The Holy Spirit: The fulfillment of the promise hoped for

Monday devotions@work 1 June 2020

On Sunday 31 May much of the South African church celebrated Pentecost. This year was a different but special Pentecost for several reasons. Church as we used to know it looks vastly different in this season of Covid-19 and lock down levels. In addition to that our President has called out a day of prayer.  One thing we know without a shadow of a doubt is that the Holy Spirit cannot be locked down.

A few interesting facts about the day of Pentecost:

• In the Old Testament journey of the people from Egypt to Sinai, Shavuot or Pentecost as we know it, is the day that God appeared to Israel on Mount Sinai.

• In the New Testament journey of the disciples it is the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh. Coincidence? Not in the least. The fact that this was one and the same day is spelled out to us in Acts 2:1 “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Besides the fact that they were together because Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait there for the Promise of the Father, they would have wanted to be together on this day because in Biblical tradition it is the Feast of Shavuot.

• Both in the Old and New Testaments there are 50 days between the Feast of First Fruits and Pentecost.

• There is a New Testament fulfillment for all these feast days: Passover (Jesus the Passover lamb was crucified), First fruits (Jesus was resurrected) and 50 days later on Shavuot the Holy Spirit was poured out and it became known as the Feast of Pentecost.

• At Sinai, the people consecrated themselves and waited in anticipation for God to speak to them. In Jerusalem, the disciples waited in anticipation on the Promise from the Father that would empower them to become witnesses.

• At Sinai, the people were too scared to allow God to speak to them directly, and requested Moses to speak to God on their behalf. In Jerusalem, the disciples were all present and filled with the Holy Spirit who speaks to us directly – no more need for someone to hear God for us.

• In the Old Testament feast it was the day that God spoke to His people from the cloud on the mountain in thundering, lightnings, fire and the sound of a trumpet. In the New Testament it was the day that God the Holy Spirit was poured out on the people with a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and the divided tongues as of fire came and sat upon the people and filled them with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 1 and 2)

• In the Old Testament God proceeded to give them the 10 commandments and He brought them into covenant with Him with the promise to be their God and the people agreed to be His. In the New Testament the law is written on our hearts as was prophesied in Jer. 31:33. The Holy Spirit was given as the seal and the down payment of our inheritance (Eph 1).

A few scriptures about the Holy Spirit:

John 14:26

“But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you”.

John 15:26

But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

The Holy Spirit was promised, the disciples had the faith that Jesus will keep His promise. Hebrews teach us that:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

Heb. 11:1

Thus, let us be thankful and celebrate this season remembering that the Holy Spirit was the Promise from the Father given to dwell in us, to represent Jesus in and for us and to empower us to be witnesses for His Kingdom on earth until He comes again.

Let's ask The Father to again pour out His Holy Spirit on us for His promise still stands and He is faithful to His covenant with us.

Raise a Hallelujah... with Jonathan and Melissa Helser

Bibliography

Amplified Bible: www.Biblegateway.com

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter

Waiting in hope for The Promise

People of hope Part 10 - The Disciples in the Upper Room

Monday devotions@work 5 May 2020

At Jesus’ instruction, the disciples returned to Jerusalem after He ascended into heaven, to wait for The Promise of the Father as He had commanded them. Jesus told them that this Promise would be the Holy Spirit, and I am sure they were in great anticipation of this Promise. At this point they knew that Jesus was the Messiah, that He was faithful and true. He had told them that He would be resurrected, and although they saw Him dying on the cross, they also saw Him raised from the dead as He had spent time with them during the past 40 days. By now they believed that what He says will be done. They gathered into the upper room, praying in unity – in one accord waiting for the Promise of the Father to come. (Acts 1)

They would without doubt also have been reading the account of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, seeing that they were about to celebrate the feast of Shavuot (or Pentecost as we know it) in a couple of days’ time. I can just imagine Peter reading from Exodus 19, recounting history but with a new anticipation of the fulfillment of the Promise Jesus made that something new and powerful will happen on this feast day. This was the day they usually celebrated that God had met them at Sinai to cut covenant with them.

This was the day in history that God met Israel and said to them:

“I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Myself”

It was the day that He said to Moses that He will come to the people in a thick cloud so that they will be able to hear Him speak to Moses, so that they will believe. He commanded them to consecrate and prepare themselves for three days, after which He would come down upon Mount Sinai for all the people to see.

Then on the third day, as He promised, there were lightning and thundering and a thick cloud on the mountain and the sound of a very loud trumpet, so loud the people were exceedingly afraid, and as they came out of the camp to the foot of the mountain, they saw that the mountain was engulfed in smoke and the Lord descended on it in a fire and the whole mountain quaked. It must have been a frightful sight, yet an awe-filled moment. Moses’ encouragement to them over the past couple of days was that God had promised to be their God and had taken them into covenant to be His people, his special treasure and invited them to be His people. Now they were afraid at the sight of His Awe. Moses once again encouraged them not to be fearful, explaining that God came to them to show them who He is – that He is great and mighty and holy and sovereign – that they may have reverence and respect for Him so that they will not sin, but that He also comes in grace to be their Bridegroom and take them as His Bride. When the people saw all these lightnings and thunders and heard the trumpet sounds, they were very afraid and said to Moses “you speak with us and we will hear – but let not God speak with us lest we die”. I wonder how different history would have been if the people at this moment had had the faith to meet with God for themselves instead of “through Moses”?

