Gerhard de Beer's Blog

The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cover our past and future sins.

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:47:23 GMT

A Friend from Zimbabwe sent this to me and I thought I will share it with all of you.

The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cover our past and future sins.

Be blessed
G

One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug
of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted
Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
The young woman had a very rough past, involving
alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.
But, the change in her was evident. As time went on, she
became a faithful member of the church.
She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching
young children.
It was not very long until this faithful young woman had
caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son.
The relationship grew and they began to make wedding
plans. This is when the problems began.
You see, about one half of the church did not think that
a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son.
The church began to argue and fight about the matter.
So they decided to have a meeting.
As the people made their arguments and tensions
increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand.
The young woman became very upset about all the things
being brought up about her past.
As she began to cry, the pastor's son stood to speak.
He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to
be. He began to speak and his statement was this:
"My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here.
What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of
Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of
Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?"
The whole church began to weep as they realized that
they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and
use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters.
Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person
completely then it cannot cleanse us completely.
If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.
What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case!!!!
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain
thee he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
Psalm 55:23

God's Discipline

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:27:45 GMT

I recently had the experience of having to correct an unbeliever on a certain issue. I must admit that I was dreading the event and was expecting a very reactionary judgmental response, something to the tune of "Take your church and shove it......" However....what I got was totally unexpected. The party involved was very open to be corrected and actually thanked me for pointing it out. This got me thinking of how wonderful a church environment can be if we are all open to be corrected. Hebrews talks about God's discipline. My question is the following: How does God discipline us? There are different valid answers to this. One answer is definitely that God uses our fellow brother and sisters and of course the leaders in the church that are charged to shepherd God's Flock.

Heb 12:5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you.

Heb 12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

Heb 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Are you open to God's discipline?

1. What was your last reaction when a fellow brother or sister tried to correct you?

2. When last did you in a biblical way, motivated by love tried to correct a fellow brother or sister?

3. Do you believe you are always right? or are you open to the fact that you might be wrong?

The bible is very practical to teach us God's ways. Why don't you take the plunge?

Slaying the dragon of discontentment

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:16:57 GMT

An interesting question that I have is why was Eve tempted by the forbidden fruit in the garden of eden? There were so many wonderful fruit that was allowed and it is obvious that the she was not hungry! We get our clue from:

Ge 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye...

The forbidden fruit looked "pleasing to the eye" - she saw it and wanted it because I believe Satan made her believe that she would be "more complete" or "better off" by eating from this fruit. All of us struggle with that from time to time where the 99.9% that we have looks so small compared to the 0.1% that you don't have.

Satan is so good at lying to us by magnifying the 0.1% and make us believe that we cannot live without the 0.1%.

In Philipians 4:12 we read that Paul "...have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation..."

What would have happened if Eve was "content" in her situation? Maybe she would have been less vulnerable to the schemes of Satan, presenting her with twisted truth. I want to put a case forward: " Discontentment in your current circumstances opens the door for temptations from Satan" How do we deal with this? Paul said that he learned the "secret" of being content in any circumstance. What is that secret? Most people would say well verse 13 gives the secret:

Phil 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I don't believe that is the "secret" Paul was referring to, but more the result or the conclusion of the argument presented in the end of chapter 4. We read in Proverbs:

Pr 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble. The king James version says: The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

That "fear" does not mean to be "afraid of" but links with "reverence" which according to the Oxford dictionary has its origin in the Latin word revereri - which means "Stand in awe of" It is only when we "stand in awe of God" that we can rest contently and then not be "visited with evil". That is the "secret" that Paul had learned - Contentment in your situation can only come when you "see" God in all his splendour and understand the grace and forgiveness that he freely gives us in Jesus. The reason for this is I believe that the focus is taken away from us and we focus on God and suddenly everything finds its order - and the we become thankful for what we have - not discontent about what we don't have.

1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Ponder these things if you feel the rise of the "discontentment" dragon!

