Zanele Tlhakanelo

Jesus Christ's authority and glory preexisted and coexisted with God as part of the Trinity. Christ is the Creator with the Father and the Holy Spirit because when God created man, He said, "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness." Therefore Christ has been there before the foundation of the world. His glory and authority was hidden while He was on earth because He did not come on His own but He was mandated by the Father to come and redeem the world that was full in sin. He came to do the will of the Father and not His will so that the Father may be glorified. His glory and authority are still present because of the fulfilment of the will of the Father. When Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, He did not leave us alone but the Holy Spirit took over as our Helper and that is the reason we see His glory manifest in the lives of all who believe in Him and have that God exist.

Yes the Kingdom of God is still present with us because God still speaks to us through His Word, both the Rhema and Logos. God still talks to us in the 'small voice and dreams', therefore, the Kingdom is still much alive. The present limitations are people hardening their hearts and not wanting to believe that Jesus Christ died for all our sins. The antichrist and false prophets that the Word of God warned us about. The Kingdom of God will be fully manifest during the Second coming of Jesus Christ. The Word of God still emphasizes that He will be riding in the clouds. It will give all the believers hope that God is in control and that Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord, the King of King.

Jesus' saying that the "Kingdom of God" is within us clearly starts from the creation of man where God says " Let us make man in Our image and after Our likeness." Already God had a plan to live with all human beings until eternity but we know that sin came and separated us. But that did not make God change from His plans and He gave us His Son to died for us so that we may have eternal life. When Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, He told us that the Holy Spirit will be with us. Therefore, the Kingdom still is within us and in our midst. We were never left alone. What we learn from Jesus is that He does not want to see people perish. He still considers us to be His Bride and wants all of us to be saved. The fact of the matter is that He is still interceding for all that are still lost so that they may one day see the Light and come to be with Him.

The term 'Messiah' to the Jews meant the one who will liberate them from the oppression they were faced from the Roman Empire. They expected the 'Messiah' to completely destroy the Romans and they live freely from the bondage that they were subjected to. Daniel's Son of Man exceeded this because the Messiah came to liberate us from all the sins we have committed. He came to give us eternal life only if we believe that He is the Son of the Living God. We are supposed to serve Him with all our soul, mind and strength and to do His will and be obedient to His Word. Jesus Christ knew that the Jews would not believe that He is the Son of God as we already read what they referred to Him as the son of the carpenter. His main purpose what to preach repentance and alert us that the Kingdom of God has already come and those who believe in Him, will enjoy the benefits of the Kingdom while on earth and eternal life.

Firstly, the elements indicated that Jesus Christ is like 'the son of man' whereas in essence He is the 'Son of God". When the Book of Daniel indicates that He comes in the 'clouds of heaven', it symbolizes the Glory that Jesus Christ comes with. It symbolizes that humility that is with Him because He left His Throne to be among the sons of men. This then indicates that He is the only One who has the Kingdom that cannot be shaken, moved and His Kingdom is eternal. The Ancient of Days has given Him power, dominion and authority over everything both on earth and in heaven. Him alone is worthy, holy, perfect and pure and all the honour, the praise and the worship belong to Him. The clues are that all kingdoms on earth are just temporary and will one day come to and end but the Kingdom of God is from everlasting to everlasting. Meaning that the power that the son of man as He comes on earth is to make us understand that where He is, is where He wants us to be. God does not want us to be destroyed like all the earthly kingdoms that will pass away and for that He gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should nor perish but have an everlasting life.

The relationship between the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Kingdom of God is that the tabernacle was the tent of meeting where Moses would go in and have a face-to- face meeting with God while the children of Israel would wait outside the door to hear the instructions/commandments that God would have given Moses for the Israelites to carry out. In the tabernacle only people allowed to be there would enter. Whereas, the Kingdom of God dwells in each and every person that God created. We no longer needs a mediator because God speaks to each one of us and we must do His will all the time. When God's Kingdom is upon the tabernacle, His glory engulfs it. Therefore, when God dwells in us, His glory is forever me with us. It is only when we shun Him, that His glory will be removed from us but as long as we are in His presence, His glory will always be with us. As long as the Israelites were obedient to the will of God, His glory was always upon it.

Moses was not just content in listening to God's voice in between the cherubim but wanted more than the intimate relationship he had with Him. Moses wanted to see the glory of God and know that as he presented Him among the children of Israel, the needed not to lose touch but the Almighty. He needed to see His glory and God did not disappoint like and gave Moses what he wanted. God does not disappoint and whatever we ask, He gives. Paul presses on because he also understands that being intimate with God will still give us the fulfilment but we need to see the Light. We cannot be children of the Light and always find ourselves in darkness. I also feel the same as Moses and Paul. Going beyond having an intimate relationship with God but feel His presence with me, embracing me and engulfing me always. Spending a lot of time in His Word, humbling myself, praying and turning away from my wicked ways. I can only satisfy my hunger by being obedient to Him and do His will.

