Zanele Tlhakanelo

Jesus teaches us that we need to be mindful of our hearts because they harbor evil thoughts and always plan wicked intentions. It actually not what we eat that defiles us but the pride, arrogance, sexually immorality and all evil that the heart of man keeps. Jeremiah 17:9 says the same message that Jesus teaches us about the heart to says it plans wickedness and evil comes from a man's heart. It is also deceitful because a person can laugh with you but deep down, plans evil. People are good pretenders. We are always concerned about our outward apperances but inside we are full of malice and all evil intentions. Jesus Christ is not concerned about the outside where everyone sees but about what people cannot see. Jesus is concerned about repentance and that is why the Word says "Jesus is knocking at the door and waiting for all of us to open so that He can come and dine with us. We are hardening our hearts and rejecting the wonderful gifts of salvation. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God that is why repentance is necessary for all of us whether we regard ourselves as moral or not. Jesus Christ sees the heart and He accepted to be the sacrificial Lamb so that we can all receive the wonderful gift of salvation. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth."

They represent all the people God has called to preach the Good News. He says the harvest is plenty but the workers/harvesters are few. We are all called to the Great Commission to go and do the will of God. God rejected them by scattering them to other nations. Their beautiful land became desolate and not habitable as a sign that God was patient with them by they kept worshiping other gods. Some of the servants were killed including the Son of God as such, Israel had to go through harsh rejection but because God is love, He did not leave them there forever. He restored them to Him again. Yes I have. In the church which we used to fellowship at, ministers of the Word of God do not last because the congregants want to control the ministers. They do not want to be scolded for doing ungodly things in and outside the church. That made us to leave and we are in a stable and better church since 2006. Ministers of the Word need to be prayed for and taken good care of bythe congregants. They are called of God and God has put them as Shepherds and us as the sheep. I am reminded by all the churches that Apostle Paul thanked for taking good care of him and the other ministers of the Word. The Beatitudes remind that when we do good, God does not forget. We may be going through difficult moments in our lives but the reward is greater in heaven. We are encouraged at all times to sow peace so that the world can resemble who God is. We do not have to give up because He who has promised is faithful.

They are the people that we do not care about because we categorize people according to their class whereas the Word of God says that God is not a respecter of man. In God's eyes, we are all equal and therefore everyone is welcome to be where Christ is. The highways and hedges have both the good and the bad but both the Parables teach us that Jesus Christ does not discrimate and wants all the people to be saved from the gnashing of the teeth. The servant-recruiters represent the Ministers of the Word of God, Evangelists and all those who have received God's mercy because we can all go out there to preach or teach people about the Word of God. Very diligent as we do regular outreaches, preparing meals for the destitute and even handing out school shoes and clothing to all those who are in need. We are really trying our best to have people come to the knowledge of God. The Prison Ministry, Hospital Ministry are all up and running. I am fully involved and there is nothing that can keep from from fulfilling the will of God. Obedience is key and one has to master it to understand the heart of God. By continuing to do the will of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to always open our eyes to the plight of many that need to be saved by God.

The excuse-makers represent all of us who do not want to do the will of God. When we are called to repent from sinning, we harden our hearts and do not want to open and allow Christ to be in the centre of our hearts. We may have been saved by the Grace of God but still do not want to go to the field as the harvest is plenty to call others to Christ. Potential results are when people die without accepting Christ as their personal Saviour because we do not want to reach out. We make excuses when we are supposed to evangelize and bring people to know God and have a relationship with Him. We easily give up when telling people about Christ whereas God was patient with us and did not give up on us. We come up with lame excuses when we are supposed to go out there and tell the people about the Resurrected Christ.

