TEACHING TRANSFORMATION MINISTRY

“‘...for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’” Genesis 31:12‭-‬13 NKJV Jacob had been cheated by Laban concerning his wife, being made to work 7 more years for the wife he really wanted. After completing his years he continued to work for Laban selflessly, and he said he worked with all his might (Gen. 31:6). God was with him, and even Laban, who’d gotten very rich since Jacob joined him, said that he had learned by experience that God has blessed him because of Jacob (Gen. 30:27). All this while Jacob didn't have much in terms of possessions that he could call his own, despite having two wives and ten children. When he asked to leave to make a living elsewhere convinced that his time there was up Laban begged him to stay and promised him wages, whatever he named. They agreed upon the wages but Laban kept changing ...

You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. Psalms 119:98‭-‬99 NKJV The Bible really exalts wisdom and praises the wise people. Our generation today, as the Bible predicted, has much increased knowledge (Dan. 12:4). Many are knowledgeable, but not that many are wise. How do I know? Because the Bible tells us how wisdom is like versus folly, how wise people behave or live versus how the foolish do. By the standards of the Bible many of those we consider wise are actually fools, and those we consider fools are actually wise. For example, the Bible says that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God (Ps. 14:1). No matter how many degrees and PHDs one may have, if they say in their hearts there is no God then they are fools. Another one says, “A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident.” Prov. 14:16 NKJV. Ag...

Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:47‭-‬50 NKJV Jesus always said some pretty strong statements during His time on earth, and this is one of them. It may come out as if He was dishonouring and disowning His earthly family, but He wasn't otherwise He’d break the commandment that says we honour our parents (Ex. 20:12, Eph. 6:1-2). The Bible says He was without sin (Heb. 4:15) so we can be sure He never once dishonored His earthly parents. He used that instance to pass across a very important lesson that can help us understand how dear to God keeping His will is. Sometimes as believers we tend to live as if God's will is...

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts . I Thessalonians 2:4 NKJV We all have a desire to be approved by someone and either consciously or subconsciously live for the approval of someone. For some it's their bosses, others parents, boyfriend/girlfriend, friends, spiritual leaders, mentors, spouses etc. This is the person(s) whose opinion concerning who you are or what you're doing matters very much to you, and their disapproval would cause you to lose your joy and would automatically be interpreted as rejection. Their approval or appraisal causes us to feel as if we’ve achieved much and make us feel good about ourselves. We find ourselves doing things and wanting them to see or know of what we’ve done, either consciously or subconsciously. We also find it difficult to go against what they tell us to do. God is the One Who created us with this desire to be approved, but not...

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:38‭-‬39 NKJV Jesus was daily asked questions by three classes of people: people who wanted to know God more (e.g. Nicodemus, the disciples etc.), people who wanted Him to affirm their lives and didn't really want to change (e.g. the rich young man, some of the Scribes and Pharisees), and people who wanted to discredit His ministry (e.g. Herod, many of the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees etc.). In our opening text we see a people who asked Him a question but really didn't want to change but were seeking to justify their lives and choice to not believe in Jesus. Even today we will encounter these three categories of people asking us questions about Jesus and our faith and ways of life and it calls for wisdom to ...

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36‭-‬37 NKJV When we get saved we receive a new heart, so basically the tree is made good for the fruit to be good (Matt. 12:33). Man in his degenerate form cannot produce good fruit, which is why Jesus said that an evil man cannot produce good fruit (Matt. 7:17-18, 12:34). By evil here He doesn't mean man becoming evil by what he does, but by nature as all men are born in sin and with a sinful nature. Only in Christ do we become good, positionally. As good trees, whom the Bible also calls trees of righteousness and the planting of the Lord (Is. 61:3), we are made good to bear good fruit and in bearing good fruit we glorify God (Jn. 15:8).  With this in mind we should not be holding on to bad fruit or even idle (useless) fruit. Naturally no one has use for useless fruit, frui...

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 11:11 NKJV The Bible tells us that life and death is in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21). With our tongues we can either release life (God's Word is life - Jn. 6:63) or death (what's contrary to God's Word). The Bible repeatedly tells us that a man will be filled by the fruit of his mouth (Prov. 12:14,13:2,18:20). As believers we have the privilege and authority to use our mouths to ensure there’s life all around us, starting with our lives to the lives of people close to us to our community, church, city, nation, world etc. The Bible in our opening text says that by the blessing of the righteous a city (also applies to our nation) is exalted, and it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. The wicked don't need any incentive to speak evil and negative things concerning the nation, as it's in their nature to do so. Jesus said that out of the abundanc...

A path is a way made, or a track. We see paths all over, which indicate direction towards a certain place. Life also has a path. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. John 14:1-6 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know." Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." NKJV No one comes to the Father except through Christ. You cannot connect to the Father except through Christ. "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find...

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory…” Matthew 12:15‭-‬20 NKJV  After Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on Sabbath the Pharisees plotted to kill Him, and when He learnt of their scheme He left the area. He continued to do good and warning people not to tell, and through this a prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. The Jews expected the Messiah to be a warring Saviour, who was always confronting His enemies (the Gentiles), ruthless, merciless to th...

And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:10‭-‬12 NKJV To the Pharisees, it was aways about laws and regulations, but for Jesus it was always about people. Jesus truly loves us, as individuals. He knew the Pharisees couldn't comprehend how much He loves man and that to Him man mattered more than the set laws, and gave them an example they could relate to. The example He gave was in relation to a sheep as He knew how much sheep mattered to the Jews. The interesting thing is He didn’t talk of a man who had many sheep in that example, rather of just one sheep. If one had many sheep and one fell into a pit on Sabbath...

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23 NKJV This week one of the events that made news was the visit of Facebook's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. What caught many people's attention and created a buzz was his expressed simplicity and humility, eating at a “kibanda” and his way of dressing, coupled with the places he chose to visit as well as the people he was comfortable having take him round. Jokes went around people claiming he had asked for a meeting with them, as admins of Facebook and WhatsApp groups. All this got me thinking. More than two thousand years ago the Founder and CEO of the heavens and the earth made a personal and physical visit to the earth, and in the highest expression of simplicity humility He blended in to His surrounding and with mankind so much that it was hard for many to recognise Who He really was (Mk. 6:1-6, Phil. 2:6-8). He chose the po...

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.” Isaiah 49:14‭-‬16 NKJV We all have had an opportunity to observe or even experience the love of a mother for a child. For me it's a mystery how a mother can love a  child that much. I know it's said that it's because they bore the child for 9 months in their womb, but still there are mothers who have adopted children and still love them passionately, a love that can even be felt. Many mothers would do anything for their children, and I've seen and heard of mothers go hungry so that their children would eat, others take up huge loans for the education of their children and are left paying it off never once asking the children to help them pay it back after they get job...

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:37‭-‬39 NKJV Jesus was pretty clear on how He wants our relationship with Him to be. He wants us to have a tension-free relationship, and knows that a relationship between One Who has given Himself wholly to a relationship and one who hasn't and whose heart and loyalty is divided won't work. Jesus loves us more than anything we can ever imagine and has given Himself 100% to us, and says that whoever doesn't love Him back more than anything or anyone else then they're not worthy of Him. It is quite easy to know who or what we love more than Jesus and this is simply what we put before Him. It is the thing or person who we listen to and obey more than Him, that has o...