God has repeatedly told us as His people to worship Him alone. But like Pharaoh, we keep on hardening our hearts and not want to fully trust Him. Judgment and consuming fire are as a result of unrepentant hearts and not trusting that our God is the Creator of everything. The Word of God says "The world is the Lord's and all that is in it". Therefore as human beings we want to challenge that and do what we think and not what God expects us to do. He is indeed a jealous God hence judgment and consuming fire. When we willfully disobeys God and His laws, we subject ourselves to condemnation and judgment. We cannot want the things of God but disrespects His commandments. We need to be open to what God commands us to do all the times. God is indeed Holy and cannot coexist with sin. That is why when He saw mankind fall into deep sin and because of His love for us, He sent His only begotten Son, Lord Jesus, to die for our sins. God hates sin and not the sinner hence the Blood of Jesus Christ had to cleanse us.

Reputation Glory is when we honor God on things that He has done and continue doing. We thank Him for who He is as Creator of all things. Derived Glory is when we continually spend our time with God and be consumed in His presence, we indirectly receive His glory ourselves. Inherent Glory says that God does not depend on us to glorify Him. He is Himself the Glory and when He shows Himself to us, His glory is amazing and overwhelming. When I praise God, the reputation glory is involved because He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent. Derived glory is within me because I believe that spending time in His presence gives me the fullness of joy that I need. It makes me to be at peace because I know that He is there for me and with me.

Counsel with spiritual people assist us not to go astray thinking that we have heard the Voice of God but miss the important aspects that God wants us to do. They guide and always pray with us because as immature people in the things of God, we need to learn from those who have walked the path with God. Mentors are there to assist us when we need to pray together on what we have heard God speak in our lives. They guide us in understanding the Word of God and prepare us to be able to hear when God speaks to us. The danger of going to another person is when God has not spoken to him and that person ends up leading you astray. When you are not sure if it is God speaking to you, inquire of Him and He will answer you. Our reliance should always be on God and not man. When you have matured, it is in your relationship with God, politely thank your mentor and go out to mentor others that are new in the things of God.

When we surrender our desires we acknowledge that God is Omniscient and that He has our best interests at heart. He knows what is good for us and does not allow us to go through disappointments when we do not succeed in what we want to achieve. It is therefore important to ask God if it is His will but at times were are impulsive and do but when the going gets tough, we remember that we did not consult God in the decisions that we made. We need to repent and ask for forgiveness for not allowing God to be our Sovereign Ruler. Allow that God's good, pleasing and perfect will to prevail in our lives and in so doing, God will direct every step we take. Sin will hinder our prayers from reaching God. It is therefore important to always confess our sins because there are times when we sin unconsciously so and when we realize that we have sinned, go back and ask for forgiveness. We need to avoid sin and always ask the Holy Spirit to help us not to continue crucifying Christ over and over again. When we wholeheartedly seek God, we will be able to hear Him.

The voice of the flesh will push us into achieving thing for self-gratification. When a member of your family is in dire need of assistance and you see your neighbor driving a new car, instead of helping your family, you come with excuses and decide to buy a car and not listen to God's voice of putting others first. **** says if you want it you can have it no matter how much it can cost your life. Desire is when you start manipulating people in order to fulfil your cravings. The voice of the world is when you allow people to manipulate you into doing things that are "done by people". When you go to parties and you know that you have not tasted alcohol or smoked, then you are told that every person who wants to enjoy life, must go through this stuff. Peer pressure plays a key role and that is why we have a number of young people behind bars not because they wanted to but they followed the world to make quick bucks. The world says it is fine to be who you want to be and not what God created you to be. If you feel as a man that you no longer want your body, do as you wish. The voice of the devil is when adults commit adultery and the world will say nobody sees you forgetting that God sees everything. The devil will confuse believers even when it comes to issues of giving and tithing to say in the New Testament, there is no way where that is mentioned and that those scriptures were for the Old Testament. The devil confuses people through false prophets that are mushrooming all over and people who do not read the Word of God find themselves deceived. The Word of God says " Even the elite will be deceived". It is necessary to read the Word of God daily so that you hear God speak to you. It is good to listen to preaching of the Word but it must not end there, assign time to spend with God and tell Him you want to hear Him and let Him reveal Himself to you. He is a just God and He will surely give you the desires of your heart if you allow Jesus Christ to be the centre of your life.

