This is an invitation to a weekend of doing just that: gazing into this mystery; appreciating who He is in us and who we are in Him. And all of this in the most stunning environment!
Have a look at: http://www.theoasts.co.uk/

All guests have access to the heated indoor swimming pool, sauna and tennis court.

When: 2-4 April 2010

Costs include all meals, two nights accommodation and a welcome pack:

Adult:    £70

Child (12 – 18) yrs: £50

Child (4 –11) yrs:    £30

Child (1 – 3) yrs:    £7.50

Weekend Day Visitor:    £20

Hope to see you all soon -  Andre & Mary-Anne

Limited space available (30) so please make your booking ASAP.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Could you please make a deposit of £30 per person (£10 per child) upon booking – you can use the paypal donation button to do that. (you are welcome to pay the full amount as well)

Often people speak about ‘children of the Devil’ and ‘children of God’ as if God and the Devil are on the same level as creators. Ridiculous! There is only one Creator, one God and one Father of us all (Eph 4:6). And in the previous chapter Paul writes: “I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” The only thing Satan ever gave birth to is lies. Throughout the centuries man has adopted this foreign ‘father’ by submitting to his way of thinking, thereby adopting a foreign identity. Yet submitting to this lie did not change the truth of mankind’s origin, nor did it make the Devil an actual creator or father. It is in this context that Jesus said: ‘You are of your father the Devil’ referring to their actions and their way of thinking, immediately qualifying it in the next sentence by saying: ‘he is the father of lies’. I love the way in which the Message translates John 1:12:
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.

It is this insight into Christ which takes us beyond a mere historic appreciation of Him, into a present awareness of the One who lives; the One who represents my innocence at the right hand of God.

http://hearhim.net/wordpress/

Come to this conclusion: I am more than the sum total of my experience. I am greater than all the events in my life joined together. I’m bigger than my biggest disappointment or achievement. I am the image and likeness of God and not a fraction of me has been revealed.

Another way in which a person can define themselves is by what they have gained or by what they have lost. Pride and regret are both deceptions, designed for the same purpose: to blind man; to keep man from seeing his true value, a value far beyond all the wealth you can attain; a value untouched by anything you have ever lost.

In my early childhood – I was about five years old – we moved into a new house. Most of these houses in South Africa had big back yards and these made ideal playgrounds for small boys. We called it a ‘yard’ instead of a garden because it wasn’t really a neatly kept garden – it was more like a large enclosure. On the day we moved in I noticed something very tempting: the neighbour had a small orchard of mango trees in his back yard … and I loved mangoes. My dad must have read my thoughts because at the moment I noticed these trees, he said to me: “Don’t even think of going into the neighbour’s yard – there is a vicious dog guarding the trees”. That was a very disappointing piece of information as through the days and weeks that followed I witnessed the mango fruit ripening.

I often played in the back yard in the afternoons and felt terribly tempted by the ripe mangoes over the fence, however my fear of the vicious dog prevented me from even attempting to pick a mango. One afternoon, while playing, I became desperately ‘hungry’ and the fruit seemed particularly inviting. I nervously sneaked onto the fence at the far end of the yard to have a better look at the dog, but I couldn’t see the dog anywhere. I took my chance and jumped over the fence, grabbed a couple of mangoes and jumped back into my own yard. They were delicious!

It did not take me long to realise that there was no dog! The moral of the story is not about temptation or repentance or anything deeply spiritual like that. The point is simply that my experience of hunger was real, my experience of fear was real, but these real experiences were based on the lie that I believed regarding a vicious dog. The moment I realised that there was no dog the fear disappeared … and as a consequence so did the hunger. How many of our real experiences are based on lies? How different would our experiences be, if we believed differently?

The truth that Jesus introduces us to is of a much higher authority than our experience – it is a truth that is able to transform our experience. He wants to introduce us to a truth much broader than our narrow experiences.

“… 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 8:16 MSG). If Jesus considered his own experience as narrow compared to a much greater reality, then we too might have to re-evaluate the importance we attach to personal experience.

In the same way as our personal experiences are to narrow to reveal our true identity, so too is our culture too narrow; our language too narrow; our society too narrow; our race too narrow; even our relationships, no matter how precious, are too narrow. He reveals that all the measures we’ve used to measure ourselves with are completely inadequate. “but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding” He shatters our illusions, but at that very moment He also brings to light the truth of our design. We are eternal beings, which means that anything temporal will not do justice to God’s estimation of our worth and He invites us to see ourselves from His point of view.

One of the first concepts I was taught in art was ‘perspective’. The connections between objects, the distances between them and the particular point of view all contribute to a unique perspective. I soon learnt that one point of view can hide the beauty in a scene, while another can reveal it. Nowhere is perspective more important than when we look at ourselves. Identity can be defined as an individual’s comprehension of him or herself as a separate entity.

