Sing We The Song of Emmanuel

Sing We The Song of Emmanuel

by | May 27, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Go spread the news of Emmanuel
Joy and peace for the weary heart
Lift up your heads, for your King has come
Sing for the Light overwhelms the dark
Glory shining for all to see
Hope alive, let the gospel ring
God has made a way, He will have the praise
Tell the world His name is Jesus”

Sing We The Song of Emmanuel, Stuart Townend

Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.”

Mark 16:15, NCV

I remember, as a teenager, long before the internet served to satisfy our music listening needs – before YouTube, Shazam and Spotify even existed – you would dedicate some very real time and resources to finding and owning copies of the music you liked. Sometimes it would take some very real effort tracking down a particular album, or even just the single.

Sometimes you wouldn’t even have the name of the song or the artist you were looking for, except for a vague description of whatever you could remember of its content or composition.

And so it is with the Gospel.

Deep down the world knows that there is something missing – deep down the world knows that it is looking to fill a gigantic God shaped-hole – but they don’t know The Name.

They only have the vaguest descriptions of what they are looking for – hope, healing, restoration, redemption, salvation, freedom… But they don’t know The Name.

Sometimes you would get lucky and would hear someone playing the song that eluded you, perhaps it would be playing on your local radio station and the DJ would mention the name and artist. Other times you could ask a friend or a friendly shop assistant and find what you were looking for.

Jesus made it very clear that, along with the power of His Kingdom, there was also a great responsibility on the part of every believer to go into the world and preach the Gospel.

The love of Christ compels us to go seeking after the sinner – to proclaim the good news of the Gospel, proclaiming freedom to the slave and liberty to the captive.

Once you have found the Song superior to all songs you cannot help but share it with the world.

The love of Christ compels us to sing the Song of Emmanuel – loud and from every rooftop.

Once you have heard that secret, sacred Song, emanating from God’s heart to yours, you can’t help but be transformed as it fills every nook and cranny of your soul, bouncing off every wall, and echoing in the deepest depths of your being – “Jesus loves me!”

Just like any good song gets stuck in your head, begging to be sung or hummed, how much more the Song of our Savior – it compels us to sing! As it floods our hearts and lives with the goodness of God it cannot help but overflow out into the world around us.

Jesus commissioned us to go and preach the Gospel to every creature – to share the Good News with the world… to go forth and sing the Song of Emmanuel, to let the Gospel ring, His glory shining for all to see!

The world knows it is missing something – it tries so hard to fill that hole with sex, drugs and rock’n’roll… With philosophy, politics and any number of other things…

They know they are looking for something… but they don’t know The Name.

Sing we the song of Emmanuel?

Prayer: Lord, let my every step and my every breath sing the Song of Your love and mercy. Let my heart be in tune with the Song of Heaven – the story of Your mercy and grace here in our midst. Let me be Your witness, let the Gospel ring and resonate in and through my life – and may the broken and the lost find what they are looking for through the word of my testimony and Your Spirit living and active in me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Spirit of God: Paraklétos

Spirit of God: Paraklétos

by | May 10, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“We thirst for Your presence
Send down Your rain
Here in this moment, a holy embrace”

Spirit of God, Phil Wickham

“15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

John 14:15-18, NKJV

What a powerful thought: “I will not leave you orphans; I (ME, MYSELF – Jesus) will come to you.”

The Holy Spirit is Jesus alive in us.

Jesus says, comforting the disciples, that the Father will send another Helper. The word Helper here is translated from the Greek ‘paraklétos’ which can also be translated as ‘advocate’ or ‘attorney’.

An advocate presents evidence.

There have been many ‘helpers’ from the Old Testament to the New – evidence of God’s presence in the world. In the Old Testament God would appear to Abraham (Gen 18:1-15), Jacob (Gen 32:24-30), and Manoah and his wife (Judges 13) and Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15). He would appear to Moses and speak from within a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-10). The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, would see Him as the Fourth Man in the Fire (Daniel 3:16-28) – and all of Israel would see Him as a Pillar of Cloud and Fire  (Exodus 13).

Besides these ‘theophanies’ there were of course also dreams, visions, prophecies, miracles, signs and wonders – other visible manifestations of God’s glory and presence.

