Fly like the eagle

In life we all struggle. But we must learn not to focus on the trouble but rather keep our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we will be able to see our circumstances with His eyes and walk our way with confidence.
Be blessed as you listen to my song.

Written by Helmut Reutter
Performed by Reality

Relationships

 

Learning from Him who maintains a perfect relationship

If you have trouble in your relationships, why don’t you turn to the one who can teach you about relationship. Mind you, Jesus has a perfect and loving relationship with His Father.
“May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me”.
This is prayer of Jesus for His disciples (John 17:23)

 

You are the key

Understand how God's good gifts come into our wold

P1000420-1

Every good and perfect gift originates from God

People who know God as their loving Father are in a very privileged position. They are the conduit between heaven and earth. The Bible tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God does not keep the good gifts to himself, he makes them available to the people He loves. Imagine, all the good and perfect things in God are meant to come down to us.

Light will always diminish darkness

Lots of darkness and evil is found in this world. This staff does not have the ability to rise up. Just like light penetrates darkness, so do the good gifts of God come into our world. This is a one way street. Evil can never rise up. Why is it then, that we are so afraid of evil. People who know God must not be afraid, because they ought to know, that every good and perfect gift is from above and is released to come down into our world. Why then do we have so many doom Sayers among the people, who should know the Word of God and who are called to be the light of the world?
We know, that in the natural, the light of a candle can be quenched. Even a light bulb can be dimmed by flies or dirt. It seems, that this is true in the spiritual realm as well. Many who are called to be light and deliver the every good and perfect gift of God to this world seem to drink from the wrong well. They get infected by the negative staff that is found in this world. There is an urgent need for a turn-around so that we can fulfill God’s mission in our lives.

You ARE the light of the world!

Jesus told us: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). The implication of this statement is very clear. Followers of Jesus will shine and bring forth of the life that comes from above. Doom Sayers cannot be followers of Christ, otherwise their message must change drastically.
Jesus pushed this point even further by His declaration: “You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden” (Matthews 5:14). What a powerful revelation! We are built by our God on a mountain of grace, so that we can receive the good and perfect gifts of God. But they are not for selfish consumption. They must be released from above into the valleys of darkness and evil.

If you have light, if must shine

People of God, let us be that force that brings light, peace and good tidings to our nation this year. Refuse to be an instrument of the evil one. Do not repeat the negative staff some people pronounce. Remember who you are! You are the light of the world, build like a city on a hill, so that you can be seen and so that your light will illuminate the darkness around you. If all of us who call upon Christ will take that to heart, than we do not need to fear anything. Be a peacemaker, be a light in the darkness, speak about every good and perfect gift that God has for our families, for our churches, for our nations and for our world. My friends, let us be conduits for the light of God and all the good and perfect gifts that God longs to bless us with.
Make a decision to enlighten the darkness around you and to release the good and perfect gifts of God to our world!

Christmas

Jesus comes into our world

HEportrait2

Merry Christmas
and a
Blessed Year 2016

The Year 2015 will be remembered as the year of Refugees. The media made us experience the plight of the masses of people as they had to leave their homes to look for refuge in a new world.

Joseph and Mary were dislodged from their home in Nazareth through the decree of the Emperor, that all people would have to return to place of their ancestors. As they arrived they did not find where to lodge and ended up lodging in a stable. It was there that Jesus was born. The manger had to serve as his first resting place.

Soon after the birth of Jesus they had leave in order to escape from persecution and the danger of death and seek refuge in Egypt.
It seems to be a current story that repeats itself time and again.

The King of Kings can understand the plight of refugees, he was one himself. Jesus did not arrive in this world in a palace secured from all danger. He came to all of us, even the refugees. He identified himself with all of us in our plight.

Let us reflect on these happenings this Christmas season. Like Jesus came for all and did not forget those in need, let not forget the refugees. If you are a refuge yourself you must know that Jesus identified himself with you. He came to carry our burden, He came to be our savior. He came to bring us peace. He came to bring us good news. That we call the gospel!

Jesus still comes into our circumstances. He identifies with us. He comes to help and direct our affairs, if we allow him to do so. This is what Christmas is all about. Jesus comes into our world, he comes into your world too.

