Hands and Feet

Hands and Feet

by | Aug 8, 2024 | Kingdom Finance, Kingdom Principles, The Pattern

I remember years ago, as a volunteer in Hillbrow doing urban missions, I sat at a soup kitchen listening to testimonies from the local homeless population.

An older man got up and went to the front. The room fell silent as he started sharing. “I have never seen God give me bread or shelter…” He started. And I felt my heart jump. I thought to myself – this is not a testimony.

But the older man continued.

“But I have seen His children acting as his hands and feet to provide to our needs.”

Over the years this statement has stuck with me. This idea has shaped my ministry over the last 12 years. It is as Richard Rohr so beautifully puts it. Presence over preaching…

Peter shares the same kind of thought with us in his first epistle. In 1 Peter 2:9: he tells us that we are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation – a peculiar people – called out of darkness with the purpose of proclaiming his goodness to those who have not yet seen his love.

I like how the older translations put it – to shew forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness. Not just to talk about it – but to practically demonstrate the Kingdom – to be ambassadors rather than citizens.

The old homeless man had a point. God uses us to facilitate His miracles. God uses us to provide and see to the needs of those who need Him. God uses us to care for the poor and disenfranchised. He uses us to bring about change. Gd works in us, He gives through us – and if He is present in our hearts, we will see His Kingdom present itself around us.

As believers and children of the Most High God, followers of the teachings of Christ we realize that we have a mission. This mission is given to us in Matthew 28 – in verse 16 the 11 disciples (sans Judas) go to the mountain in Galilee where Jesus had instructed them to go.

Here Jesus tells them the following: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus gives us the great commission – this role is assigned to us as a body – the authority of Christ, and therefore also the responsibility that comes with it – is delegated to us.

We are to make disciples as Jesus had done.

I love the Gospel According to Mark. In the book of Mark Jesus is described as a man of action – He didn’t just preach – but came as a revolutionary. Shifting paradigms, shaking our way of thinking and showing us the way forward. We cannot simply tell the hungry man to find Christ. A roaring belly is not always open to the Gospel – we need to feed him. The naked man needs to be clothed lest he be distracted by the cold, unable to hear the good news being shared.

We need to actually do. Not just talk the talk, but actually walk as Jesus instructed us to. As Christ Himself demonstrated.

When His disciples wanted to send the crowds home to go and eat, saying: “We cannot feed them…”, Jesus rebuked them and multiplied what was there.

But God used a little boy and his lunchbox to do this.

Just like Moses was instructed to use the staff he had in his hand to demonstrate God’s power – just like David picked up 5 stones – God uses what we have at hand to change the world.

And as we give – as we pour out the oil – it is multiplied. As we fill the cups of others, our cup will be filled.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I would like to ask you to help us fulfill the mission by supporting our mission. Your contribution allows us to devote our time to preaching, teaching, counseling those who can’t afford it and deliverance ministry – both locally and internationally, online and in person.

It also allows us to devote our time to the creation of materials for use by individuals and groups for personal growth and discipleship – all available for free on this website. We are not asking for much – even the smallest drop in the bucket makes a huge difference. We only ask that your prayerfully go to the Lord and ask Him to guide you in your giving.

Please see this page for more information on how you can support the mission:

https://kingdomrevolution.co.za/blogs/give/

I Thank God

I Thank God

by | Jul 17, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Wandering into the night
Wanting a place to hide
This weary soul, this bag of bones
And I tried with all my mind
And I just can’t win the fight
I’m slowly drifting, oh vagabond
And just when I ran out of road
I met a man I didn’t know
And he told me
That I was not alone”

I Thank God, Maverick City Worship

““I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.”

Luke 12:8, NIV

Jesus came to show us The Way. He came to show us the model life, to give us an example according to which we can pattern our lives.

In Luke 12, in a passage where Jesus shares warnings and encouragements with those who would hear, He makes it clear that it is required of us to share the good news of His Gospel with others.

Jesus placed great emphasis on sharing the Gospel. Even in Luke 12 He admonished us not to fear those who can kill the body and after that do no more, but to rather fear God – for He has the authority over life, death and everything in between and beyond.

Jesus tells us to acknowledge Him publicly.

The Greek word here is ‘homologeó’ which most properly means to ‘speak the same, to agree.’

Jesus tells us to be like Him.

The confession here then is not one made merely by the lips – our public acknowledgement is not done through mere and mortal words – but is a practical manifestation of the belief in our hearts.

We share the good news of His Gospel primarily through presence.

I overcame drug addiction – not through preaching, teaching or even prayer – but through the presence of dear friends who had gone through the same.