In practical terms this means that people tend to see themselves within the context of certain cultures, races and social settings to mention but a few of the broader influences. Language and location can have a profound effect on people’s view of themselves. There are obviously more personal influences such as relationships with friends and family, not to mention the effect that personal experience has upon us. The list goes on and on – we find security in seeing ourselves in the context of something familiar.

It’s in the midst of this that Jesus reveals a dimension, a context called eternity, so broad and so different that it totally disorientates us. Every temporal reference we use to locate and identify ourselves is challenged by the revelation Christ brings. In fact He plainly says that unless we lose our lives – lose our sense of identity – we will never find our true identity. In Jesus we encounter a new context to our lives – a perspective in which the distance that we believed to be between us and God, is cancelled.

Eternity dwarfs both our greatest achievements and deepest disappointments to minuscule size. Yet despite the seeming meaninglessness of our lives when placed in this context it also reveals our true value, for there is a part of us which is not temporal. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, without which man cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Eccl 3:11 LIT) God has placed eternity in our hearts so that we can have access into realms beyond the here and now, beyond the temporal, beyond the material. Because we are eternal beings, questions regarding eternity stir within us. He is not offended when we ask about these great mysteries – He placed those questions in our hearts so that we would seek and find. These questions are in-built invitations from our eternal Origin to reach into the spirit realm and find Him there.

All the prophets bore witness and pointed towards an event; a person, in which the mystery – the fullness of God’s purpose – would be made known. It was not because of a lack of diligence that they only saw and spoke in fragments and glimpses, but because of the enormity of this revelation. There was only One who was worthy to open the seals; only One who would have the strength and wisdom to accurately reflect God’s original idea; only One who witnessed and was part of God’s original motivation to create. The prophets saw glimpses of the mind of God, but Jesus is the mind of God.

In no way does this belittle the prophets, but rather it emphasises the significance of Christ. The messages that came through the prophets had such rich variety, they were relevant in so many different generations and were communicated in such a diversity of ways, but they were all moving towards a climax – the crescendo of God’s conversation with man. The prophets spoke, wrote and sometimes used dramatic action to communicate their message – Jesus is the message. The prophets often spoke a word that was relevant for their generation, their time and situation – Jesus is the complete and eternal Word, always relevant, always fresh. The prophets bore witness to the reality and truth they saw – Jesus is that reality, is that truth. He is the very brilliance and light of God’s character and His aim is not simply to reveal truth to us, but to make us true. As we behold Him we are transformed into that same image!

The One who began it all, the Author of the ages, has not forsaken what He made. He is as surely the Lord of ‘destiny’ as He is the Lord of creation. The Creator is also the Redeemer. He has not retreated into being a distant observer, a purely transcendent God, but continues to be intimately involved, sustaining all existence, upholding the universe.

When John speaks about the Word that became flesh, He is saying that the very mind of God, the reason and very life of God was made visible, so that we no longer have to grope in the darkness, but know His thoughts towards us. He is the true or real light – the essence and reality of everything. If you want to know what God is like, look at what Jesus is like. Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. In this one statement He identifies Himself as the ultimate reality, the mind of God revealed.

God’s Word is Jesus Christ. There is only one Word and only one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. All He has to say to us, He said in Christ. All He has to give to us, He gave in Jesus Christ, for in Christ, He gave Himself in all His fullness. Not only did He become man, but in His free gift of grace, He makes us like Himself. Our entire relation with God, happens within this Word. This is the Word that planned our existence, this is the Word through whom we were created, this is the Word that is our mediation, this is the Word that reveals the secret of our identity and the purpose of our existence, and this Word is our only hope and destiny.
The Word Eternal

Long before the first line of scripture
was penned on papyrus scroll,
the Word, unwritten,
existed as the mind of God.

Before the books were gathered
collated as sacred text,
the Word, intangible; invisible,
was planning, was ordering
the ages that were to come.
This Word predates the Bible,
this Word predates creation,
this Word is alive and active
and speaking still today.

“Heaven is my throne room;
I rest my feet on earth.
So what kind of house
will you build me?” says God.

What kind of doctrine could enfold Him,
What kind of information could define Him,
What kind of book could contain Him?

Yet, despite His boundless nature,
within His infinite wisdom,
He devised a crafty plan, by which
His thoughts, His intents
would fit themselves into
the form of a humble seed:
The DNA of His own life,
encrypted within the written Word.

And so began the writing
of that which we now call:
the Bible – the Scriptures.
Within the limitations; imperfections
of human words and human authors
God placed His eternal perfect seed.