Critters, Viruses and Germs

Wed, 19 May 2010 06:48:46 GMT

All of the above are as unwanted as a stomach bug on a long haul flight and you don't sit in the isle. Since last week I have been fighting the cold and flu virus. I think the term "fighting" is the best term. It seems like these viruses are getting stronger every year. This critter virus seems to have lodged itself in my sinuses (who wants to hang around in sinuses any way??) and it is quite happy to sit there unless I actively do something about it - only option is medication - the right medication. I am still searching for the perfect flu thumping bug killer influenza virus nuking medication (I will tell when I find it).

This got me thinking of some other critters that lodge themselves in people's lives like a virus in mucus. The unseen enemies of the underworld with only one thing in mind - destruction of human lives. These spirits are called demons and the bible is full of examples of them and their destruction. The best part however is the way the demons responded to Jesus. How did they respond? With fear and trembling they departed quickly before the KING like rats when you switch on the light. What a magnificent picture of the POWER and AUTHORITY in JESUS.

So fortunately there is a cure for these type of viruses or parasites. The cure is Jesus Christ himself. Are you struggling with any one of these critters in your life?

He's Alive - Now What?

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:13:43 GMT

I am sitting here preparing for the next series that will start on Sunday 4 April 2010 called "He's Alive"

If you have been a Christian for many years then you probably heard these words before:...(wait for it)...JESUS IS ALIVE!!

You might be thinking, "Yes of course, Jesus is alive" (I have learned that in Sunday school from an early age).

That's the point! We always focus so much on the fact that Jesus is Alive and rose from the dead - that we never really ask ourselves this question:

Jesus rose from the dead - He is alive - Now What? What does that mean for me?

Trust you will ponder this question. We will try and answer this question from different aspect in the coming series "He's Alive"

God Bless
G

Potholes, Sun, Sand, Family

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:00:52 GMT

We had a wonderful holiday time over the festive season. We spent a few days in Potchefstroom with my family over Christmas and headed for the coast - the WILD COAST!! Morgans Bay to be exact. We had a lowlight during our trip driving down. If you have young children like us then you will know that having them sleeping in the car on a far trip is a huge blessing!! We left Potchefstroom 03:00 in the morning in order to let the kiddies sleep hopefully untill Bloemfontein. But then 04:00 at Viljoenskroon I hit a pothole and damaged two tyres. I was so annoyed with myself for not being vigilent enough...but anyway... praise the Lord I could cruise slowly (80 Km/h) to Bloem where I had to fit new tyres. This made me think of our trip into Angola where Douw made a comment that their minister of public works must be Mr Pothole slaghatle!!!

The highlight was just time spent together as a family and time spent on the beach. We love the sea and spent as much time as possible at the sea. This was our first time at Morgans bay and it is really a beautiful place that I can recommend for anyone. Our weather was 80% reasonable which is quite good for the wild coast.

I had some cool quiet times and worked through the book of Jonah and Colossions. I will from time to time share things that I believe God revealed or reminded me about again.

For now....Back to reality in Middelburg, beginning of a new exciting year. I really trust that we will see more of the Grace of God operate in our lives this year. I also trust that we will grow as a body in the freedom that is available in Jesus and that Solid Ground church will become a city of Joy in the city of Middelburg.

God Bless!!
G

Fears

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:40:07 GMT

Hi All,

While I was preparing to preach yesterday about our future fears and that it can cause spiritual depression in the present, I asked myself this question?

To what extent can we be released from these nagging & gnawing fears:

1. Will I have a job tomorrow?
2. Will I be healthy tomorrow?
3. Will me and my family be safe tomorrow?
4. Will I have enough to retire one day?

My base scripture was the following:

2Ti 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (sound mind).

Paul basically wrote to Timothy that he should not forget what God has given us: A spirit of POWER, of LOVE and a SOUND MIND.

I am still young with a young family and are also fighting these fears that seems to creep up on you like a crocodile and bites when you don't expect it.

To answer my earlier question: What I am finding in my own life at the moment is that it really helps to meditate on what Paul writes to Timothy. The more you focus on what God has given us in the Holy Spirit - the more free from "fear of the future" I seem to become.

Thinking about the future objectively is wise - ignoring the future is just plain stupid but looking at the future through the eyes of our heart, and the word of God - that is priceless!!!

May the God of hope through His Son Jesus give us HOPE and deliver us from fear!

God Bless.
Gerhardus