Let us give Him room in our lives. May the Lord be your guide this season and in the year to come.

Helmut and Esther Reutter

 

Our weapon of attack

How we can succeed against the evil one

Luangwa Croc

Fight the real enemy
Ephesians 6:12 emphasizes that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against rulers of the darkness and against spiritual hosts of wickedness. I guess that most of us are still fighting the wrong enemies. When someone applies force against us, we are tempted to pay back in the same currency. But when we apply counter-force the conflict increases. Examples of such actions are daily in our newspapers. The world is full of conflict and misunderstanding between people, families, communities and nations. Aggression that is countered with similar force leads to increased trouble, violence and war. Does that mean, that we should not fight back? Do we always need to allow that people take advantage of us, because they know that we follow the example of Christ and that we offer the other cheek? (Matthew 5:39) Jesus tells us, that we should not resist an evil person. But there is something we must do. We should learn from Jesus, how we can fight our enemies.

Wearing divine armor
Paul commands to put the whole armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-20) As Paul lists all the parts of the armor, it becomes clear, that all parts of the armor are of an defensive nature, except one. The one weapon of warfare for attack is the sword of faith. When we analyze the various parts of the armor, we will easily see, that they are for our protection. God has supplied us with that armor of protection which is the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, boots fitted with gospel of peace, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. God has freely given us all those assets that protect us on our journey in this world. All of those pieces of the armor must be worn in order for them to do their intended work. But the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, must not just be carried, but used in order to pierce to gates of darkness. It is the Word of God that defeats our foes and gives us reprieve from the attacks of the evil one.

Our only weapon of attack
Jesus demonstrated to all of us, how we must use the sword of faith. When He was under attack from the devil, who clearly wanted to lead him astray, Jesus fought back with the Word of God (Matthew 4:2–11). His answers to the temptations of the evil one were always the same. He simply stated: “It is written!” He derived His power from the written Word of God. The words of the Bible in the mouth of Jesus became such a lethal weapon, that the devil had no choice but to withdraw for a while. Satan could not stand the sword of faith when Jesus yielded that sword calmly but precisely. Every stroke with the sword of faith was totally on target. Satan could not find any argument with which to counter His words. After three attempts, Satan had no choice but to walk away.

It is unfortunate, that many of today’s Christians seem to enjoy fighting the evil one with the same weapons that he is using, rather than the sword of the Spirit. Statements of us binding the devil and stepping on him with force show this unfortunate trend. Let us learn from Jesus, who overcame Satan simply using the Word of God. And even when Satan managed to have Him nailed to the cross, He overcame him in humility breaking hatred with love when He prayed, Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).

Let us read, know and use the Word of God in humility just like Jesus did. This will still break the force of evil, even today.

Moving in Power

Greater power2

Be strong…
Most of us have heard other people’s advice: “Be strong”! We usually get such advice when we are in difficult or even impossible situation in our lives. I heard people say that to me, when I was battling cancer. But how do you do that? How can you be strong in such situations? Fact is, that I can’t just add a notch to increase my strength despite all my own efforts. There is a limit of physical and mental strength that we all have. Despite all our efforts in training ourselves, an invisible barrier remains for all of us.
Have you ever watched top performing athletes or teams in sports who have the name of champions, but then can’t overcome a certain barrier and lose out to others? It’s not that they did not have the will to win, but they came across an invisible barrier, that they could not overcome.

..in the Lord
This why Paul, the Apostle advised us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”. (Ephesians 6:10) There is no limit to His power, as He is the supreme creator of the whole universe. All things were created by Him and for Him! (Colossians 1:16) His wisdom and His power are without limits. If we therefore find our refuge in Him, there is no limit to power and strength that is available to everyone of us who calls on Him. We can grow from strength to strength in the Lord and in the power of His might as we apply His Word of power upon our life and on every situation that we face. Remember, this is the same Word that created all things visible and invisible. In His Word the immense power of God is made manifest. And while heaven and earth will pass away, His Word will never pass away (Luke 21:33).