As people we make mistakes because we are clouded by a whole range of matters. We have God's Word which is always the truth, the world has its own ways of doing things and mostly under pressure to please our peers and not forgetting that the devil also wants us to distract us from hearing the voice of God. It is therefore important to ascertain and ask for confirmation if God has assigned you to carry out an assignment. God allows it because He expects us to be rooted in His Word. When we daily spend time with God and establish a personal, intimate relationship with God through reading His Word and prayer, we are bound to hear Him but that does not exempt us from making mistakes. God allows us to make those mistakes so that we can learn from them.

No, Gideon was asking for a sign to strengthen his faith. He wanted to ascertain if he had heard God speak to him as he considered himself and his tribe as been the smallest in the tribe of Manasseh. So he wanted to be sure that God had really called him to use his hands save the Israelites from the Midianites. Seeking God's confirmation is when you are not sure of having heard God's instructions well and want Him to speak to you through other means. When you test God is when you doubt that He has already called you to do His work. You do not have faith that that which God has called you to do will eventually happened. God does not mind when we ask for confirmation because He sees the heart. God knows when we ask for confirmation because of selfish ambitions. He knew that Gideon was ready to carry out the task which He had called him to do because when God trimmed the number of men that were to go with him, he did not question God. When we ask God to prove that indeed He has called us to perform the task He has called us to do and when we want assurance that He will be with us throughout the whole assignment.

Pride can corrupt our hearing from God if we think we know all. We need to always depend on God as He is the Master of our lives. There are people who believe that they are know-it-all as they think they have answers to everything. Only God knows everything and we need to always approach the Throne of Grace with a humble heart and the Word of says "God will exalt all who humble themselves". Walk in humility all the time and always enquire of God if you are not sure of what to do. Depend on Him in everything that you need to do. Always pray and wait for God to respond to your request.

I believe that God has everything planned out. He cannot send us where His mercies cannot sustain us. God is Omniscient and when He sends us out, He knows exactly what He wants to accomplish by using us. Remember Gideon, when he had to trim the number of men that we to go to war with him, he did not believe at first why God told him that he must take 300 men to face 120 000 Midianites. Was this possible? Thank God that Gideon obeyed the instructions God gave him. You will never go wrong when you obey God. God always works in miraculous ways. He will not ask you to go where He has not prepared the way for. When Jesus Christ asked the disciples to go unleash the colt, the job was already done for the men and they never met any hassles. God only needs an obedient heart. Leading a team of ladies at our church, we were so comfortable once each month to meet in our homes. But God instructed me that in 2023, our meeting places will be in parks and lakes where we meet people from all walks of life. There were are to praise and worship Him, read His Word and pray in public. I thank God that I obeyed Him and know that all these outreaches are not a futile exercise.

The desire of having a personal, intimate relationship with God is important because it indicates the love you have for God, it shows that you wholeheartedly trust God and will not do anything without enquiring from Him no matter how small you may think the matter is. Hearing His voice contributes to the relationship because when you honor, revere, trust and love God, you will always be anxious to listen to Him and looking forward to the conversations that you have with Him even hearing that small still voice. It is a relationship where one acknowledges that God is the Only true way and therefore whatever He says will come to pass. We are to press in to know Him because firstly, He is our Father. Every child who is obedient listens to his/her when he speaks and therefore as His children, we must always be eager to listen to what our Father has to say to us be it an instruction, command or advice. Paul's passion for a relationship with God inspires me in that all that God spoke to Paul came to pass, be it the hardships, the trials and tribulations and everything that Paul went through was just as God spoke to him. I get inspired because God assured Paul that "His Grace was sufficient for Him." That's all that Paul needed. The assurance that God will be with him wherever he went as long as he was obedient to the call of God. I feel comforted that when God assigns me to do something, He has already levelled the plain field. All that I need to do is to obey knowing that He will neither leave me nor forsake me until the mission is accomplished.

Eli's counsel to Samuel was that he must go back and lie down. When God called him, Samuel was to respond by saying "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." It was a good counsel as Eli recognized that it was indeed God who was calling Samuel and he had to be humble and respond like a servant would do. Samuel knew that he came to serve God and that the only Master that he needed to obey and take instructions from was God. Therefore, he did not consider himself above anyone and regarded himself to be the servant of God and man.