In the New Testament God Himself steps down from His throne in Heaven to walk in our midst – the ‘paraklétos’ in flesh and bone. Evidence of God With Us. 

In talking about the Holy Spirit Jesus talks about yet another ‘paraklétos’ – and insists “I will come to you.”

A common misconception, especially in our South African context, is that the Holy Spirit is somehow a different being altogether – completely distinct from Jesus. Biblically we should understand that there is only One seated upon the Throne – and He is the same One enthroned within our hearts, seated there through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. 

Jesus was the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of God WITH us.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of the same God IN us.

The Holy Spirit is Jesus alive in us.

The proof of His presence. The Holy Spirit is our comforter in times of sorrow, His presence is a balm to the broken heart. 

He is our guide, helping us navigate the storms of life by reminding us of His Word and making it come alive in us. 

If Jesus was, while walking the Earth, the embrace of God made flesh – then the Holy Spirit is the very breath of God breathed into our lungs, the resurrection power of God in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the resurrection power of God – working not only in us but also through us. In understanding the Holy Spirit correctly, as the Spirit of Jesus – the Spirit of the Living God – in understanding the Oneness of the Godhood and our communion with Him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our understanding of our Kingdom purpose is not only enlarged but also becomes more practical.

If the Holy Spirit is Jesus alive in us – the presence of God living and active in our hearts – then the next step is Jesus alive THROUGH us as we become His hands and feet, the tangible evidence of His presence in the world around us.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of God IN us but also becomes the ‘paraklétos’ – providing evidence of the same God THROUGH us as His hands and feet, all the more visible as we become more and more conformed to the image of Christ:

“18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Through His presence IN us we become His presence IN the world.

Prayer: Lord, as I contemplate Your glory, transform me ever more into what You would have me be. Let me do, all the more, what You would have me do. Through Your Holy Spirit, Lord, empower me to be Your presence in a broken world, Your light in the darkness – so that others might see You in me and through me. Come breathe in me and through me, O Lord. Let Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, here in our hearts and lives. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Manger Throne

Manger Throne

by | May 9, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Glory be to You alone
King who reigns from a manger throne
My life, my praise, everything I own
To Jesus the King on a manger throne”

Manger Throne, Phil Wickham

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Matthew 11:29, KJV

In reading the book of Revelation there are some awe-inspiring, intimidating, and sometimes even terrifying images of Jesus.

He is described as having eyes like fire, a voice that roars like many waters, His words coming from His mouth like a sharp double-edged sword (Revelation 1:12-20).

Revelation chapter 4 describes Him as being seated on the throne – surrounded by rumbles and peals of thunder and flashes of lightning on a sea of glass – surrounded by elders and angels crying out holy!

In Revelation 19 we read the following description: 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:king of kings and lord of lords. (NIV)

These glorious descriptions of Jesus command reverence – He is worthy of our highest praise – and there will come a day where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord of all creation.

He is the Name Above All Names, the King Set in Zion.

In the Old Testament we read that Elijah called down fire on the men of King Ahaziah. Certainly Jesus, as the Messiah, at His coming in the Gospels could’ve come with fire and showed the world who He was.

Instead of stepping down with the Hosts of Heaven and the sounding of trumpets, in all His awesome Glory, He chooses to come in meekness – our Dear and Gentle Saviour, our Good Shepherd and the Lover of our Souls.

“Come and learn from Me…” He says, offering us peace instead of judgement, rest for our souls.
The Will of God for humanity has never been calamity or destruction.

It has always been reconciliation.

So He comes as the Olive Branch – the Peace of God comes and walks in our midst. He comes, meek and mild – Jesus comes as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for our pardon.

At the same time He is very much the Judgement of God, the Lion, the One Called Faithful and True with the eyes of fire, the voice of many waters and the vestments dipped in blood – riding upon a white horse, His Word like a double-edged sword, and accompanied by all the Hosts of Heaven – seated upon the Throne in Heaven. He is the Love of God, but also the Wrath of God.

In Luke 12:54-59: Jesus tells us to wisely discern the times we are living in.

This current dispensation of grace will only last while it lasts.

