Holy and Anointed One

Holy and Anointed One

by | Mar 4, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Your Name is like honey on my lips…
Your Spirit’s like water to my soul…
Your Word is a lamp unto my feet…
Jesus, I love You, I love you…”

Holy and Anointed One, Vineyard Worship

 

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

 

Psalm 119:103, NIV

There is no sweeter name than the Name of Jesus. whenever I speak the Name of Jesus it just fills me with such joy – like rivers of living water gushing forth.

The Psalmist writes the following in Psalm 119:103-105:

‭‭Psalms 119:103-105 NIV‬‬

[103] How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! [104] I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. [105] Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

John describes Jesus as the Word made flesh, the plan of God made manifest in our midst.

In that first chapter of John we also see Jesus as the light of the World, come to show us the way to life everlasting.

Jesus comes to bring life to dry places. Water to our souls.

Like rain from Heaven Jesus comes to refresh and revive us – the love of God poured out.

How can we not love Him?

In Song of Solomon the Bride compares the Groom’s name to that of an ointment poured out.

Honey is very medicinal. I remember hearing about a woman who used honey to soothe the sores and wounds of her dying son – and it was the only thing that worked and brought any relief.

Not only is it used to treat coughs, but because of its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities it is also used topically for burns and other wounds. Studies have shown that it also has anti-anxiety and anti-depressant benefits as well as reducing the risk of heart disease.

The Name of Jesus is not only sweet – a joy to our Spiritual pallete upon our lips – it is also filled with more obscure significance. Honey, Biblically, typifies the abundance and prosperity of God. The name of Jesus is prosperity to our bones (3 John 1:2). He is healing. His name is healing to our wounds, a salve for our heart-hurts and a balm for our soul-sores.

Honey is a preservative. ‭‭

Psalms 121:7-8 NKJV‬‬

[7] The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. [8] The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

The name of Jesus preserves us.

First He heals us of our fallen state, our sinful nature, our hurts and wounds and sores.

And then He preserves us – preventing decay and decomposition – He sustains us.

The Name of Jesus is like honey upon my lips – a good ointment poured forth.

The Spirit of the Lord is Water to our souls.

Psalm 46:4: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.”

Through the indwelling of His Spirit Jesus is alive in us. He is the river that makes glad the walls of our city – He fills us with His joy and His peace.

Finally, Jesus is a lamp for our feet.

Through the Word Made Flesh – Jesus – God demonstrates how we should live. That’s what Jesus came to do. He came to demonstrate – to show and not just tell – to give us a clear pattern to follow.

Through Him we gain a deeper understanding of the Word – the Will and the Plan of the Father for our lives.

Let us call on the name of Jesus today and be restored. Let us open up our hearts and allow Him to flood the walls of our cities. Let us look to Him today and walk as He would have us walk.

Prayer: Lord, come be the River that makes glad the walls of my city. Come and run deep here in my heart. Come and flood me with Your joy and peace. As I call on You today, Jesus, let me be mindful of the sweetness of Your name. Your name restores and revives – makes me come alive again. Come and heal my hurt. Come and soothe my wounds. Come and bind up my broken heart. Come and make me whole. And as I look to You today and am made whole, let me walk in holiness. Let my life be a living letter written by Your hand. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Hi! We’re Andre and Kailie Labuschagne.

Andre has been in ministry for just over 20 years and Kailie is a specialist wellness counselor.

We are passionate about Jesus. He saved us from ourselves – and because of that we want nothing more than to give our lives to Him – after all He gave EVERYTHING for us.

We are passionate about seeing Jesus and His Kingdom come in the lives of everyone we meet – and believe that this can only be done through living out the Kingdom daily and consistently without compromise.

We want to see people healed. We want to see people delivered. We want to see Jesus lifted high.

We want to see revival spread like wild fire.

Jesus said: Repent! For the Kingdom is near!

We proclaim the same message! The Kingdom is here!

We would love to journey with you.

For prayer you’re welcome to contact us:
Men’s contact: Andre Labuschagne 065 370 3806
Ladies’ contact: Kailie Labuschagne: 079 037 4024
For professional counselling: 066 290 6339 / info@raphacontact.co.za
For help with addiction issues: 065 370 3806

 

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

by | Mar 1, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

John 15:13-15: “Greater love (agapáō) has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (philos). You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

The word ‘philos’ translated here as ‘friend’ indicates a ‘personal’ and ‘experienced’ kind of affection – whereas ‘agapáō’ translates into a kind of ‘decision-based’ love driven by values and choices.

The book of Romans, in chapter 5, makes it clear that Christ died for us while we were still His enemies.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It is through the reckless, unconditional and amazing love of Jesus that this transformation takes place – through the ‘agapáō’ decision of God we are reconciled with Him and restored to right relationship – in His sacrifice He pours out His ‘Philos’ – His personal affection – and pulls us close and into relationship with Him

It’s through this great love that we are transformed – pulled from enmity into friendship with God, from separation into relationship – pulled into the embrace of God by the Right Arm which is Jesus Christ.

