledge and worship Him.
A better waySo often in our desire to share the truth with others, we’ve mistakenly focussed on their acceptance, their decision, their faith. We fought intellectually, emotionally and any other way we knew to get agreement, and if all failed we blamed it on their free will!
There is a much better way! We have an irresistible product! And when we simply focus on revealing the Father, and trusting that the Father Himself is at work within all, then we can rest assured that there is only one possible outcome; only one possible response to the love of God.
It is God’s initiative that awakens our response. It is His self-disclosure that stirs faith. Seeing His face draws out our adoration. Live confidently that every man’s conscience bears witness to the truth displayed through your live.

This Site Has Moved !

New site: www.hearhim.net

August 2006 Weekend Function

Only a month to go!
I'm sure we all share the same experience that Paul spoke about in Rom 1:11 "The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so want to be there to deliver God's gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes! Rom 1:12 But don't think I'm not expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me as I do to you."
I was so stirred, the past week, to make the most of the friendships God has entrusted us with. "So, friends, we can now--without hesitation--walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body. So let's do it--full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. (Heb 10:19-25 MSG)
The first part speaks directly about making the most of our frienship with God. We have an awesome, always-available, opportunty to fellowship with Him - LET'S USE IT! In the same breath, he speaks about our frienship with fellow believers. There are aspects of God that we can only encounter in one-another! That's how He chose to reveal Himself - through people ... and to neglect fellowship with one-another is to neglect fellowship with Him. Now some might have allowed 'guilt' into their hearts and to them this will sound like condemnation, however, I prefer to use the same words as scripture and call it: "spurring each other on" Come on, we have so much to give and to receive from each other and from our Father, let's make the most of every opportunity.
For those who have not confirmed for the weekend funtion, please do so soon.
Details:When: Friday 4th to Sunday the 6th of August. You can arrive from 11H00 on Friday. We'll finish on Sunday at 11H00.
Where: Holmsted Manor, Staplefield Road, Cuckfield, West Sussex, RH17 5JF
Accommodation: 13 Rooms with own facilities, 9 with 2 single beds and 4 with double beds. All bedding included.
Food: Will be supplied. - you are welcome to bring your own snacks.
Cost: £40 includes accommodation and food.
We are only able to book the whole facility for the whole weekend, so no discount applies if you only stay for one night. Please don't allow finances to stop you coming. Just let us know, we'll make arrangements.
Day-visitors are welcome – a donation of £10/day will cover food & drinks.
What next? BOOK. Please forward your names and whether you want a single bed or double bed room.
Andre & Mary-Anne

Faith

Faith is one of the most attractive and contagious spiritual forces. Faith releases tremendous benefits into one's life, for faith is the doorway between the spirit realm and the natural realm. Faith takes spirit realities and brings them into the realm of our experience, for our benefit.(Heb 4:2)

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

“...from faith to faith..” Our faith has its origin in God's faith. His persuasion leads to our persuasion. When we see that which God is absolutely convinced of, faith is the natural response. Faith does not begin with effort from our side, but with simply seeing. What we hear and see awakens faith; what we do and say is the result of faith.

Faith and Presumption
There have been times where Mary-Anne and I have acted upon faith and the results were awesome. There have been other times where I acted on presumption and the results were close to disastrous. At that time the differences between faith and presumption were murky, but they have become much clearer. Let's look at some of the differences:

True faith has nothing to do with my own effort. True faith is almost unaware of itself; it's simply seeing. When your focus is on seeing what He sees, persuasion and conviction flow without effort and without constraint.

Presumption on the other hand has everything to do with my own effort and personal convictions. That's why it normally follows a set procedure or formula. The missing ingredient however, is seeing together with God and being convinced of what He is convinced of.

I have realized that when I become too aware of the level of my faith and the way in which I express it, it is a sure sign of losing focus. When I focus on what God believes and set my gaze on what He sees, faith flows, grows, explodes without me even thinking about it. This focus changes my perception in a deep and intimate way. Presumption is cosmetic, shallow and does not flow from the spirit.

The faith of God.
Jesus exhorted us to have the faith of God ( Mark 11:22) Many translation have ' faith in God'. See Young's literal translation. Here and in many other places the literal meaning is the faith OF God.
That is also consistent with Rom 3:17 that says it is from faith to faith. It also corresponds to the fact that faith is a gift (Eph 2:8) God does not want us to have an inferior faith to His faith. He desires to convince us of what He is convinced of!