We often overlook the power of being present in the life of another. We always want to talk, but very few of us want to walk with the downcast and downtrodden.

We all want to share our insights, but very few of us know how to just sit with the sad and defeated.

Many people sit in our churches week after week – they listen to the sermons, they participate in the worship, they read the word, the attend the prayer meetings – they do their disciplines at home – yet they see no change in their lives. This does not make them ungodly or lacking in spiritual wisdom – but it does show us where we are lacking in discernment when we look past them and neglect to reach out. How many invisible brothers and sisters are in our church?

By the same token I have seen, many times, the real world difference it makes when we as people connect – when we go and sit next to that person and community starts to form.

When, instead of competing for status or esteem we start complimenting and completing one another.

Man was not meant to be alone. Christianity wasn’t meant to be a club, it was supposed to be a community.

One of the main reasons Jesus healed so many people in His ministry here on Earth was to restore community. Disease, illness and infirmity were seen as a sign of present or inherited sin and affected your standing in the community. If you were sick, cripple or disabled you were an outcast – ostracised and pushed aside.

Jesus’ main objective in healing these people wasn’t simply to restore them to health, but to restore them to community.

So that they would no longer walk alone.

But it is not enough for us to only reach out to the loner sitting in the back of the church.

The main point of Jesus’ ministry was that the sinner is just as much our brother as the pharisee. The fact that they are far away does not diminish the love the Father has for His errant and lost children. God is married to the backslider. He loves all His children – but a lot of the time we don’t.

Are we the love of Christ to the loner, the loser, the lost and the blind? Do we care for the unseen, the unheard and even the unknown as Christ cared for them?

Or do we push them aside because of their sin sickness? Ostracize and cast out those who are unchurched and unwashed?

The song ‘I Thank God’ by Maverick City starts with a testimony – the story of a lost and lonely vagabond who encounters a man of flesh and bone, one who says: “You’re not alone!”

Maybe if we start thinking more like Jesus, living the testimony of His love by showing His love to the world we will see more testimonies being written in our midst. We will see our churches growing instead of shrinking. We will see people healed of their sin and shame as they realize that they don’t have to live that way anymore.

But how will they know if we don’t live out the truth of God’s Word among them?

What will we show them today?

How will we acknowledge Christ – not just through preaching – but through our presence in the world today?

Prayer: Lord, help me be a beacon of light in a dark and dying world. Help me show and not just tell them of Your love, mercy and grace. Help me Lord to see past the sin and shame of others and to love them like You loved me. Give me a heart that longs to journey with the backslider, patience that surpasses understanding – a heart and mind like Yours, oh Lord. Help me be present in the lives of others, and may my presence be Your presence in the midst of an unbelieving generation – so that we may see a great awakening in our community, our country and even the world. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Beauty of the Cross

Beauty of the Cross

by | Jun 19, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Oh wondrous love that called me out by name 
The one who made it all died to make a way
And every earthly gain I will count as loss 
I am redeemed, that’s the beauty of the cross” 

Beauty of the Cross, The Prestonwood Choir 

“ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 

1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV 

Jesus came to die so that we might live. 

It is easy for us to get sidetracked by the complexities of Scripture, End-Time thinking, promises of prosperity and the more mystical aspects of our Christian walk. While all of these things are important to consider it means absolutely nothing without a basic, foundational understanding of the Cross of Jesus Christ. 

We were lost to sin. We were counted as casualties of our own transgressions. We were distant and far away from God our Creator. 

Some of us still are. As much as we pray, prophesy or cast out demons – as much as we prosper in the Name of Jesus – many of us are still not truly rooted in Jesus. 

Jesus said the following: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness!’ 

The fruit of our Christian walk is not measured by the practice of power – even heathens and unbelievers can cast out demons – but the one thing they cannot do is give you Jesus to fill the gap left behind. 

Even unbelievers can ‘prophesy’ – but the Spirit of true prophecy is the Testimony of Jesus. 

Even unbelievers can prosper – the Bible teaches us this – but only a proper understanding of Christ and His Cross can give you true prosperity: the shalom of God, contentment in every circumstance and situation. 

We have in many ways been measuring our fruit according to the wisdom of this world – but the wisdom of this world is foolishness. 

The Cross offers us a paradigm shift – a change of perspective. We now count the world and its wealth, earthly gain and esteem as loss. 

The Cross of Christ offers us the opportunity to crucify the flesh, die to self and the world, sin and unrighteousness – and gives us new life as we stand up in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.  

You are called out by name! Called out of the grave of your transgressions – by name! Called out of the grave of spiritual loneliness and poverty – by name! 