God invited Moses and the leadership of Israel to come nearer and worship Him, and from there Moses went up further into God’s presence, wrote down all the Words of the Lord and came to tell the people what God had said. Then he read the book of the covenant to the people and the people agreed to do all that God had said to them and sealed the covenant with blood. Then “they saw the God of Israel and they ate and drank” – they had a covenant meal with God.

I am sure that in the upper room there must have been a tangible anticipation, expecting another meeting with God. Waiting on Him for the fulfillment of the “Promise of the Father- the Holy Spirit that was to come to fill them with the power to be witnesses”. I am not sure that they had any idea of how this will happen, yet I can imagine the excitement in the atmosphere.

Do you and I still have the hope that this same promise can be fulfilled in our day too? Are we anticipating a meeting with the Holy Spirit? Are we praying, waiting in the hope and faith that He will meet us too, like He did with His disciples? Let us not say “(Moses) you speak with us and we will hear – but let not God speak with us lest we die”, for we can know that the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost so that we too do not have to be afraid of God, but that we shall have reverence for Him while we can see God and be empowered by His Spirit. Let us take time this week to wait in hope just like the disciples did, and let us be encouraged by their experience of waiting on God, that we will also see Him fulfilling this promise once again in our lifetime – to meet each of us in a special way as we prepare our hearts, consecrate ourselves, and wait in hope.

Kristene de Marco - Take Courage... He is in the waiting

©2020 Copyright: All rights reserved. HG Venter gerda.venter@telkomsa.net

Hope and anticipation in the leaving and waiting

 Ascension Day Devotions - 21 May 2020

Today we call to remembrance the day Jesus ascended into heaven. It is also 10 days before Pentecost which will mark the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. All other people that was resurrected before Jesus (like Lazarus) had to die again because they were human and did not overcome death they were merely brought back to life by God. However, Jesus died and was resurrected but also overcame death and therefore he just simply ascended into heaven, death having absolutely no power over him anymore.

Before Jesus ascended, He gave these last instructions to His disciples with whom he was assembled:

• Stay in Jerusalem 
• Wait for the promise from the Father
• John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

In the midst of all the disciples have experienced and seen – their focus is still the earthly kingdom of Israel, upon which Jesus simply answers them “It is not for you to know the times and the season which the Father determined by His own Authority”. It was much more important to Him that they know and understand that:

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you and the result of this power will be that you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) This is the ultimate result, the outcome or purpose of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The primary fruit they could expect, was that they were going to be filled with power to be witnesses of hope to a lost world.

They would be changed from a people who were:

• Too scared to acknowledge that they know Him to a servant, to people who would fearlessly witness in the city for all to see and hear.
• From a man who flee naked when Jesus were arrested in Gethsemane to a man who would testify of His resurrection to the ends of the earth.
• From a Pharisee that had to visit him during the night for fear of being seen by the Sanhedrin to a man of faith that would give up his empire to carry out the word of God
• From a man who buried Jesus probably not expecting Him to be resurrected to a wealthy merchant and tin miner that would carry the message of hope as far as England
• From a group of fearful people who hid themselves after he was crucified to individuals who would travel the world and eventually die martyr’s deaths for their absolute knowledge that He was who He said He is – The Resurrected Christ. None of the disciples would ever recant or change their testimony about that – not even when they faced torture and death alone somewhere in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, or the ends of the earth.

In Acts 1:9-11 we read:

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

This undoubtedly would have reminded them of His words to them in John 14:1-3

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

They understood the customs of a wedding during that time. When the prospective Bridegroom has established the pre-nuptial contract and paid the dowry, he could go and prepare the place where the new couple would stay. This would usually be at the Bridegroom’s Father’s house. A new living quarters would either be built or added to the house of the Bridegroom’s Father. When the Bridegroom’s Father approved of it, He would give His consent that the Bridegroom may go fetch His Bride.

This was thus to become the time where Jesus as the Bridegroom were to go and prepare a place for His Bride and when the place is ready, and when the harvest has been fully reaped through the witnessing of the Holy Spirit filled disciples in this new season, His Father would give His consent – on His Authority and in the moment He sees fit, for the Bridegroom to come back and fetch His Bride.

Thomas’s question in verse 5 about what the way to the Father is would become clear for millions of souls who would come to understand that: 

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
no one comes to the Father except through Him. 