A seed is not a tree;
the Scriptures are not our God,
Yet a seed is the beginning, the start -
provided with fruitful soil,
encouraged by water and light,
a seed gives birth to a being
much greater than itself.

His plan foresaw the day
in which this seed would blossom
no longer encrypted; no longer disguised
but fully expressed in the person
of Jesus – the Christ – the Son
The One who was in the beginning
revealed within our midst
Immanuel – God with us -
the Word became flesh.

His desire is still the same:
for His Word to break free of the boundaries
of letters and text and theories
and yet again, became flesh,
and yet again find expression in a person:
you – the chosen – the offspring of God.

So as we approach the Scriptures,
do more than read what is written -
listen to what is spoken.
So once again we can encounter
the mind, the voice, the person
who spoke long before
pen or paper were born.
(by Andre Rabe)
This Great Salvation
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you concerning things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. 1 Pet 1:10-12

When they inquired about the time to which all their writings pointed, the event that would be the fulfillment of God’s purpose and the release of His glory on earth, the Spirit of God within them pointed towards the sufferings of Christ. They realised that we ( those who came after the suffering of Christ ) would be the beneficiaries of this event. How many continue to search the scriptures, trying to find another prophesy that points to another time or event, and in the process neglect the greatest event – this great salvation.

The Jews divided time into two parts, namely: the present age, and the age to come. The ‘present age’ was subject to evil and the ‘age to come’ would be the perfect age in which God rules. In between these two ages they saw the ‘Day of the Lord’ which was, as it were the birth pangs of the new age. The writer of Hebrews is saying that the age of glimpses, fragments is gone and the age of completeness has come. The time of shadows and grasping in the dark has gone, the time of reality and truth has come. In Jesus “… the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” and  “you will do well to heed this word as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (1John2:8, 2 Pet 1:19). Jesus is not just another messenger of ‘the present age’, but He is the Day of the Lord, giving birth to a whole new dispensation.

God anticipated a time and a person in which He would reveal Himself in such clarity and completeness, that for all eternity it would be known as the crescendo, the sum total of His conversation with man. Just as He spoke creation into existence, this declaration would once again be a word of such magnitude that it would give birth to a whole new creation. Just as He originally said: “let light shine out of darkness”, He would once again speak a word that would shine with the knowledge of the favour of God; a message that would radiate the character of God with such accuracy that it would dispel all darkness, destroy all ignorance of His love and leave man without excuse to remain distant. This event would mark the end of the old Adamic race, a race defined by the fall of man, and be the birth of a new humanity, a humanity which God reconciled to Himself, not holding their trespassed against them, a humanity defined by Christ – His final Word regarding man.

Identity revealed
In the face of Christ Jesus the eternal purpose of God, His original intent and thoughts towards man were made plain. This revelation destroys every false identity and unlocks the truth about us. The light that confronted Saul on the way to Damascus was both a destructive force and a life-giving encounter. The flaming fire of the presence of God eternally destroyed Saul, and simultaneously brought forth Paul – the true person that God had in mind since the beginning. As Paul continued to look into this light, he saw the face of Christ shining with the knowledge of the glory of God. As he looked deeply, he became aware of the real significance of Christ, a significance far beyond the miracles He performed, a significance far beyond the few years He spent on earth. He began to recognise, in the face of Christ, the true identity of mankind.

It is this insight into Christ which takes us beyond a mere historic appreciation of Him, into a present awareness of the One who lives; the One who represents my innocence at the right hand of God.

Jesus once asked: “Who do men say that I am?”. After His disciples gave Him all the current opinions and hearsay stories, He asked: “And you, who do you say that I am?”. There is an appointed time for you to move beyond popular opinion and come to your own conclusion. Can you hear Him asking you that question today: “Who do you say that I am?” Seeing Him for who He truly is, is not an intellectual exercise; it’s not simply reading about what He did or said. Even His disciples who were with Him did not come to an accurate conclusion about Him from observing Him in the natural. It was only when the Father revealed His own point of view to Peter, that Peter started to appreciate the real Christ. Jesus then immediately started speaking to Peter about his true identity – that He was a piece of a rock carved and originating in another rock. Reminds us of Is 51: “You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn” In realising His true identity, you discover your own. “The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” (Rom 12:3 MSG).

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. (2 Cor 3:18 NAS). Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, is the reflection of God’s original thought about us, the means by which we were created, the mediator through whom we are justified and made blameless, the mirror in whom we see the truth that we were indeed created in His image and likeness.

Christ is the revelation of your true identity. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Col 3:4 NAS) The word ‘when’ in the Greek is in the present continuous tense. In other words ‘whenever’ is probably a better translation. The Mirror translation says it this way: “Every time Christ is revealed as our life, we are being co-revealed in the same glory (likeness and image of God) being united together with Him.”

More details of the book here: Secret of Contentment