When you were in darkness God saw you. God loved you! 

The fruit of our Christian walk is not measured in power, but in presence – the presence of God in your life. The presence of His peace, His love, His mercy, His grace, His capacity for forgiveness – the presence of the fruit of His Spirit in our lives – that is how we measure our spiritual growth.  

We do not measure the fruit of our Christian walk by our capacity to own – but in our capacity to give away without expecting returns and without agenda – our finances, our resources, our time, our love – sacrifice is the operative word! 

The grave is a solitary place – we put our dead in a coffin in the ground – there is no community. Jesus calls us out of the solitary and lonely graves of our selfishness into life – into community and fellowship – we measure the fruit of our Christian walk by looking at our selflessness. We do not measure our Christian walk by what or who we are but rather by what and who we are not – by what and who Christ is in and through us. The goal of the Christian life is to become less so that He might become more – so that we might be conformed in every way to Jesus.  

We strive for righteousness and holiness. We avoid sin like the plague. We keep our garments clean. We tend to the garden of our Christian walk through prayer, meditation and study, fellowship and community. We reach out to others with the same Hand that Jesus extended – love and mercy, goodness and grace.

The Christian walk is not about the practice of power – but the power of Christ in us is the practice of His Presence in a world that does not know Him.

Let us die to self so that others might find life in Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, let me become less so that You might become more. Help me die to self so that You might reign and rule in me. Show me the areas of my life that need to be surrendered for You to increase. Help me pursue presence more than power – Your presence in and through me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

House of the Lord

House of the Lord

by | May 27, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“We were the beggars
Now we’re royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we’re running free
We are forgiven, accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise”

House of the Lord, Phil Wickham

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…”

Ephesians 2:19, NIV

Many of us were, at some stage of our life, foreigners and strangers – outcasts, the odd one out – the black sheep or the one who just didn’t fit.

We all know what it feels like, to varying degrees, to feel out of place.

But the love of Christ calls the lost and wandering from all the corners of the earth to the foot of the cross. “Sinner, oh, sinner, come home!”

The Apostle John writes, in the first Epistle that bears his name: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1)

We who were orphans – alone and scattered – now have a home. We now have a family. We are children of God!

There is joy in the House of the Lord – the joy of homecoming.

You might not be celebrated by the world, sometimes you might not even be celebrated by the ones you love – but God rejoices over us with singing! The whole host of heaven comes alive when even just one lost sheep wanders back into the fold!

There is joy in the House of the Lord – the joy of belonging.

Not only do we belong to Him, but we also belong to one another – as Christians we are baptised into the family of God. As His children we belong together – knit together by the love of Christ. As His children we belong to each other – to serve one another in love and compassion.

When we are baptised into the family of God we no longer walk alone. God walks with us, but so do our brothers and our sisters in the Lord. We are there to comfort and console one another, to journey together, to share our burdens – but also to rejoice as one voice, hearts in one accord, to sing the praises of the Lord!

There is joy in the House of the Lord – the joy of identity.

No longer strangers or foreigners, we are now citizens of the Kingdom and children of God. We are the Bride, the Body – the redeemed – we belong to Him!

We have gone from the rags of spiritual poverty to the riches of His grace and mercy, from being beggars to being royalty!

His Name is now written on our hearts – we are His Body, we are His Bride.

Let the House of the Lord rejoice – the whole household of God – the redeemed of the Lord: Let us sing and shout His praise! Let us proclaim the goodness of the One who has called us out of darkness and translated us into the light of His Kingdom – He who has called us as a peculiar people.

You might not fit in anywhere else – but you fit in here! You might feel out of place in the world, but here we belong.

Let the House of the Lord rejoice! And in rejoicing, may we make known the great deeds and the great love of our God! In rejoicing, may we beckon the outcast, the weary and the burdened: ‘Come taste and see that the Lord is good! Come and find yourself in the House of the Lord!”

If you have not yet found the joy of your salvation – if you still have questions, doubts and fears – reach out! It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done – your Father is calling you home!

Reach out by sending an email to andre@adlabuschagne.co.za.

We want to journey with you.

Come and join us in the House of the Lord! Come home!

Prayer: There is joy in the house of the Lord! I thank you for Your love, the same love that called me out of darkness and into Your light! I pray today, Lord that I will remember and be mindful of the joy of my salvation today – and that I will share this joy with those around me in the hopes that many more will come home. Let me be a beacon of Your love and grace. Let me be a safe space. Let me be Your hands and feet on the earth, ready to seek out the lost and embrace the sinner – leading them back to Your heart. In Jesus Name! Amen!