Category: Sodwana News

A Pernicious Loop . . . he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything—Acts 17:25 There are few more powerful (and potentially harmful) forces at work in the lives of men than the When/Then lie. It goes like this: when we get that job, that promotion, that house, that “number” in the bank account . . . then everything’ll be great. Things will settle down then. We’ll have peace and joy and security then. The lie wouldn’t be so bad, but for the behavior we rationalize and excuse with it, hoping it is true: neglecting people we’re Source: South African LINKA Pernicious Loop

“Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.” — Psa 97:11. WRITING OF Emerson, Margaret Fuller says in her diary: “Emerson has been here this morning with a sunbeam in his face.” It is recorded of Daniel Rowlands, the famous Welsh preacher—to hear whom on the Sunday morning people would travel through the entire Saturday night—that when he was preaching there was “a solar look” on his face. Like Moses, he wist not that his face shone. Is not this what our Lord meant when He bade His disciples anoint their heads and wash their Source: South African LINKTHE SOLAR LOOK

You’re Designed for Extremes I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot—Revelation 3:15 There are three approaches to life with God: All In; All Out; and, in the middle, between those, a third approach. This third approach is actually a range—it encompasses every approach between the two extremes. Many of us take the third approach. I mean, we do believe life is better with God—but, our belief is more theoretical than not. We get busy with careers, families, finances, and rarely think about actually applying the life and truth of Source: South African LINKYou’re Designed for Extremes

You’re Magnetic Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?—Mark 2:16 God loves us—just as we are, right now. Wow. That’s kind of difficult to accept, isn’t it? I mean, it’s hard to feel worthy of that love, with all our mistakes, our imperfections. Don’t we need to be perfect and holy too, just as he is, before he can love us? No, brother, he loves us—just as we are, right now. If we’re ever going to understand God, if we’re ever going to understand ourselves, in relation to God, we’re going to have to bend our minds toward Source: South African LINKYou’re Magnetic

Blessed be the Lord— day after day he carries us along. He’s our Savior, our God, oh yes! He’s God-for-us, he’s God-who-saves-us. Lord GOD knows all death’s ins and outs. What’s more, he made heads roll, split the skulls of the enemy As he marched out of heaven, saying, “I tied up the Dragon in knots, put a muzzle on the Deep Blue Sea.” You can wade through your enemies’ blood, and your dogs taste of your enemies from your boots. Psalm 68:19 MSG Source: South African LINKBlessed be the Lord

The Next Chapter . . . he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come—2 Corinthians 5:17 We write with God all the time. Working alongside him, we write the stories of our lives. He creates the settings and the characters. He creates the conflicts—the situations requiring choices. And we get to make those choices as the characters in his stories. God may encourage us, invite us, surprise us, persuade us, challenge us, convict us—but we and we alone decide, for ourselves. As we move along in our stories, as we live them out, Source: South African LINKThe Next Chapter