I want to invite you to the upper room in Jerusalem, to gather together in unity and in prayer in one accord, possibly with fasting and in which ever way the Holy Spirit may lead you to do this for the next 10 days, in anticipation of a fresh new outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In expectation to be filled with power to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and into the ends of the world, and in celebration of the Bridegroom preparing a place and fetching His Bride when the Harvest is fully ready. 

Let It be on earth as it is in Heaven - Alisa Turner

Bibliography:

New King James Version of The Bible: Available: https://www.biblegateway.com

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter

Choosing hope when your dreams are lost

People of Hope Part 9 - Queen Esther

Monday Morning devotions @ Work 18 May 2020

Hadassah was a young girl living in Persia during the reign of king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) an immensely powerful king that reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. She was an orphan living with her cousin Mordecai in the Persian city of Sushan. One day the king held a feast for all the people and called for the queen to wear her royal crown and join the king at his banquet so that he could show off his beautiful wife. However, she refused to come. Her refusal left the king humiliated and he removes the queen from her position and decide to find someone to fill her place.

It is in this context that Hadassah was kidnapped by the king’s guard and taken to the king’s palace to take part in a beauty pageant she did not choose to enroll in. The prize was to be the Queen of this powerful Persian King and his empire. May sound compelling to some, but if you take into account that this meant you are never going to go back to your family, that you essentially become the “main peanut in the package of the harem of the king” – and that is only if you win the contest – otherwise you just become “another peanut in the harem” then I am not too sure that I would have been extremely excited about these prospects. I am sure Hadassah had dreams of her own. Being a Hebrew, she probably dreamed of visiting her home country Israel and Jerusalem. She may have been in love with the boy next door planning to get married next summer and live happily forever after. In one moment, all her dreams were shattered. I can imagine the devastation and fear. Her life took a turn that she did not expect or plan, she was dealt a deck of cards completely outside of her own doing and choices and plans.

In these circumstances she had 2 choices. Either be devastated and live defeated or look at that deck of cards and go – this is what I have in my hand – nothing surprises God, and nothing happens without Him having a plan.

So, Lord, what is the plan? Well Hadassah, the plan is for you to become Queen Esther. You were chosen for a time such as this.

Imagine the change of heart and attitude she needed to make. The U-turn in the air. At least she had plenty of time because the preparation for this event took 1 full year. Mordecai who raised her after she became orphaned changed her name to Esther and urged her to not reveal her nationality to anyone. Esther enjoyed the favour of the king’s servant who was tasked to oversee the preparations of the prospective candidates, he helped her, and she won over the king’s heart and became the new Queen.

Meanwhile Mordecai saved the king’s life by revealing a plot to kill him and Hamman the king’s right-hand man started plotting to kill all the Jews in Persia. He offers the king a great amount of money for the approval of his plans. Upon hearing of these plans Mordecai comes to Esther with a request for help. Esther explains that nobody including she can even go to the king unless they are summoned, and should you try, the law says you shall be killed unless the king holds out his scepter to you. Mordecai replies that she has to know that she cannot be sure of her life even though she is the queen, and should she do nothing, help will come to the Jews from another source but she might perish in this war. Esther then took the decision of her life. She requested Mordecai to gather the Jews and to fast and pray with her and her maidservants for 3 days and 3 nights after which she will go to the king and risk her life to plead for the lives of her people.

On the third day she got dressed in her royal robes and went into the king’s court. When the king saw her, she found favour in his sight and he held out to her, the golden scepter that was in his hand. The king asked her what she wanted and even offered her up to half of his kingdom! Esther only requested that the king and Hamman join her at a banquet.

In the meanwhile, the king ordered Hamman to honour Mordecai for saving his life, which Hamman has no choice to do although he hates Mordecai because he hates all Jews. What a humiliation this must have been to Hamman and it certainly fueled his hatred for the Jews. So why did Hamman hate the Jews so much? Well Hamman was the son of an Agagite. Agag was the king of the Amalekites the nation that attacked Israel at Rephidim – they were the descendants of Esau. An old family feud still alive after all these years only this time Hamman thought he got the perfect plan to finally exterminate the descendants of Jacob.

When Esther, the king and Hamman were together at the banquet, she invited them to, Esther finally reveals to the king her request, her nationality and later also her relation to Mordecai. She asks for her life and the life of her people. When the king discovered that Hamman plotted to kill the Queen and her people, he left the banqueting hall angry and Hamman realizes that he is in trouble, initially he pleads for his own life before Queen Esther. However, when the king returned the king find Hamman where he had “fallen across the couch” the king exclaimed “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house”? From this response of the king it looks like Hamman may have tried to attack Queen Esther in that moment in some way. She had just stood up in her authority as the queen of Persia and stood against the evil plot of the Amalekite spirit and was attacked while the king was in his house. Upon this Hamman was removed and the law was amended, the king could not change it since a law of Medes and Persia could not be changed, but he could amend the law to allow the Jews to defend themselves, which they did with success.