The barrenness of Israel was that they rejected Jesus Christ is the Messiah stating that He was the son of the carpenter. They had a belief that the Messiah was going to free them from the Roman Empire not understanding that Jesus Christ came to free all humankind from sin. They rejected Him even when they had seen miracuolus deeds that He perfomed. The Prpphets prophesied about Jesus Christ before He even dwelt among men in flesh. Jesus Christ sent out the disciples to preach the Good News and He told that when they are welcome in the house, they need to share the Good News but when they reject them, they must shake off the sand on their feet. They did not accept Jesus Christ that is why in 1 Peter 2 verse 7 it says "The stone that was rejected has become the cornerstone." We do not understand "Who" the Holy Spirit is in us. If we know that He dwells in us, we will be very attentive to Him when He speaks. There is no "I" when you want to grow in the fruit of the Spirit. Everything that we do including prayer is centred around me, myself and I. It is seldom when a person shows love without wanting it himself/herself. It teaches us that we may look beautiful on the outside but in the inside we are empty because we cannot bear fruit. When you do something for someone, do not expect that the person will reciprocate the gesture. Some people cannot even "thank you" but nonetheless, continue to do good. Continue to love the children of God like you love yourself. Be the person who loves peace and everything will come together.

Justice is seen when the king forgives the servant who owed him a lot of money knowing that there was no way where he would be able to pay him back. Grace is seen when the debt is completely wiped off meaning that the servant does not have to worry about owing the king anymore. Greed is seen when the servant after his debt has been written off, meets the one who owes him a little and instead of appreciating what was done to him by the king, manhandles the man and even sent him to jail until he is able to pay him back. He could not pay a huge debt but has become grumpy with the little that he was owed. The king had to revoke his decision and also sent the man to jail. Unforgiveness is seen when he made the man go to prison until he was able to pay back what he was owed. Refusing to listen to the plea for a fellow servant whom I believe is aware of his dire situation. The Word of God teaches us to forgive seventy times seven. Meaning that forgiveness should be from the heart and not remind a person that I forgave you the other time and now you are doing it again because that can be deemed to be lip-service forgiveness. When we forgive, it must be like when God says " Is far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our transgressions from us." Therefore, we emulate the love of God by forgiving and forgetting. It may not be easy but we must always ask the Holy Spirit to help us and He will definitely do. Greed is not good for our lives. We need to be content with what God has given us. Always strive for justice, forgive others just as God has forgiven us and we will always receive the Grace of God is so doing.

I think the woman was saved before the dinner because Jesus Christ is Omniscient. He knew everyone's intentions and was just waiting for an action. The woman was prepared to do anything for Jesus Christ as long as she would receive His forgiveness. Unlike the host, she did not think that the perfume she used to wash Jesus' feet was a waste whereas the host wanted to benefit something from Jesus, hence he invited Him. I am always grateful and thankful to God for what He has done for me. There are moments when I am alone with Him, I say "Where would I be now had you not saved my life when I trace all my steps. Maybe, I would not be alive now but I thank Mercy because it rewrote my life. I do not condemn myself when looking back but my heart is full of joy for the love God gave me and showed me. I will forever be thankful to Him. We should continue to share the love of God with others who are still lost in the wilderness of the world and make people understand that salvation is not bought but it is a gift from God. We must always continue to preach Christ resurrected so that people can know that salvation is for everyone. The Word of God says "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." You do not love people you know but everybody as we are all made in the image of God because in God there is not color, we are all His. Let us preach the Good News and nothing else so that people can come to the knowledge of who God is, repent and be saved.

All the 3 Parables show us God's unconditional love. God patiently waits us to humble ourselves, turn away from our wicked ways and come as we are to Him. He looks to a repentant heart and as willing to accept us just as we are. Like the Father in the Parable of the Lost son, daily, it is like going stands outside to watch from the far off land to see if He would see us coming back to Him. God will do everything to snatch us from the hand of the evil. This parable tells us that God is just and does not give up on anyone including those who say God does not exist. He is full of grace and mercy that is why His Word says" His mercies are new for us every morning." Day in day out He shows how patient He is for us to come back so that we can enjoy the abundant love He has for us. Our Father is not a respected of men. The Pharisees thought that as teachers of Law, they can judge people but our God is Righteous. The older son holds his father's values by being righteous but his brother's coming back, revealed his true colors. When his father forgave him and slaughtered a fatted calf, put a robe and sandals on him and gave him a ring, he was very angry instead of enjoying that he who was lost was now found. He started complaining and felt that he did all the hard work and was never celebrated for that. People will hurt us along the way but it is not for us to judge. We must have a forgiving heart and pray that they may see the Light. A forgiving heart is not the one that says "I will wait for the person that hurt me to apologize first but he who is hurt, must take the initiative and forgive the person nonetheless. Jesus Christ taught us when He said "Father, forgive them because they know not what they are doing." That is the attitude God wants us to display because we are here to do the Will of God.