Christ lives in me!
Paul expressed his resolve, that he has let go of his old nature when he says: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20). Paul came to a point in his live, where he realized his own crippling limitations and resolved to transition from his own interest and power towards the interest and power of Christ. He discovered the limitless power in Christ and in His Word, that would be sufficient in all situations of his life. Once, when Paul faced the buffeting onslaught of Satan upon his live, he prayed to God to remove those attacks. But God answered in his prayer different from his expectations when He told him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). We must understand that the grace of God is the substance of God himself that He graciously pours out into our lives. When we depend on His grace we live by His power, not our own. Therefore we can be weak as humans and yet be strong, because His grace is the substance of God in our lives. (2 Corinthians 12:10).
His grace is sufficient for you as well !

Discover How God Works

Understanding the mysteries in your life

which-way

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Our lives are full of challenges, questions and mysteries. Many times we see certain effects but we cannot see the cause that has brought forth those effects. As we may remain unaware of the deeper realities, we treat the effects rather than the cause. As people feel empty and hollow, they try to fill their lives with meaning with material things like money and possessions. We may go a step further and enter into relationships, hoping that those relationships will deal with the vacuum of our lives. What we do not understand is the fact, that all those seemingly good things do not really deal with the actual need of our lives. We are made by God and for God. He is the purpose of our living. Only He can fill our vacuum and give us meaning and make our lives worth the living. As long as He is absent, we will never find true fulfillment in our lives. No matter what possessions you may have, these will not satisfy your soul. We all need to have a heart to heart relationship with God. He will bring definition into our lives. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Do not lean to your own understanding
While we live in a world full of knowledge and can ‘google’ anything we may want to know in seconds, we do not really find understanding to the most central questions of our lives in ‘knowledge’. Our understanding of issues is woefully inadequate. The ‘WHY’ questions of our lives too often remain unanswered. When a product malfunctions, we may do all our investigations and still not find the answer. Going back to the manufacturer by consulting the operations manual or speaking to the manufacturers directly will give you the answers you may not find elsewhere. This is true with you and me as well. If we fail to understand the purpose of our lives, the answer can only be found from your maker. He can explain to us the purpose of our lives and why we are the way we are. Only God knows your purpose and He can save you from misapplying your life to wrong causes.

In all your ways acknowledge Him
It may be easy to be happy and cheerful in good times. When everything runs according to our hopes and dreams, we may even give God thanks for the good things that we experience. But when we go through tough times, when we are frustrated and see failure after failure in our lives we begin to doubt ourselves and even our God. We have difficulties to accept, that even tough situations may have value for us and hence we consult all kind of ‘counselors or healers’ that promise us a quick fix solution. We do not realize that such experiences have great value for our lives if we go through them with the knowledge that our creator is ultimately in charge of our life. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28 that ALL things will work out for good for those who love the Lord. Provided that we have put our life into the hands of God and walk with the understanding, that no matter what we will go through, He will always work out things for our good.

He will make your paths straight
God has a good plan for your life. It is His desire to prosper you and not to harm you. He wants to give you hope and a great future (Jeremiah 29.11). Notice that God wants to give you hope in every situation, which should make you conclude, that you are not yet at your destiny. What we seem to forget too often is the fact, that we are woefully falling short of the original design and purpose of God. We have scars of sin and we are wounded by our failure to live our life right with God. When I have a wound that is filled with dirt, a band aid is not be sufficient. The wound needs to be cleaned and every contamination needs to be removed in order for healing to take place. But this process is very painful. Yet there is no way that this process of cleansing can be avoided for healing to take place. We do not understand the processes required for our lives to become whole and complete. But if we acknowledge Him in our lives and if we trust Him and accept that He loves us and cares for us, than we will be able to go through pain knowing that He will work out all things well.

Jesus went through suffering and even through death without seeking for a shortcut or a quick fix. He understood His purpose. He gave His live so that we too can live with Him a life of purpose and destiny. Do you understand your purpose? Are you willing to endure pain and hardship without fully understanding what purpose it may serve? Trust Him even in your darkest hours, that He will make your paths straight, that He will remove the objects in your life that will hinder your healing. Do not look for a quick fix, but let the Almighty God do his precision work in you so that you can fulfill your destiny. Trust Him, He will make your paths straight!