Esther and Mordechai (who was eventually appointed as second in charge to the king) instituted a feast called Purim which the Jewish nation celebrate to this day. She went on to live as the Queen of Persia and had children with the king serving him and her people for many years to come. Years later we read about a man called Nehemiah who served in the king’s court as the honoured cupbearer and wise advisor of king Artaxerxes. It is noticeably clear that Nehemiah and the Jewish nation enjoyed the favour of king Artaxerxes I. The King allows Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the temple. He provided him with letters of authority and with building materials – everything he needed to complete the project. Why would a Persian king show this kind of favour to the Jewish nation? No doubt it was the working of God in his heart – but there was also a family connection with Queen Esther. While the exact family connection is a bit unsure it is safe to say that he was influenced by her testimony and legacy.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. With hindsight we can look back on Hadassah’s life and see how she won the favour of the king, became queen, risked her own life to save her the lives of her people and left an influence in the Persian king’s house that was effective enough to ensure the favour of the subsequent king. In this way she was also instrumental in the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, the second temple and the restoration of her nation. She did not have this perspective the day she was kidnapped into the king’s harem. She could easily have fallen into a place of despair thinking that her life was over and that there was no purpose or future for her when her dreams was devasted by things she had no choice in or power over. However, she did not. She took that deck of cards and made the decision to have the best life she could. And it payed off. God was with her even through all of this and made her a great Queen and influencer in her own lifetime.

Which circumstances are there in your and my life that we did not choose? Those things we have no choice in. That happens without our permission – things like Covid-19 viruses causes our lives to be totally uprooted from what we planned and dreamed about. We can still choose our reaction and we can ask what is God’s plan in all of this? Then follow His direction step by step even when we cannot see the result yet. There is always hope no matter how hopeless something looks in the here and now, mostly we just do not see the whole picture yet.

We are chosen for a time such as this…

Listen to Mandisa tell the story of Queen Ester in song:

 Movie scenes are from the Movie: One night with the King

 

 ©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter gerda.venter@telkomsa.net

 

King Hezekiah: A Godly Mother's Hope

People of Hope Part 8 - King Hezekiah
Monday devotions 11 May 2020

Hezekiah grew up as a prince. In the courts of his father, Ahaz, who was the King of Judah. Certainly, this was a very privileged position to grow up in. He was born with the proverbial golden spoon in the mouth - or at least that would be our perception of his upbringing. Only, he had one of the most evil kings of Judah as a father. In 2 Chron 28 we read that Ahaz committed great atrocities, to name but a few, he worshiped the gods of the armies that defeated him at war, he committed adultery, he closed the doors of the temple of God, put out the lamps and stripped the treasures thereof to pay tribute to kings who would not help him at war, but worst of all he sacrificed his children by throwing them alive into the fire as a sacrifice to the fire-god. Hezekiah grew up in this environment. He was never sure if he was going to be alive by tomorrow morning or was he going to be sacrificed next? Imagine what it must have been like for Hezekiah to have to grow up with fear for his own life and for those of his siblings. Imagine having to deal with that kind of psycho-social-emotional trauma daily. Never being sure if you can trust your own father, never sure of a father’s love and of his provision and protection. Surely this kind of upbringing leaves deep scars.

To the contrary Ahaz’s father Jotham was described as a good and righteous king, that pioneered several building projects in the land. He became mighty “because He prepared his ways before the Lord” 2 Chron 27:6. Ahaz thus had quite a different kind of upbringing, yet he reigned through terror and destruction. In many ways we could thus expect that Hezekiah with this kind of broken and destructive upbringing was a disastrous king in the making.

Hezekiah’s mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. Can you imagine what it must have been like for her being married to Ahaz? Seems to me like a marriage from hell itself. Her dreams shattered and cruelly disillusioned. However, Abijah must have been a God-fearing woman, no doubt God must have sustained her through this difficult situation. Her name means “Yahweh is my Father” and her father was none other than Zechariah who was the man that had understanding in the visions of God and from which Hezekiah’s great-grandfather Uzziah sought godly instruction (2 Chron 26:5). Uzziah heed the instructions of Zechariah and God prospered him. Thus, despite an extremely evil father, Hezekiah had a godly great-grandfather (Uzziah), grandfather (Jotham), and mother (Abijah) who undoubtedly shaped his values, impacted his character, introduced him to “Yahweh my Father” and imparted the spirit of God to him. It surely was this influence that steered Hezekiah into a different direction than his father.

Within the first month after he became king he repaired and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He gathered the priests and Levites and gave them instruction to sanctify themselves and clean out the rubbish from the holy place. He acknowledged and repented of the sins of his father’s house and purposed in his heart to return to the covenant of the God of Israel. Then the Levites and some of the priests cleansed the temple and sanctified themselves, however they could not get this done in time to celebrate the Passover. Then Hezekiah gathered the leaders and together with the priests and a great assembly and they worshiped with song and musical instruments. Hezekiah and his leadership remembered that in Numbers 9 God made provision for a second Passover time in the event of someone not being able to be sanctified in time for the Passover due to e.g. death in the family or being on a journey and therefore decided to call all the people of Judah to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, even though it was a whole month later than it usually is.  While celebrating the Passover the whole assembly agreed to celebrate it for an additional 7 days! This is the only time in history that we read that the Passover was corporately celebrated not in its usual time frame. Such was the celebration in the land, and such was the people’s relief and need to come into right standing with God again that they just could not stop celebrating this momentous occasion.