The two Parables teach us that God's love is immeasurable. His love is too broad, to wide, to deep and too high and no one can love sinners than our God does. God hates sin but He wants all the people to receive the wonderful gift of salvation by repenting from their sins and have eternal life. The reason He leaves the ninety nine sheep and searches for the one lost is that He does not want people made in His own image to perish. The woman sweeping the floor could have easily said, at least I still have some coins left but she shifted everything in the room to search for the lost coin. God is like that, He will make sure that He persist so that we all are back into the fold. The Pharisees did not understand when interacted with the "sinners" because they considered themselves "holy" as teaches of the Law. The reasons Jesus Christ told them that "only the sick, need the physician and the healthy do not need a doctor" was the fact that they did not understand why God gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not die but have an everlasting life. God's love cannot be compared to anything. We should show love to people and not condemn anyone even those who still say God does not exist. We are Christ's ambassadors and therefore are not here to judge anyone. Those who reject God must see Him in us. We need to be patient with people just like God is patient with us. We are not to force people by threatening them about hell but tell them how wonderful it would be for all of us to be with the Lord.

To seek His face means to be in His presence. To be intimate with Him and always spend time with Him. The Word of God says "In His presence there is fullness of joy." It is necessary to have this desire because it brings fulfilment and there is everlasting joy when one spends time with God and listening to the Holy Spirit. When Moses spend time with God, it changed him because his face would be full of His glory and radiant such that people would not look at him and had to put a veil over his face. This means that spending time in God's presence makes us to be full of life and yearn to be with Him. It will change as as we prepare to share eternity with Him. It is worth it because we want to be with Him as our Father and enjoy the glory that comes with being His children, His heir and co-heir with Christ. It relates to our theme of Glorious Kingdom because we are all looking forward to be part of our eternal Kingdom that is from everlasting to everlasting. The powerful Kingdom that has authority over everything. All things will pass away but this Glorious Kingdom will last forever and all will give glory to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

It is going to be a marvelous experience to be reconciled with Christ. The Book of Revelations says there will be no more sorrow, no more death, nor crying, no more pain and when I think about this, I want to continue holding on to the message of the Cross that reminds me that Christ took the fall and thought of me above all. Seeing all the beauty that is not corruptible and walking in the beautiful, great city where the Light is the glory of God. Not concerned anymore about the day or night and the Light will be shining throughout. All the saints singing Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord and bringing glory and honor to God and Him alone.

To rule and reign with Christ now means we must emulate Him and have the same mind as Christ has. We need to show love, be obedient to the will of God, have compassion and not be ashamed to preach the Gospel. Christ says that whoever is ashamed of Him now, He will also be ashamed of those before His Father. We must preach Christ crucified, resurrected and seated on the right hand of the Father and all who believe in Him, waiting for His second coming. After Christ returns, our mortal bodies will become immortal and our corruptible being will become incorruptible. We will serve Him in the Kingdom that will never be destroyed. This relates to the Glorious Kingdom in that we will be all crowned in His glory and as immortal and incorruptible being, we will be like Christ.

Matthew 24: 30-31 explains how the Son of Man will come and His coming will be a spectacular one in that a sign from Heaven will show Him coming and all the tribes will see Him. The angels will blow the trumpets and all the elect will be gathered from all four corners of the earth. He will come in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. This means that not a single person will miss His coming. This relates to Daniel's prophecy as he also saw in his vision one like the Son of man coming in clouds of heaven and all the glory and dominion given to Him. This then indicates that the Son of Man will come and all who believed in Him will serve Him from everlasting to everlasting and His Kingdom will not be destroyed.