Jesus says, “learn from Me…”

In this current dispensation we are His hands – extending the Olive Branch of His peace, joy, love and righteousness. We are His feet upon the mountains bringing Good News. We are to be His agents here upon the Earth, ministers of reconciliation.

It is time we take our call seriously.

Charles Spurgeon shared the following thought: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

Let us discern the time we are living in and not waste it. Let us encourage our family, friends, neighbors – any and all who have ears to hear – to turn to the Lord, to take up His yoke of gentleness, peace and love – so that we may all stand together with the Hosts of Heaven behind the One Called Faithful and True, rather than on the other side, upon the Day of the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, give me a burden upon my heart – a need to see revival and restoration among Your children. I pray Lord that You would open doors for me to share the Good News of Your Kingdom. Give me the right words Lord, help me speak truth in a broken and lost world that I might see others come to You. Help me live a life surrendered to Your will. Help me Lord to take seriously my calling as a minister of reconciliation and equip me through Your Spirit to lift up the banner of Your mercy and grace and work for the expansion of Your Kingdom. In Jesus Mighty Name. Amen.

Come All Ye Unfaithful

Come All Ye Unfaithful

by | May 9, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not alone
O come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done”

O Come All Ye Unfaithful, Sovereign Grace Music

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 15:1-2, NKJV

The word ‘prodigal’ is defined as being wasteful.

In Luke 15 the Pharisees and the scribes – the religious folk of the day – complain about Jesus receiving and eating with the undesirables of their society.

“This Man receives sinners and eats with them…”

Jesus responds with a series of three parables.

The first is the story of a shepherd who loses a sheep and leaves the 99 to go find the one. When he finds his lost sheep he calls his friends and family and they all rejoice together.

The second is the story of a woman who loses a gold coin. When she finds it she calls her friends and family and they rejoice together.

The third is probably one of the most misunderstood of the three stories that Jesus tells. We get distracted by the sin and shortcoming of the young man who squanders his inheritance – and ignore the purpose of the story altogether.

It is the story of a father who loses a son – and when the son returns the father calls his friends and family together so that they may rejoice, but the eldest brother, who had stayed behind is upset.

He says to his father: ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ (Luke 15:29-30, NKJV)

The first two stories end with a similar refrain – the thought that when a sinner comes home all of Heaven rejoices.

The story of the prodigal son does not have this refrain.

The eldest son in this case is just as ‘prodigal’ as the one who had left. He represents the Pharisees and the scribes.

Many in the church today are represented by the eldest son. There is no love for the sinner, the backslider, the addict, the prostitute…

But Jesus is married to the backslider (Jeremiah 3:14-15). He desires their return to the fold.

Shall we then, as the hands and the feet of the Father, refuse to seek them out? Shall we then, as the hands and feet of Jesus and agents of His grace, refuse to welcome them with open arms?

Are we perhaps the prodigal eldest son – wasting God’s grace by keeping it for ourselves, stashed away somewhere on a shelf – or are we sharing the joy unspeakable and full of glory, the hope of a restored life and eternal communion with Christ with our struggling brothers and sisters?

The church squanders its inheritance by receiving the grace that saves but refusing to become conformed to the image of Christ.

Both sons are the ‘prodigal son’, but only one ever gets restored in the parable. The one who had left and come back broken, empty, weary and burdened. The son who had been in his father’s house had absolutely no idea how far he had fallen and how wasteful he was being.

And so it is with the church. The parable of the prodigal son is a call to introspection. Is our judgement of others preventing us from seeking them out, welcoming them and loving them as Christ would have us do?

The father answers the eldest son with these words: ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ (Luke 15:31-31, NKJV)

Let us go then and receive the sinner, break bread with them, welcome them home. Even if they fall a thousand times, let us be there, willing like our Father in Heaven, to forgive, to love and to help them back up – as many times as it might take.

If you are perhaps more like the younger son today – the one who left and devoured his livelihood with harlots – consumed by the idolatry of sin and carnality – weak, unstable, barren, unfaithful – Jesus is calling you home!

Addicted, tired, bitter, guilty, fearful – Jesus is calling you!

And you don’t have to do it alone. No matter where you are in the world, reach out. Send me a message or an email (andre@adlabuschagne.co.za). We want to journey with you. You are not alone.