Hezekiah went on to become one of the best kings Judah ever had. Many a war God simply won supernaturally for him. He relayed the Gihon spring through a tunnel to the inside of the city when they were besieged and restored the walls of Jerusalem. When He got sick, he petitioned God for his life and God added to his life 15 years. He did have his moments of struggle with pride and showed off his riches to the princes of Babylon glorifying in himself and his wealth – consequently he had to humble himself before God again etc. However, in 2 Chron. 31:21 we read that in every work he began in the service of the house of God he sought God and did it with all his heart, thus God prospered him.

While we celebrate Mother’s Day on 10 May 2020, let us never underestimate the influence of a godly mother (or grandmother) that hold on to her “Yahweh my Father” like Abijah did. In Hezekiah’s life it no doubt gave him hope for a future and it resulted in hope and restoration for the whole nation, changing the course of history not only for an individual but for a whole nation.

Let us therefore heed this example, keep our eyes focused on Jesus and our hearts set on the covenant with “Yahweh our Father” no matter what kind of upbringing we had He can surely bring us into our God-given destiny and He can bring South-Africa as a nation into its God-given destiny too.

© 2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter gerda.venter@telkomsa.net

Lets praise and worship Yahweh our God with Hezekiah Walker: Every Praise 

Do you love Me, Peter?

People of Hope Part 7 - Peter
Monday Devotions @Work 4 May 2020

© 2020 Karien Le Roux Photography

When Jesus called His disciples many of them were fishermen. They left their occupation when He called them to become His disciples and to travel with Him as He ministered to people and taught them. However, here we find them right back at where they started. Catching fish. Back at being fishermen. I think at this stage even though the disciples now knew and understood Jesus’ death and resurrection this was still before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and it is almost as if there is a lack of vision on their part. I can imagine them thinking something like “well… ok but what now?” Whereto from here? What are we supposed to be or do now? In the absence of vision people mostly go back to their past. They go back to what they know and to what is familiar. So where does Jesus find them? Catching fish at Galilee – because that is what they know. The place, the job, the income - it is the familiar and perhaps comfortable place to be.
When we encounter the disciples in John 21, we read of how the disciples went fishing and caught nothing. When we go out on our own strength and in our own plans, digging ourselves into the familiar and the comfortable there is no harvest. They caught nothing until He told them to cast the net out on the right side of the boat. Shortly after, they struggled to bring the catch ashore since the nets were overflowing. I am sure that this incident reminded Peter of the promise Jesus gave Him long ago that He will be a fisher of men.

It is in this context that Jesus has His now well-known discussion with Peter. He asks Peter “Do you love Me?” three times, However, it is only when we look at the original text that this discussion really comes to life. In the original language there are at least 4 different words for the word love. We see 2 of them in this passage. Agape and Phileo. Agape means self-sacrificial love, whereas Phileo means brotherly or friendship love. Thus, in Gerda’s paraphrasing this discussion between Jesus and Peter sounds like this:

Jesus asks Peter twice the same question when He asks “Peter, do you love Me with (Agape) self-sacrificial love?

Twice Peter answers “Yes Lord I phileo you” I think it will be safe to say that even though Peter does not voice it at this point and neither does Jesus, both know that Peter denied Christ not too long ago. There is therefore no chance that Peter can say that he loves Jesus with self-sacrificial love. Peter demonstrated quite the opposite. In other words, Peter is honest with Jesus here when he in fact says no Lord, I do not love you with self-sacrificial love, but I do love you with friendship love. I am your friend and want to be your friend Lord, but know I denied you, I cannot say that I love you with self-sacrificial love even if I wanted to.

When Jesus asks Peter a third time if he loves Him the question is different. Jesus uses the word phileo, friendship love, brotherly love. I can imagine Jesus actually saying to Peter here: “Peter, I get it that you don’t get it” You should love me with Agape love – but for now friendship love, phileo will do. It was with this third question that the Bible says Peter was grieved. Why was Peter grieved? Maybe because he realized that Jesus is meeting Him on the only level of love that he as a human being could manage at that point. Maybe he realized that Jesus loved him with Agape love and longed for Peter to love Him with Agape love too, but Peter could not and at least this time he did not make empty promises. He was honest. He said to Jesus this is all I can offer.

Against all expectation perhaps this same discussion is the moment when Jesus commissions Peter to look after His sheep. God does not wait for us to be perfect, completely healed and skilled before He commissions us into the purpose, He created for us in His Kingdom. Consider this scripture in 2 Timothy 1:9 where God says:

[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favour) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].

Our callings are Holy and as we walk it out God leads us and produces, cultivates Holiness in us. Thus, Jesus commissions Peter to tend and feed and care for His sheep at a point in time where He and Peter knows Peter’s love for Christ is dismally deficient. Jesus knew that it would be in living out this calling that God would cultivate, through the Holy Spirit a self-sacrificial love not just for others but for God. Later when we read Peter’s letters in 1 Peter and 2 Peter, we see how he start using the word Agape. Peter grew in love for Jesus through the Holy Spirit that was poured out on him and others.

Jesus asks us that same question today. “Do you Agape Me?” If you cannot say yes today, ask the Holy Spirit to awaken that Agape love for God in your heart.
 

© 3 May 2020 Copyright:  All rights reserved HG Venter. gerda.venter@telkomsa.net  

Listen to Peter's Song by Michael O'Brien 

From hopeless doubt to blind, unwavering faith

People of Hope Part 6 - Thomas
Monday Devotions@Work  27 April 2020

Eight days after the resurrection of Jesus, there was an incredibly special encounter between Him and Thomas. Sometimes people are cruel and judgmental and will look for mistakes and faults our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ make, forgetting that Christ taught us to first remove the beam in our own eye before we attempt to remove the splinter in our brother’s eye. I think it is the case with Thomas – Jesus’s disciple. To this day he is known as “doubting Thomas”, although he was not the only one who did not believe initially. Interesting how we do not speak about Peter as ‘denying Peter’ or about David as ‘adulterous David’. When the women came to the disciples to tell them that they had seen the resurrected Jesus and that the grave was empty, nobody believed them at first. Not until there were more and more reports of people who had seen Him, but it was not until He appeared to them Himself eating fish and honeycomb, that they believed.

Thomas had just put words to what was in his heart. He spoke up about it. He was honest with God, himself, and others. Unfortunately, Thomas was not there when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples. We do not know why he was not there. When they told him, Jesus had appeared to them, he said his now famous words: “I will not believe this unless I get to touch His wounds”. His absence cost him dearly. He would have to wait 8 days before Christ appeared to him. By then I can just imagine all the thoughts that must have gone through his mind while listening to the several different accounts of people who saw Jesus. Mary Magdalene, the other women, the travelers to Emmaus, Simon and the other disciples. He missed all of this. I can imagine him going from hopeless unbelief to doubting the sanity of his friends to thinking something like, “Why did He not appear to me too?”. Maybe thinking that Jesus was angrier with him than with the rest or that he had committed such a grievous sin that he is not ‘worthy’ of being appeared to? I do not really know what went through Thomas’ mind for those 8 long days – but I do know what would have gone through my mind. I think I would have felt that I had missed it, and I would have wondered if I had missed it forever. But Jesus is a God of second chances and so He had grace with Thomas. Granted, He made him wait for those 8 days. He let him contemplate, think about all he had heard from Jesus Himself to what he heard from his friends now. Thomas must have played everything Jesus taught them over and over like a movie, trying to remember and sass out the small details of what He told them. He must by now have heard the disciples and the travelers to Emmaus’s version of how Jesus explained the scriptures - the law, the prophets, the psalms - to them and how He broke bread with them. He had time to contemplate and process a lot of information in that week. He had 8 days to decide if he was going to stick around with them – or leave. His doubt did not make him leave. He stayed. He made sure he was with them. By Sunday morning, Thomas was not going to miss the meeting again. This time he was present with his fellow disciples when Jesus appeared to them.

In John 20:24-29 we read how Jesus met with the disciples. They were together in the house and once again the doors were shut, but Jesus just simply appeared in their midst and greets them with a blessing of peace. He comforts them with His peace before He does anything else. Then He address Thomas with an invitation. Come Thomas, come put your finger into My wounds, come see for yourself. I bet Thomas went – “Who told Him that? He was not there when I said that? Oh! right He is God – really, He knows everything – He knows what I said! He knows that I doubted Him.” I can imagine it being one of those moments where all the blood in your head goes to your feet and you know you can’t get out of this and there are more thoughts going through your mind in milliseconds than what you can put into words in a lifetime. And then Thomas spoke and what he said is profound. He said, “My Lord and my God”. What is there more to say? Unconditional recognition of who Jesus is. Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Never to be doubted again.

Jesus’s answer is remarkable because He refers to you and me in that moment. He says to him – You, Thomas, (and for that matter everybody else present that day) believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe. That is, you and me. We believe because of the Holy Spirit’s revelation, and God blessed us in that moment!

What became of Thomas? Certainly, he did not stay ‘doubting Thomas’. He became a missionary to India, China and some say possibly visited Indonesia. Like all the other apostles he died a martyr’s death - not for his belief that Jesus died. Everybody believed that Jesus died. There was no dispute about that. He died for his belief that Jesus was resurrected. If there was one disciple that would not have died for that belief had it been a fabrication of someone’s imagination or a conspiracy of some sort, it would have been Thomas. The life and death of ‘doubting Thomas’ became one of the shining testimonies of the truth of the resurrection, and he must have seen many come into the Kingdom – by believing without seeing.

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved. HG Venter gerda.venter@telkomsa.net

Our song for the week is "Even If" from Mercy Me:

A Song of Hope

 Monday devotions@Work 20 April 2020

This morning's devotions is a song or actually it's rather like a short film.  This song tells the stories of Hagar, Ruth, David and Mary Magdalene.  It really sings the stories of all the people of hope we so far learned about.  Make some quiet time to just sit and listen to this song without being in a hurry and without interruption.

 The Name is "The God who sees" and it is by Kathie Lee Gifford and Nicole C Mullen

The See-saw of hope and despair

People of Hope Part 5 - Mary Magdalene

Monday devotions@Work 13 April 2020

Having celebrated Passover this weekend in a lockdown situation made me think about the people whom Jesus shared His life on earth with in a whole different way. Mary Magdalene stood out for me. We don’t know much about her background, her family – or apparent lack of family for that matter. However, what we do know about her is profound.

We know that Jesus cast 7 demons out of her (Mark 16:9 and Luke 8:2). The circumstances that led up to her being in this state we do not know, but I cannot think that they were hopeful circumstances. There is nothing that leads us to be able to think that she had an extremely bright and hopeful future at that point in time. Yet somehow Jesus had compassion on her and saved her from the hopelessness of this existence. He healed her and she became a most loving, loyal and devout follower. He gave her hope in her darkest hour. She lived in this hope for a year or two or three, we do not know exactly how long, but I think it is safe to say that she must have rejoiced in her newfound freedom and in her relationship with Jesus and the other disciples.

Then came that fateful day that Jesus, against all expectation, was betrayed by Judas and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. The same night He was sentenced to death by an illegal and unjust nightly court and crucified the next morning. Amongst a few of His other followers, Mary was standing at the cross the next day. Seeing her savior, healer, deliverer die a most cruel and gruesome death. She saw the soldiers declare Him dead when they came to break His bones. She saw them pierce Him with a sword. She saw the water and blood flowing from His side. She saw Him being buried in a garden tomb. She refused to leave or hide, seeing and living with Him through His darkest hour. From hope to utter hopelessness and despair in one day.

Three days later, early morning, we find her on her way to the garden tomb. She finds the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. She runs back to Peter and the other disciples weeping, initially thinking that His body was moved without them knowing where He was taken. Hope deferred. She cannot even pay her last earthly respects to the One whom she dearly loved. The other disciples leave and return to their respective homes. She hangs around in the garden, weeping and alone. Hopeless and directionless. What now? Whereto now? How does she keep on living after this? Have you ever been in this place of not knowing how to take the next step in life? Not knowing which direction to go?

In this state of hopelessness, she has an encounter with two angels that ask her: “…why are you weeping?” I mean really, I think I would go – “How can you ask me this? Is it not obvious?” She answers them respectfully – “…because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him”. Then she sees Jesus standing there and she does not recognize Him! She thinks He must be the gardener. He must have looked so different, her grief and hopelessness and perhaps her inability to even contemplate the idea of Him being alive, must have been so prevalent that she, who knew Him so well, did not even recognize Him in that moment – until He said her name. There must have been something in the way He said her name that made her realize whom se was talking to. She answers Him, saying: “Rabboni”, which means “My Teacher”. That is a personalized answer. She could have said “The teacher” but the “my” indicates personal relationship. Can we even try to imagine what went through Mary Magdalene in this moment? Can we try to put ourselves in her shoes?

A most extraordinary discussion now follows:

Do not touch Me for I have not ascended to My Father yet.

Can we even begin to understand what it means that the Messiah of all mankind, chooses in this moment to appear to a human being, in this case a woman, BEFORE He ascended to His Father?

He sends her out with a message.

He tells her to go and tell the other disciples that the grave is empty not because they have moved His body, but because “He is risen”.

He tells her where He is going.

He essentially says to her, I have something I need to do first. He says I just need to go home first. I just first need to go see “My Father and your Father, My God and your God”. Mind-blowing. In Mark 16 we read that the angels at the grave already told her and the others that He will go before them to Galilee.

Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus delivered and healed from an utterly desperate place, who’s hope was restored, lost again in the despair of the cross and burial of Jesus, becomes the first human being to see the risen Christ – even before He ascended to His Father. She becomes the first messenger with an extraordinary message of life and hope and death defeated. Redeemed once again out of a place of despair, this time into eternal hope.