We must rule and reign first by seeking His Kingdom first and His Righteousness. We need to always read, study the Word of God and pray so that we are able to understand what His good, pleasing and perfect will is so that we can be obedient in carrying out His will. We are not here on earth to do what we want but only that which God tells us to do. He has given us different gifts so that we are able to carry out the Kingdom mandate. We need to understand that without Him, there is nothing that we can do. The whole world will be living peacefully as it was supposed to be from the foundation of the world but nothing stops believers from doing good and show all those that are disobedient in doing the will of God and believing that He exist and He is the Alpha and Omega to turn away from their wicked ways. We should not stop preaching Christ resurrected until His coming. We will be rejoicing, praising and giving glory to God forever and ever.

The basis of my spiritual authority is that in Him I live, move and have my being. I truly believe that when Jesus Christ, I died with Him because He took away all my sins and I resurrected with Him because He made me new. Christ Jesus has given me the power to proclaim the good news and He has enabled me through the Holy Spirit. We neglect our God-given Kingdom authority because we are not sure of who we are in Christ. Christ Jesus has given us all the power through the Holy Spirit to do more things than He did. We just need to exercise our faith and trust in God the Omnipotent.

Firstly, as believers, we are not immune to the challenges and sufferings that all the people through but because Christ lives in us, we are able to stand and still proclaim the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives. We understand that God did not promise us that we will not trials and tribulations but He has made known to us that He has overcome the world meaning that if we trust in Him, all these things will pass away. We are the jars of clay because we are vessels that can be easily broken. We have limited power as jars but we can do unlimited acts through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. The all surpassing power is the Spirit of God that is in us that enables us not to be crushed by the things of this world. The treasure is the Holy Spirit because He dwells in us to guide, direct and help us when we feel overwhelmed. We are able to do all things because the Holy Spirit is our enabler and without Him we can do nothing. We will be fooling ourselves if we believe that whatever we do is of our own accord and that we deserve the honor and the glory. Only God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we can ask or imagine. We are given the power to do things because the Holy Spirit is there in us and therefore we cannot believe in ourselves but in the power of God that is within us.

We are the "light of the world" by firstly believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and through Him we have received the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. We must emulate Christ in doing good to all the people so that God the Father may be glorified. As children of God, by letting our light shine, we must walk in obedience to the will of God. We must always show love to people and do good at all times even to strangers because we are all God's workmanship. When we do good to other people and not take the glory to ourselves but give God all the glory and honour reflect on the character and actions of the believer because we acknowledge that we are not doing it for ourselves but for God. Even when Jesus had done all the miracles, He did not boast about that but gave the Father the glory including the time of His Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. Jesus always glorified the Father. We were created to do good works because we are made in the image of God. God loved us so much that He gave us His begotten Son and by so doing, He wanted us to know that He can do anything for us and therefore we must also do good to others and for others. We are His children and when we do good, our lives enhance God's reputation.

Trials and tribulations can cause one's hunger for God because like Jesus Christ who called out "My God, My God" why have you forsaken Me. When you know that you are supposed to do the will of God and seem not to be doing that, you feel the emptiness and that will draw you closer to God and make you feel vulnerable without Him. It is only when you do the will of God that you will feel the intimacy as the Holy Spirit will help you understand that God is our only sustainable Source of life and we need to hunger for Him. What depletes this hunger is when we think we can do things using our own abilities and that is why the Word of God says we must not lean unto our own understanding. It is God who gives us the ability to achieve whatever He has purposed for our lives because all good and perfect gifts are from Him. The hunger gets depleted when we want to do things on our own without enquiring of the Lord and when we fail, we blame God. When I follow His precepts and always be attentive to His voice. Following God's commandments and being obedient to doing His will. Reading and studying the Word of God regularly, praying and having intimate talks with Him will surely intensify my hunger to know God better and know that He is always there for me. Fasting does help as the focus is not on the things of this world but on seeking the face of God. Fasting humbles one to focus on God and have constant conversation with God throughout the day.

When we do not focus on our light, momentary afflictions but fix our eyes our Jesus we will the achieve eternal weight of glory. Our problem as people is that we do not understand that all these things that we go through are temporary but only the Word of God is permanent and eternal. We need to be attentive to what God says in His Word to that momentary afflictions will definitely pass. If we put our faith in God, we will understand His character that before the foundations of the world, God never destined us to go through sufferings and that He still has good intentions about our lives. God cares for us that is why He says in His Word "all who are heavily laden, come to Me and I will give your rest." God still cares and loves us such that He did not want us to perish but have everlasting life by giving us His begotten Son.

