Psalm 7 Devotion

Psalm 6 Devotion

Psalm 5 Devotion

Psalm 4 Devotion

Psalm 3 Devotion

Psalm 2 Devotion

Psalm 1 Devotion

Jesus Our Supreme Wonder

I submit to you : I have seen many wonders of the world but Jesus is still the first and Supreme Wonder #hemadethis #MyZimbabwe

Scripture: 

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( Gen 1:1, Psalm 19:1-3, Col 1:16, John 1:3, Hebrews 11:3, Job 38, Isaiah 40 , Psalm 8, Psalm 24:1, Psalm 45:2, Romans 1:20)

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Saint Augustine: The Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) (pp. 183-184).

And what is the object of my love? I asked the earth and it said: ‘It is not I.’ I asked all that is in it; they made the same confession (Job 28: 12 f.). I asked the sea, the deeps, the living creatures that creep, and they responded: ‘We are not your God, look beyond us.’ I asked the breezes which blow and the entire air with its inhabitants said: ‘Anaximenes was mistaken; I am not God.’6 I asked heaven, sun, moon and stars; they said: ‘Nor are we the God whom you seek.’ And I said to all these things in my external environment: ‘Tell me of my God who you are not, tell me something about him.’ And with a great voice they cried out: ‘He made us’ (Ps. 99: 3). My question was the attention I gave to them, and their response was their beauty. Then I turned towards myself, and said to myself: ‘Who are you?’ I replied: ‘A man.’ I see in myself a body and a soul, one external, the other internal. Which of these should I have questioned about my God, for whom I had already searched through the physical order of things from earth to heaven, as far as I could send the rays of my eyes7 as messengers? What is inward is superior. All physical evidence is reported to the mind which presides and judges of the responses of heaven and earth and all things in them, as they say ‘We are not God’ and ‘He made us’. The inner man knows this—I, I the mind through the sense-perception of my body. I asked the mass of the sun about my God, and it replied to me: ‘It is not I, but he made me.’

Christ is enough

As I survey my bible reading and communing with God over the years, the CBR has been the most satisfying and I want you to get a taste of that through these posts

09/05/18 CBR Journal Ez 46 | Rev 11

Christ is enough 

Reading Ezekiel 46:13-15 and the need for a perpetual sacrifice left me grateful for Christ who is enough morning by morning to satisfy both God’s righteous requirements but also to satisfy me with his his steadfast love.(Ps 90:17, Lam 3:22) 

Let the Dethroning begin here and now.

In Rev 11:15 I love the picture of this future reality: Kingdoms conquered by our King. I pray that even in our present times we will get the privilege to see little kingdoms dethroned by Christ in our hearts, people we minister to and our cities.

find out more about the CBR Journal here: https://www.thecbrjournal.com

Make and Mature Disciples

The goal of every parent is not only to bring children into this world but also to provide a nurturing environment to facilitate growth. It is in this context the child is expected to mature, become a productive member of the society and even reproduce. The mission of the church can be likened to that of parenting, to make and mature disciples who will make and mature more disciples. 

After Jesus rose from the dead, he said to his disciples "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."(Matthew 28:19-20) Here Jesus shows us his strategy for reaching nations with the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. This is the never changing mission of the church. His approach is that the world will be changed if we engage in disciple-making. What is a disciple? The New Testament uses the terms, mathetes (disciple, learner) and akoloutheo (to follow) to describe a disciple. Dallas Willard says that a disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice - a practitioner… Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess specific views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.  

We make disciples first when we proclaim Christ and what he has done to those who are lost, broken and wander like sheep without a shepherd. ( Mat 9:36) The gospel has the power to save ( Rom 1:16) and makes people new creations in Christ( 2 Cor 5:17), baptism is evidence of this new life. 

The second aspect of discipleship is in maturing believers, which comes through continual teaching them to observe what Jesus commanded through the Spirit. Maturing believers includes sending them to "go" also make disciples as Christ did with the disciples. We call these mature disciples leaders today, but the right term is servants. In Christianity, your greatness is not measured by ascending to a throne but you're descending into Christ-like servanthood (see Mat 20:26, Phil 2:5-11). 

The never changing mission of the church is to make disciples and mature disciples through the gospel. A disciple looks likes Christ at new birth and looks more like Christ as they mature. At the center of all our work in the church has to be a question are we making and maturing disciples.? 

Musings #1 : GOT FRUIT?

“And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ (Luke 13:6–9, ESV)

This scripture was in my reading yesterday and has been in my mind and I want you to notice. few things: the man owns the vineyard and is expecting fruit. This is not the first time he has come looking for fruit from the fig tree, three years in a row it has disappointed him. The owner orders it cut off because it is taking the space where another fig tree could be planted. The vinedresser is gracious and pleads on its behalf that he may try one more year. The vinedresser intends to enrich its roots with manure. 

As I read this a question rushed into mind, As a believer whom he saved and planted in his body If I was that fig would God find fruit in me? Are there areas in my life where God has come countlessly to find no fruit. Clearly, it needed to be destroyed but yet grace won the day. The picture of the chance for the tree to have another year is the picture of what the gospel has done for us. We were destined for the wrath of God, but he made his Son be Sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God.(2 Cor 5:21) I am also glad that he gave the Holy Spirit, the Helper to be like the manure in our lives.( John 14:26, 15:26, 16:1-15) John Stott said that "The Christian life is essentially life in the Spirit, that is to say, a life which is animated, sustained, directed and enriched by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, true Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, indeed impossible.[1]” In other word's bearing fruit is impossible. Could this be what the manure looks like?

My prayer is Lord! If apart from Jesus and his Spirit I can do nothing ( John 15:5) May I willingly follow you and bear fruit that remains. (John 15:16) May you find fruit in my life when you come seeking and if not graciously supply the manure I need to bear fruit.(6-9) 

            [1] John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 216.

Thanksgiving Reader-Response

Here is the reader-response that I wrote for our church as we finished the book of Jonah. 

He has given us grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy 

While we are great sinners, our God is a great savior.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 

for his steadfast love endures forever. 

Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor

He became sin for us so that we can become the righteousness of God 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 

for his steadfast love endures forever. 

He meets us where we are and never leaves us where we are 

We are Jonah but he pursues us with his relentless grace 

His song over us is louder than Satan’s song of condemnation 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 

for his steadfast love endures forever. 

He has adopted us changed our name

He is not ashamed to call us sons 

He is not ashamed to call us brothers 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 

for his steadfast love endures forever. 

He gathers the scattered and delights in their redemption

And he sends the redeemed to gather the scattered

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 

for his steadfast love endures forever. 

We come before him with thanksgiving and praise filling our hearts 

Once our hearts were filled with sin, but now we are filled with his Spirit 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 

for his steadfast love endures forever.