Such is it often with us in life. We cannot always see the result and because we can’t see the result, we tend to lose hope along the way. Jesus understands this. He does not leave us in a place of hopelessness without coming to us with His message of hope. He asks us to return to His Stronghold of Hope in Faith. It is when we remain in this stronghold of hope that He will give us peace and joy in seemingly hopeless circumstances. It is from this place of hope that He will deliver us from the waterless pit. It is because of His covenant with us that He does this – not because of anything we can do to deserve it. (Zech. 9)

In the world we currently live in, we seem to be in a place of hopelessness, fear and despair. We are all on lockdown and the economy of the world is crashing. I am definitely riding the emotional see-saw between hope and despair at times and I do suspect that I am not the only one. But one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that God knows what He is doing even when I don’t know what He is doing. Mary Magdalene did not know what He was doing when He willingly laid down His life at the cross. Only days later she understood. Such is the nature of faith. Faith is to hold on to the things we cannot see nor understand – yet. Faith is to trust a Sovereign God who is inherently good and infinitely wiser than us.

I think if we “hang around the garden” long enough like Mary did – He will meet us where we are. He knows where we are. He knows where to find us. What we need to do is to be on the lookout for Him. Be expectant to meet Him, otherwise we may not recognize Him when He does come. Listen for when He calls your Name in the quietness of the morning, in the darkness of the night, in the brightness of the day… listen… for He will come.

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter

Listen to Natalie Grant as she sings The Story of Mary Magdalene.

From a hopeless start to a hopeful finish

People of hope Part 4 – King David 

Monday devotions - 6 April 2020

Read Samuel 16

In the devotions of the past 2 weeks, I referred to King David. However, his story starts long before he was king. In Samuel 16 we read how God called Samuel and sent him to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king. It remains a remarkable discussion with God. God says to Samuel: “I am sending you to Jesse – for “I have provided Myself a king among his sons”. Uhm yes that’s right – did you read that properly? No, God is not saying Jesse and his wife happens to have had a son that I think can do the job of being king. God says, “I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.” You see, God has a Kingdom, and He has a purpose with His Kingdom and His Kingdom purposes come first. After that He then creates David, or you, or me specifically for that purpose. He builds into our very design everything we will need to fulfill our purpose. There is no way anybody on earth is born without a purpose, simply because God’s Kingdom purposes come first – and then God provides for Himself someone – you, me, David, to fulfill that purpose!

Furthermore, God said to Samuel that He will tell him who to anoint and that the choice should not be made on the grounds of outward appearance, because God does not see as man sees. He looks at the heart. On arrival, Samuel invites Jesse to bring all his sons to the meeting, and well this is where the story gets interesting. Jesse brings all his sons – or does he? After Samuel went through all the sons of Jesse, Samuel must ask, “Is there not another”? Upon which Jesse answers well yes… there’s this youngest one still, but he tends to the sheep…

Truth is David was not even deemed worthy enough by his own father and brothers to attend the meeting, let alone did they ever imagine him being worthy enough to be the next king! On top of that, there seem to be serious neglect if not abuse of a young child. In 1 Samuel 17:34-36 David tells Saul that he has killed the lion and the bear while looking after his sheep, so he will kill Goliath as well. How does it happen that a young boy– at most a teenager – is left out in the field having to fight lions and bears to keep himself and his sheep alive. In our day and age this would have been serious endangerment, abuse and neglect of a child. Sounds to me like serious rejection. It really does not give me the idea that David was a very welcome and treasured member of his family.

In addition to this, in Ps 51:5 David, after his sin with Bathsheba and in his own darkest moment of repentance, writes: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me”. Was David an illegitimate child? We don’t really know, but what we do know, is that for some reason his father and brothers did not deem him worthy to even be at the meeting. Not even good enough to be present when they brought a sacrifice nor to celebrate with them when his brother (as they expected) gets anointed as king. No sense of: You belong to this family, we love and include you in our midst. No – just a “Well he’s tending to the sheep, you see someone must do that while we are all gathered here. He’s needed there not here”. I doubt that it was just because he was the youngest.

What a hopeless start David had and what a life he was created for! I don’t think that becoming one of the greatest Kings of Israel was David’s best achievement, nor was his victory over Goliath, or the many wars he won, or the psalms he’s written. I think he simply became great because He was ‘a man after God’s heart’, and God does not see as man sees but He looks at the heart. What is in your heart and mine? What does God see when he looks at us? Let’s read psalm 51 and see what David saw when he looked into his own heart:

"Psalm 51
Quoted from the NKJ:  Biblegateway.com 
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar."  

David saw his sin, his iniquities, deceit. He did not hide that or tried to reason or explain or excuse himself. He simply offered his broken spirit to God as a sacrifice. Then he asked God to create in him a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. He asked God to keep him in His presence and to have the presence of the Holy Spirit with him forever.

This is what made David great. In his most hopeless hour he reached out to God – He was a man after God’s own heart.

Thus, one question remains. In your and my desperate hopeless hours do we reach out to God? I want to encourage you to draw near to Him in this time. He will not reject anyone who seeks him.

©Copyright 2020 All rights reserved HG Venter

Listen to the song about David by Chris Tomlin from The CD - The Story