Prayer: Lord, help me be more like You. Break my heart for what breaks Yours and open my eyes so that I can see what You see. Help me love my neighbor. Help me love the sinner. Help me love the backslider. Give me the desire to see them saved. Equip me, Lord, through Your Spirit to reach out and call them back home. Equip me through Your Spirit, Lord, with the necessary grace to guide them, to make disciples and above all to help them back up when the slip, slide or fall. Help me stay true to Your Word and Your Will as I strive to be more like You. In Jesus Mighty Name. Amen.

Thank You Jesus For The Blood

Thank You Jesus For The Blood

by | May 1, 2024 | Devotionals, Worship Reflections

“Thank you Jesus for the blood applied
Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white
Thank you Jesus, You have saved my life
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light”

Thank You Jesus for the Blood, Charity Gayle

“9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

1 Peter 2:9-10, NKJV

Fruit grows in the valley.

I heard a while ago – although I can’t remember where – that fruit grows in the valley and not on the mountain top.

As Christians we often equate success with being on the mountain, where God is. Like Moses, we are always climbing Mount Sinai in the hopes of an encounter with God. 

Unlike Moses, very few of us want to go back down to share what God gives on the mountain.

In just a few chapters in Exodus (from 19-34) Moses makes his way up and down the mountain 7 times.

Each time God gives him something to share with the Israelites down in the valley.

How tempting it must have been during those 40 days with God in Exodus 34 to just pitch a tent and stay there in the glory and the presence of the Lord – but Moses knew and felt the burden of his people and knew that there was work to be done.

In Exodus 34, after a particularly glorious encounter with God, Moses’ face radiated with the Glory of God – so much so that he had to wear a veil and cover it up – as the people were filled with awe and fear.

For many of them, coming out of a place of idolatry, seeing God upon this man’s face must have been a thing of awe-inspiring beauty – as Moses brought the light from God’s Kingdom down to the valley of the idols.

And in time this would yield much fruit – his exercise of running up and down that mountain would sow the seeds of a mighty ministry.

Fruit trees need light to grow. In the valley of ‘civilization’ we find that there are idols, ideals and ideas that have often grown to overshadow what the Lord would want as a plantation for Himself.

Just like Moses – we cannot pitch a tent in the Mountain of  the Glory of the Lord and stay there – there is work to be done in the valley. 

I find it too often in churches, especially those run by ‘prophets’ and ‘apostles’, or other silly charismatic titles – that their congregations get a taste of the mountain life and start believing that they have made it, that they are somehow better off than those in the valley below. Growing fat on the bread instead of distributing it freely.

It is important to understand that if you fall into this category you will bear very little fruit for the Kingdom.  

In this current age we find ourselves in we don’t think much about mountains and valleys. I don’t have to climb a mountain to encounter God. The most I need to climb are some stairs. And we climb those stairs often. Some of us even have our own dedicated seats based on how dedicated or important we might be. 

We go to our churches – such beautiful mountains – and we hear from God, and perhaps even enjoy a cup of tea afterwards. We have made it…

But what are we taking out of that meeting – what are we taking back into the streets – the valley’s of our neighborhoods? What light do we bring to the valleys of addiction and unemployment, homelessness and abuse? What radiance? What joy? What love? What hope?

Where are we producing our fruit? When our neighbor is yet to see His glory, is it clear upon your face? Or are we too busy arguing about the karaoke that went a little loud last night? Or a parking space? 

We were called out of darkness into His light – to be transformed, ignited and lit up as torches – to go back into the darkness and make a difference.

Moses went up the mountain to be transformed, ignited and lit up as a torch so that he could go back down and make a difference.

God gives us each a garden to tend – a personal mission field – and one of the responsibilities given to us is to make sure that the garden gets enough light.

Are you helping your garden grow? Are you showing it enough light? Or are you leaving it in the sanctuary, in a box under your reserved seat.

It is time we take our testimonies back into the world.

Prayer: Oh, Lord, let us not be selfish with the grace you have poured out upon us. Let it be our desire to go back to the ‘undesirables’ still stuck in the darkness of our past – carrying your light with us so that they might catch a glimpse of who You are. Let us tend, diligently and ardently, the garden given to us. In Jesus Name. Amen