James 2:21-24: 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

It starts with the belief of our heart and the confession of our mouth that Jesus is Lord – that He died for our sins and in the process devoured death through His resurrection.

We are resurrected through The Resurrection.

But it does not stop there. The Resurrection is only the beginning. It is only the first breath. We are called to life so that we may live.

Jesus, through this ministry of reconciliation, calls us to friendship.

Through our faith in Him we are called ‘friends’ – but this relationship is sustained by action.

We cultivate our friendship with Christ – if we treasure it we will nurture it. We maintain our friendship with Jesus through prayer, through meditation – thinking on His Word and life – and through our worship.

And as our friendship with Jesus grows, as our love for God grows – so should our love for neighbour. We start living like Jesus lives.

As we grow in our “Philos”-relationship with Christ we will grow in our “Agapáō”-love for others.

I want to urge you today to cultivate your friendship with Jesus.

Friends on Earth might let you down – but Jesus never does!

He is the best friend you could ever ask for – and He will always be there for you! No matter what!

As your friendship with Jesus grows you will see His love and grace flood your life.

When I was a kid my parents and teachers warned me not to fall in with the ‘wrong’ friends. The wrong friends have the potential to lead you towards wrong places and wrong choices.

Jesus leads you towards the RIGHT things, the right places, the right choices.

Our friends have the potential to mould and shape who we are, to influence who we become. Friendship is a powerful thing.

Friendship with Jesus transforms us. Friendship with Jesus restores us.

Choose friendship with Christ today.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your love and grace today. The same love that calls us out of enmity and into right relationship with You. Thank You Jesus that You have called me as Your friend. Show me Lord how to draw near to You, how to be a good friend. Pull me deeper into prayer, study, worship and acts of service. Teach me what friendship looks like. And as I build my friendship with You Lord, let my relationships with those around me be restored as well. In the Mighty, Lovely Name of Jesus. Amen.

They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

by | Mar 1, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

At the last supper, just before His crucifixion, and after predicting His betrayal, Jesus shares the following in John 13: 

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In this verse we see Jesus talking about ‘agapé’ – which is a value-driven and decision-based love. It is not rooted in experience or in feeling.

My dad used to say, ‘I don’t have to like you to love you.’

There are a myriad of situations where I might not like the other person, or feel like loving them – but I CHOOSE to love them because that is what Christ would have me do.

And yes, it is hard – at first.

Just like any discipline. It took a lot of practice to learn how to play the guitar. It took a lot of work to get good at your craft. It takes work, commitment and practice to progress in our love of others from mere feeling to decision.

“They will know you are my disciples if you love one another.”

Love in this context is a choice.

And it only works if we cast aside the fetters of pride and arrogance that would have us think that we are in any way, shape or form better than those we aim to love.

Heidi Baker, in her testimony, tells how the Lord sent her to sit with the poor – she was doing massive tent meetings at the time, and God stopped her, saying, “You don’t know anything about my Kingdom. You need to sit with the poor.” And that became her journey.

I personally learned a lot from going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Teachers like Rob Bell and Richard Rohr went through the same journey – when an older man came up to a young pastor Bell and said, “You can learn everything you need to know about running a church from going to an AA meeting…”

I learned how to really love in AA meetings.

Before that it was easy for me to judge, or to think myself superior – but that is not the Kingdom. 

The Kingdom is not about being raised up – it’s about choosing to go down. 

It is about choosing humility and being stripped of self so that Christ can be exalted in and through us. It is about going down to the level of and sitting with the poor, the lost, the addict – Jesus demonstrated that. God Himself stepped down from His heavenly throne to come and walk barefoot in the dirt among us… And not just ‘among’ us – but with us!

Christianity is about CHOOSING to love.

We are called to a higher standard as Christians. We are called to be different. 

Even when we don’t like the other person. Even if we disagree. Whether they belong to our church or even if they don’t go to church at all. We do not pick and choose who to love, but instead we choose to love everyone regardless.

We are called to love – not like we love ourselves – but as Christ has loved us.

I got saved because someone chose to share the love of Christ with me even when I did not deserve it.

You got saved because someone chose to share the love of Christ with you. 

John 15:13: “No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.”

But Jesus proves His love in dying for us while we were still His enemies.

That’s the kind of love Christ would have us show the world.

The kind of love that lays down its life even for its enemies.

Christianity is about CHOOSING to love.

We are called to a higher standard as Christians. We are called to be different. 

We are called to love – not like we love ourselves – but as Christ has loved us.

Prayer: Lord, in this day, show me and teach me how to love. Help me to not be blinded by ego and self-interest, but rather let me love regardless. Let me love like You love. Lord, in this day, show me how I can make a difference in the lives of those around me. Help me to walk as You walked. Not among people, but with people. And let my brothers and sisters who have strayed come back home in Jesus name. Amen