The effects on a believer are embodied when the fruit of the Spirit are manifest in an individual. Being continually exposed to God's presence assists the believer to know that heart of God. It is always important to understand that one cannot grow spiritually if one is always feeding on fluids but need solid food and being rooted in the Word of God can expose the believer to be always in God's presence. As indicated above, they feed of fluids because they do not give themselves time to know who God is. They rely on what they here from the pulpits but do not themselves read the Word of God and tell God that they want to know Him better. At times people say married couples tend to look alike. When we spend quality time with God and read the Word, we end up being transformed into the image of God. You cannot expect to know God if your interaction with Him is when you face challenges and want to ran to Him. God is more than a Father to us who understands our weaknesses as well and when we spend time with Him, we know that He has the best interest for our lives.

Beholding His glory in my own understanding can mean experiencing God' s presence in my life both spiritually and physically. Be at peace with myself even when situations do not allow. I believe God's glory brings contentment knowing that He is forever with me and in me. Many a times have I experienced this. I will be walking in a mall and see people that I do not know smiling with me and I will immediately sense that there is more to the smile than meets the eye. An aura that makes people feel attracted to me even without speaking to them, confirms that the presence of God really is with me and in me. Spending quality time with God but also being prepared to be obedient to Him and do His will. Conversations that I have with God assist me to understand Him as my Father and as I open up to Him, I experience that even though I go through challenges, He is there with me and He will see me through. Acknowledging that He alone is worthy of all the honor and praise and that there is nothing that I can do without Him.

The Father has given the Son of Man all the authority, power and Kingdom and that all the peoples should serve Him because His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting. This serves as a reminder that kingdoms come and go but God's Kingdom is from eternity to eternity. His glory is upon all those who believe that He was, and is and is to come and that we will see His glory when He comes to fetch His bride. The name of Jesus is above all other names therefore when we call His name we declare that everything under the sun does not have power and that everything bows down to the name of Jesus. Therefore, when we call His name, we are confident that God hears our petitions and supplications and answers everything according to His will. We have power in when we call in the name of Jesus because He says we will do greater exploits than that which He has done. The limits come come when we lack faith. We need to believe that God has given us dominion over everything on earth. When we declare that the just shall live by faith and we by faith and not by sight, we declare that the power is not from us but from believing in the name of Jesus that has conquered all.

Jesus' glory is displayed in His crucifixion when He asked the Father to forgive all those people because they did not know what they were doing. Him being humiliated, mocked and beaten, He could still find in His heart to ask the Father to forgive us of all the sins. When one of the thieves hung up ask Jesus to be with him in Paradise, He did not remind him of all the things he had done but said "Today, you will be with me in Paradise". In His trial, He knew that He was God but did not display that in front of His accusers and politely responded by saying "Just what you say". In His resurrection when He walked with the two men on their way to Emmaus and did not recognize Him even when He told them about all the prophesies and all that was written in the Word. It was only when He took the Bread and blessed it that their eyes were opened and He vanished from their sight. When He appeared before His disciples and said "Peace be with you". The door was still locked because His disciples were still afraid but He showed up. The manner in which Jesus responded to all the insults by keeping quiet and asking God to forgive those who were crucifying Him and the centurion when the sun went down at noon after Jesus had given His life to God, convinced the two that this was not an ordinary man but was indeed the Son of God. His glory is seen in the midst of suffering because He suffered Himself while on earth. He understands all the emotions and feelings that mankind go through and as such knows how to comfort us.

Jesus' glory is displayed through the transfiguration and miracles were displayed firstly after John the Baptist baptized Him and Luke 3 verse 22 says " And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said " You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." Again, in Matthew 17 verses 1-8, when Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain, He was transfigured before them and His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light. Once more, the bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" In all the miracles that Jesus performed stating with His first one at the wedding at Cana, clearly displayed His glory. The bridegroom was even astonished at the taste of the "new wine". He did not want to receive the glory Himself but always refer to all instances where He performed all the miracles that He did that so that the Father may be glorified. He really symbolized humility because He understood that He was sent by the Father.