The greatest reward of faith is not the circumstances it can change or the stuff we can attain with it, but it is the intimacy of seeing together with God; the oneness of knowing what He know; the friendship of sharing the same opinion.

The exceeding great reward of Abraham's faith was not Isaac, but God Himself!

Our Father is so keen for you to see what He sees. He offers you the opportunity to see from His point of view. Life is so much more than what can be sensed through the five senses; don't restrict yourself to to this natural realm. Become aware of His indwelling and allow Him to think His thoughts through you.

By Andre Rabe
http://eclesia.blogspot.com
andre.rabe@gmail.com

Adventures in Christ - Second Edition - Free download

Adventures in Christ Second Edition - fully revised Also NEW - Free download by andre rabe Have you ever witnessed a wild animal in its natural environment? A tame lion simply does not have the presence of a wild one. A wild lion has an attitude, an assurance in its walk. The unrestricted environment and the untamed nature of the animal complement one another. To tame such a creature and remove it from its environment is to rob it of its identity. Acts 17:28 “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.“ God Himself is the natural environment in which man is to live! What an unrestricted environment for the expressive nature He gave us.

Truth Preserved; Truth Revealed

Most of us have experienced how a message can deteriorate as it is passed from person to person. Even if the greatest care is taken in to preserve the exact words, the message can still be misunderstood by the intended audience. What a dilemma – how can a message be preserved throughout many generations and still contain its original impact.

How does God preserve the integrity of His message? How does He insure that His original intend is clearly perceived and accurately understood? He has a strategy that astounds me!

Throughout history many wrong assumptions have been made regarding where and how truth is preserved. People have rigorously defended these assumptions, believing that their efforts would mean the difference between the message lost and the message preserved.

The story of the Bible – how it came about and how it was preserved throughout the ages is truly awesome. The way in which the original scrolls were preserved; the way in which men were inspired to translate these scriptures into modern languages, and many paid with their lives for it – all these stories makes it clear that God's hand was involved in this book. The Scriptures are undoubtedly part of God's strategy to preserve and reveal truth, yet it is not the complete strategy.

Except for Hebrew and Greek scholars, we only have a translation of the original writing available to us. Anyone who has studied the original languages will know that translations - even your favourite, most accurate ones – are inferior to the original. There is a richness in the construction of the Greek and Hebrew languages that often got lost in translation.

But even if we assume that we have a perfectly accurate translation, that still does not mean people will understand the original meaning. Any writing is still subject to personal interpretation. That means that your culture, your personal history and issues will greatly influence your understanding of these writings What was meant when the these papers were originally written, often gets lost when we view it through our 20th century and personal interpretation filters.

Recognising the errors that inevitably creep in through misinterpretations, religious institutions have added traditions and rituals in an attempt to explain the scriptures. These institutions insist that truth cannot be understood through the scripture alone, but needs the context of their traditions to understand the true meaning. These man-made traditions can easily be seen in the older establishments like the Catholic Institution, but man-made traditions are just as prevalent in the most up-to-date Charismatic organisations. These additions do nothing to explain or clarify the truth, rather it further deteriorates the message.

Some fiercely defend their view of truth. They defend the integrity of the Bible or the necessity of their own traditions and religious practices. The truth, however, needs no defence. Truth is like a lion – it can defend itself.

God's strategy for accurately communicating His thoughts and preserving the truth throughout all generations, does not rely on the accuracy of scriptural translation, nor on any human tradition or institution. Neither is He dependant on your intellectual ability. He is able to communicate what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived. He does not depend on our ability to gather and process information.

So what is His strategy? He reveals Himself! Yes, God inspired the writing of the scripture, but the essential ingredient for us to understand scripture is His active, living involvement to give revelation, to open our eyes to see as He sees. He is able to by-pass all the reasoning and influences of our minds and impart revelation directly to our spirits. Revelation is an active event in which the living God manifests Himself. In a way God does not need to preserve the truth, because He is the truth and delights in revealing Himself. In all our attempts to defend and preserve truth, we have missed one very important factor: God can, and does, speak for Himself.

Truth is not found in sentences, words and letters alone. The Word of God precedes the Bible! The Truth is a person – Christ. He uses the scriptures, but He does not rely on scripture alone to reveal Him. He is actively and personally involved in revealing Himself. The greatest testimony to truth is a person who knows Christ – a relational knowledge beyond mere mental information.

By Andre Rabe