My family and I have spend the last four weeks in South Africa. It has been one of the most active ‘holidays’, both physically and spiritually, we’ve ever had.
We did not plan or organise any ministry opportunities, but Father … together with some our precious friends … organised a whole lot of opportunities to share this great gospel. The first weekend function took place at a student campus in Stellenbosch, but non of these gatherings were contained to a certain time or place – they seemed to spill over into homes and night after night we found ourselves amongst the beaming faces of people who have discovered great treasure.
This Gospel draws us to one another. The communication of our faith becomes effective by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus. (Phm 1:6) The gospel is so much more than just a discovery of information … its a discovery of one-another; it is recognising every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus; it is seeing beyond the clay pot and acknowledging the treasure within.
Eph 2:10 speaks of us as His workmanship. The word ‘workmanship’ was translated from the Greek word ‘poiema’ from which we also get the word ‘poem’. You are God’s poem! You are the product of His inspired utterance; His skilful, artistic and passionate expression. Eph 1:18 speaks about the riches and glory of His inheritance in the saints. Rom 8:17 declares that we are joint heirs together with Christ. In other words, His inheritance is our inheritance. What is His inheritance and where can it be found? Eph 1:18 shows that His inheritance does not consist of some temporal benefits, but it is people! Psalms 2:8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. Our inheritance is nothing less that the restoration of Gods original inspired thought, manifested in man. The lost coin never lost its value … there lies unimaginable value undiscovered in the next person you will encounter and that value is part of your inheritance – recognise it; awaken it.
Jesus recognised that value, in a prostitute who was caught in the act of adultery. Although everyone around Him, especially the religious, only saw a person worthy of condemnation, He saw God’s original thought about her, He valued her true design. Her deeds could not fool Him. In her encounter with Him she found such favour, such approval that the hold of sin lost its grip. Jesus could confidently tell her to go and sin no more. He did not need to refer her to three months of counselling to discover where the problem started. He knew that the demonstration of God’s favourable opinion about her carried enough weight to set her free. Jesus recognised this value in a madman for whom no-one had any hope. This recognition of God’s original thought – the true design of man – compelled Him to speak to a Samaritan woman of questionable repute at a time when it was unheard of for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan.
God wants to convince us of what He is convinced of; He wants us to see things from His perspective. This is why Paul wrote that he could no longer view any man from a human point of view. Paul understood that the death and resurrection of Jesus meant the death of the old Adamic race (that is why Jesus is called the last Adam, not the second Adam), and the resurrection of Christ meant the justification of man. Romans 4:25: who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous. Isaiah 66:8 Who ever heard of such a thing or imagined it could happen? Can a nation be born in a day or come to life in a second?
God is placing the same challenge before us saying: “Ask of me the nations, and I will give you the ends of the earth as your inheritance”
I started by mentioning our holiday in South Africa – I realise that I did not say much about the activities etc. But the greatest activity was discovering old and new friends & family in the light of the words above.
Just one bit of news: Mary-Anne recorded her CD!
We’ll publish some songs soon!
Andre & Mary-Anne Rabe
www.hearhim.net.
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Hi Andre and family,
It was wonderful to meet you! I devoured ‘Adventures in Christ’ in less than a day and passed it on to friends. in Paul’s lifetime he only reached certain parts of Asia and Europe with his gospel even though it was prophesied that he’ll reach the ends of the earth with this message. praise God that our ministry is not limited to our physical lifespan and whereabouts. indeed it cannot be chained.
Stay in touch,
Matthys
Matthys! What a lovely surprise to hear from you.
So true – we are part of plan that is much larger than our physical presence on earth. And it is only within this realisation that our time on earth finds true meaning.
I was chatting to a friend a few days ago who questioned whether he missed Gods plan for his life – thinking he is too old. I mentioned how Moses must have thought, at the age of 80, that he undoubtebly missed it – yet that was when God just got started and the greatest adventure awaited Moses. I’m so glad God does not see any limitations to what He can accomplished in and through us.
How is the film marketing developing? When will you be visiting us in England?
Andre
Andre & Mary Anne
I love vacation photos. You share the same love of finding little things of beauty along the way to photograph. Last summer in San Clemente CA, USA I became obsessed with catching bees that had landed on flowers.
What a collection of beautiful places and happy people. Almost everything we do is influenced by our view of God and the Gospel. Fear creates stunted saints afraid even to live life zestfully lest someone judge them. I love my visits to your site, would love to hear the recordings when they are ready.
Blessings,
Don H in Sun Lakes AZ
Hi Don,
Thanks for the contact – let us see some of those photos.
How true that our perspective changes everything. Someone once said that : “You do not see things the way they are, you see things the way you are!”
Col 3:2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ–that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
The final changes are being done to the master – shouldn’t be long now.
Keep in touch.
Andre
Hi Andre,
What a pleasure to experience your thoughts in Christ. I know Matthys and he referred me to your site. I syndicated your blog feed to our site where we basically give feedback on what was shared at our Wednesday fellowship meetings. I posted “Christ’s resurrection gives birth to a new nation” (in Afrikaans). This was before I read this post and I found we each quoted at least two of the same scriptures in the same post! I truly connect with your heart’s fire bless you with what is already given to you in Christ.
Peace
Elmer
Hi Elmer,
Thanks for making contact … I really enjoyed your site. We have been entrusted with such an awesome message – it’s always good seeing it declared through every medium possible. I did one afrikaans article – you can find it at: http://hearhim.net/wordpress/2006/11/11/onweerstaanbaar/
Meeting Matthys was like discovering a treasure – enjoy his friendship on our behalf also!
Loved the posting … hope to find time to participate in the discussions
Andre