Kindness, Growth & Africa

It is a glorious thing when someone comes to faith in Jesus.  Luke 15:3-7 NASB95 tells us,

So He told them this parable, saying, [4] “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? [5] When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. [6] And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ [7] I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Even with all the joy that marks when we surrender our lives to Christ, the cool thing to consider is that this is only the beginning of a lifelong process of growing and becoming like Him.  Because God transforms us through an ongoing relationship with Him, it is vital that we clearly understand that He is worthy of our trust.

God is kind

1 Peter 2:1-3 NASB95 connects growing from the point of salvation with a revelation of God’s kind intention toward us who believe:

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, [2] like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, [3] if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

“If you have tasted…,” is a conditional statement.  In order to continue progressing, we have to know God loves us and be reminded regularly of this aspect of His Heart.  Sometimes, a combination of difficult circumstances, unfulfilled expectations, and spiritual attack, can cause our perception of God to depart from what is true.  We need to know what to do when God’s kindness is questionable in our minds.
One of the best ways to be reminded of God’s Heart or to start clarifying a distorted view of how He sees us is to look at the facts attributed to God in The Bible. Isaiah 53:7-8 NASB95 is particularly illuminating,

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. [8] By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

The fact that Jesus went through the agony of The Cross is part of the historic record.  Take note of some of the obvious takeaways from this action. Who shields people, to the point of any personal suffering, much less the extreme agony of a crucifixion, for people that don’t deserve the protection and redemption?  Who stays silent before…shearers, knowingly enduring mocking, lies and accusations from the very ones He is attempting to help?  Only the unfathomably kind hearted Jesus, who is described as the exact representation of The Father (see Hebrews 1:3).

Isaiah 53:10 NASB95 shows more of The Father’s heart,

But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

Anyone with any degree of experience as a father will tell you that one of the most excruciating experiences in life is to see your own spiritual or natural children suffer.  From my experience it is still terrible even when they deserve it, but you nearly lose your mind when it is certain that they are innocent in the experience.  How could Father God be pleased To crush Him?  HE LOVED YOU AND ME! God, The Father, endured a profound personal sacrifice to give all of mankind the opportunity to have their sins forgiven and live in harmony with Him. It speaks volumes to the kind intentions He has toward mankind.  Meditating on the magnitude of this action goes a long way toward establishing the proof of God’s love toward us in our hearts.

The African Reminder

Our recent time of ministry in South Africa was during a chaotic and violent taxi strike.  Airport roads were blocked, food trucks were looted and many people were attacked and killed during these protests.  In spite of this challenge and the lies from the enemy about God’s Character and Nature that always surface when times are tough, it was obvious that the kindness of God was written on the hearts of the people.  So many sons, daughters and dear friends in Christ have obviously progressed and are reflecting God in greater ways than when we moved back to the USA from Africa in 2019.

The ministry experience was much more extensive than anticipated.  I had thought that we would say a final goodbye to our time in Africa but this idea was quickly changed.  Not only did we minister the word through prayer and teaching with many more groups than initially planned, God also reaffirmed our connection to the work in sub Saharan Africa going forward.  We will continue to travel to Africa and work with the churches after we relocate to England in April of 2024.

The next several months will be busy over a wide spread of The Body of Christ.  We have several weeks of ministry travel in Texas at the end of September and beginning of October, a Morningstar Conference in South Carolina during mid October, and two weeks in England and Holland during November.  All of these times lead up to our permanent move next year and we would really appreciate your prayer for the things we know need to happen and also the many unexpected needs that will pop up.