God always talk to us and all that we need to do is to prepare ourselves to hear from Him. He is always at work and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us hear God. Yes, most of the time we are not receptive to what God says to us. We need to position ourselves to hear Him speak to us and we need to be always eager to hear what God has to say in our lives. Wait upon the Lord and while waiting, continue to read the Word of God and pray. Seek Him and humble yourself. God will surely show up because He says: " Seek and you find, knock and the door will be opened."

Yes, many a times and I pray about it so that the confirmation can be clearer and when the Holy Spirit impresses that upon me, I then act and be obedient to what God wants me do to. I have and as a person who supports schools, I went to a Primary (Elementary) school during winter time and I saw children coming to school with worn out shoes and there and then, the Holy Spirit told me to buy those children shoes. I ask the Principal to take all their names and I called my husband to explain the situation. The following week, we delivered shoes to those children and we started a shoe- drive for children in schools that I was supporting. There was fulfilment and peace in my life knowing that I helped children who appreciated the gifts and there was no return favor that I expected from them. I understood that "God knows how to say thank you." In no time I got promoted and had to go to another area.

I believe that the similarities are that both promptings or inarticulate nudges can provide a yes or no answer but with God the directions are clear through the infilling of the Holy Spirit who makes the promptings to be clearer. David would ask a question which then indicates that he would enquire for more direction so as to clearly hear what the Lord instructs him to do.

I believe that the promptings are clear when seeking God's direction in that there are instances when I want to attend to attack a certain issue my way and the Holy Spirit tells me not to do, when I follow the Holy Spirit, I find fulfilment and the matter becomes water under the bridge. A "no" is as good as a "yes" because God knows everything. When He says in His Word "My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts". I believe that when God says "no" it does not mean He denies attending to the matter. We need to be obedient to His Word. I have on many occasions because when God says I must not address the matter and allow Him to deal with it His way, I get peace of mind but when I do it my way, the matter becomes fueled and that causes more damage than before.

It was important for Peter to get a very clear command from the Spirit because he thought that as a Jew, he had no relationship with any nation but I think he thought of Jesus' Words when He said "Upon this Rock, I will build my church". He was bound not only to feed the Jews but when Jesus commanded him three times: "Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep", that God has called him to preach the Good news to all the nations. He remembered that God was no respecter of man. Therefore, Peter was bound to be obedient and do the will of God. I believe he would have enquired of the Lord to give him clear direction. If God speaks and the vision is not clear, there is nothing wrong in asking God to reveal Himself to you so that you carry out the clear mandate and do His will not your own. He explains to the circumcised that the vision was clear as it did not come to him alone but also to Cornelius whom God has sent Peter to go preach the Good news so that he together with his family can receive the wonderful gift of salvation. God was preparing Peter that the Gospel is not for the selected few but all must hear and believe as it is God will that all men should be saved. We must have an unshakable faith. The one that says I know the One who has sent me will never leave nor forsake me. Faith that says God will not send me where His grace will not sustain me. We need to have a discerning spirit to always allow God to speak to us and after that act. If I disobey, it means that I act out of my own will. I always pray and ask God to give me the courage to boldly say what He wants me to convey to His people. I have learnt to say I am not in charge but God is. If one can remember that we are not ours but God's and whatever we do, we do not do it unto men but unto God.

If Paul had not been sure of the instructions from the Holy Spirit, he would have enquired more just like Samuel did when he went to Eli because he was not sure who was calling him. I think Paul was always obedient to do the will of God and made sure that he listened to the still small voice. I would not because I believe that you can only dissuade a person if you also had a visitation of the Holy Spirit who would have indicated how dangerous it would be for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Prophet Agabus got the revelation and actually demonstrated to Paul what he was going to face. It takes a person who is rooted in the Word of God and who earnestly pray and believe that when we live or die we do so for the Lord. A person who is willing to do the will of God not his own will. We also saw Jesus asking God if the cup cannot pass but later realized that it was not His will but the will of God that needed to be fulfilled. We become disobedient and not trust God that where he leads us to, His mercies will sustain us. There is no easy way out as children of God because want to do our own will. Where God sends us, we must try to understand us He will make a way. We should always ask for a discerning spirit to help us show the right paths.

It gives him the assurance that God is always with him and that whatever God says, He will bring to pass. God does not promise and not act. In all the situations that Paul went through, the reassuring words of God have come true for Paul. Even when he was tormented by the thorn which made made him pray to God three times but when God said to him " my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness", that gave Paul the courage not to concentrate on the thorn but depend on God and continue with his mission. We learn that God truly loves us. He will not allow anything to harm us especially when our trust is in Him. God promises and He acts. God reassures that if we obey Him, the Holy Spirit will be there to guide, lead, direct, advise and help us. All that we need to do is to trust Him with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding.