Zanele Tlhakanelo

The author contrast the" still small voice" to "the wind, earthquake and fire" because he wants us to understand that God loves us so much that even if when have done wrong, he will not come us with harsh but always tries to gently show us what we did not do right. God does not use the power He has to rebuke us but will use the still small voice to guide us into what He wants us to hear unlike using the wind, earthquake and fire. God's voice comforts Elijah and renew him by letting him know that he is not only prophet let as He has more prophets left. Moreover, he gives a companion Elisha who will be there to assist him and that when it is time for Elijah to die, Elisha will take over. But I also like the provision that God gives to Elijah daily showing him how much He cares. It is easy to miss God when His voice is gentle and quiet because our minds most of the time are focused on what we want to hear or see. We always come to God with preconceived ideas and want God to okay what we think is right. We mumble and do not give God time to speak to us and always want to take over the reign. We must allow God to talk to us. Our busyness always makes us miss His voice. He says in His Word " Be still and know that I am God". We need to be still in order to hear that small, still and gentle voice.

Through His guidance and teachings, the Spirit makes know to us the mind of Christ. We cannot know Christ unless we are deep-rooted in His Word. When we sincerely ask God To show Himself mighty and power in our lives, He truly does and we always believe what the Holy Spirit tells us because we live in Him and Him in us. I become dependent on the Holy Spirit because He is the Spirit of truth send to us from the Father by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says if He does not go, the Holy Spirit will not come. Therefore, the Trinity in me becomes complete as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit always complement one another. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit always listened to what the Father says and do what He does. Therefore, it is always important to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and do what God tells me to do because without Him, I can do nothing.

Jesus Christ promises us that He will sent the Holy Spirit from the Father who will live in us and us in Him. As Christ's disciples now, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. He will speak to us not on His own authority but what He hears from the Father, He will speak and declare greater things to come. He will teach us and enable us to do greater works than that done by Jesus Christ. This relates to guidance because whatever the Father tells the Holy Spirit to do, He does and therefore as God's disciplines, we cannot do His work without listening the the teachings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We always need to have a discerning spirit in order to clearly hear what the Holy Spirit tells us. We listen to God through His Word and also through messages from His servants but more importantly when we pray. The Holy Spirit dwells in us all the time and we in Him and will enable us to hear God's voice.

Jesus said these words because He understands exactly that He is a member of the Trinity and relies on what He sees His Father do and being enabled by the Holy Spirit to perform miracles. Jesus as the Son understands that He is fully God but has been sent by the Father to do His will and serve the people of God. We need to be servants to the people God has sent us to. Most of the time we want to be served and honored but in reality, we must honor God by diligently serving His people. In essence, we need to always enquire from God in our daily walk with Him and the Holy Spirit will guide us in doing what God wants us to do. Jesus always enquired from the Father in the solitary and lonely places where He would spend time with Him. When He has heard and seen what the Father has done, He would act on that which has been revealed to Him.

The pattern that Jesus Christ displays is that He would either wake up early in the morning or spend the night alone in order to avoid being disturbed and pray to the Father. He would to solitary and lonely places where He would not be distracted by the things of this world and have a peaceful conversation with the Father. Jesus Christ as the Son of God, wants to hear what the Father has to say as Jesus would always says He has been sent by the Father. Therefore, He is not doing His will but that of the One who sent Him. He has to attentively listen to the instructions of the Father in order to carry them out clearly. All the guidance from the Father will help Him know what to do and what to say. Jesus Christ came to preach the Good News so that people would clearly understand the message of repentance and accept the gift of salvation. The disciples wanted Jesus to continue with the miracles of healing people and this differed from the work Jesus came to do. His mission was to teach the Word of God. His disciples did not understand that Jesus' time on earth was limited as He had to accomplish the mission by teaching the Word of God so that people should repent. I occasionally spend time with God and sometimes not sure if I am doing the right thing because I would read the Word of God and pray. I am not sure if I understand the concept of quiet time. Should I be quiet and listen to that soft still voice or what? I want to improve on this by scheduling time everyday after work at home as I am mostly alone and not to do chores but spend at least 15 minutes in His presence because I believe that in His presence there is fullness of joy.

Prideful living is incompatible with showing grace because it makes the person unapproachable. People fear to discuss their challenges with a person full of pride because they feel intimidated by such a person and often expect negative responses that might hurt the person who has challenges more. People that are full of pride are full of themselves and consider other people as less important. God opposes the proud because they tend to be selfish, always want recognition and expect people to respect them whereas they look down upon others. They are not humble and these are people who want others to always greet them. Humility has everything to do with repentance because one understands that one is not perfect and is bound to make mistakes whether consciously or unconsciously so but upon realizing that, one is able to repent, ask for forgiveness from God including asking forgiveness from the person that one has hurt. When we acknowledge that we have sinned before God, He covers our shame with His grace. Pride makes us think that we are more important than others and therefore we do not care how others feel. You cannot show grace when you think you are the only one who needs to be exalted. In fact, God exalts those who humble themselves and humbles those who exalt themselves. A person with pride cannot show any grace.

People that are grace-filled are not supposed to be stingy as God has demonstrated to us how much He loved us that He gave us His Only begotten Son. Stinginess is assorted with an expectation meaning that you give because you expect something in return. Grace-filled people are generous in nature in that you will give your best to people who will at times not even say thank you or repay the good deed done. Those that are stingy cannot be said to be grace-filled. The relationship between forgiving and giving is that both should be done in a generous manner and when you have forgiven and given something out, you do not expect any favor. You forgive and move on. You cannot remind a person over and over again that you have forgiven him/her. Just like giving, once the act is done, you cannot remind that person that I once gave you something.

Our conversation should be full of gentleness and respect. Even if we know the correct answer when speaking to the unbeliever, we should not be arrogant and think that we have all the correct answers. We need to be humble and not be quick to answer as some of us normally do. We should be guided by love when engaging with any person whether they are believers or not. Always have an ear to listen to their needs or concerns and be willing to assist where possible. What most the leaders of our culture and our world display are far-fetched from what Christ portrayed as the King of this world. We must emulate Christ in our deeds and talk. We must understand that we came to serve and not to be served as most leaders expect. Have compassion and show grace at all times.

Ethical behaviour is doing good to mostly people that you know and believe in the same values and principles that you believe in. When you go out of your way to assist a person that you know will assist you should you find yourself in trouble at some point in time. Whereas grace is when you do good to people that will not show up when you least need them be it your enemies or strangers. Grace is what God shows and gives us as we are always undeserving of all the opportunities that He presents to us. Jesus' teaching about radical grace is that we should love our enemies just like God loved us. When we were yet sinners, we presented ourselves as enemies of God as we did not want to walk according to His precepts but God showed us His grace and loved us all the more, blessed us and prayed that we may see the Light. Jesus Christ teaches us not to pay evil wilt evil but continue to embrace our enemies, loving them, blessing them, pray them and do good.

I feel lighter each time I approach the Throne of Grace and pour my heart out to God and be open about the challenges that I go through. I believe that even before saying what I want to tell God, He already knows my heart and is there to listen to me. Whatever answer that God has for me is always the best because He knows the future. There are moments where I feel that the requests put before God have not been answered but I continue to plead my case and know that He will eventually answer me His way. I have seen the grace of God in my life and when I look back, I always say "I must have been God". I am forever thankful and grateful for what God continues to do in my life and I wish I could have ten thousand tongues to thank Him. I am always willing to help people in need. I give myself to serve God's people and I believe that God has called me to serve His people. I know that I can do more and always believe that that which I do at the moment is not where my heart is and believe that at an opportune time, God will take me to the direct assignment as at the moment I am still working and looking to the time where I will have ample time to continue with His work. The lives that I have touched show appreciation of the services I have rendered but I know that the Glory belongs to God who has enabled me to carry out His tasks.

We need to understand that we are many parts but one body. Therefore, God has given us different gifts and when we meet and fellowship with God and men at church, we are able to grow our gifts as we edify one another. You cannot grow when you are in isolation but need other brethren to encourage you to keep the faith. Can you imagine suffering alone at home without anyone encouraging or praying for you? When you are at church, you are surrounded by love and you will also use the gift given to you through grace to support others. Selfishness and fear can impoverish people because that is not in the plan of God. When God created us, He said "Let us" meaning He did not want to take the credit as God the Father, without involving God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Therefore God displayed that selfishness is not needed in the body of Christ and fear cripples a Christian as with what He has given us and be able to share with us. When we fellowship as the body of Christ, we are able to lift one another up.

A steward takes care of his master's business. He ensures that things are properly managed as per his master's expectations. He knows that he does not fulfil his own personal desire but is a custodian of the master's plans and fulfils his will always. As trustees we do not take advantage of God's people but make sure that do the will of God all the time. We understand that when we exploit others, God can take whatever has been entrusted to us as we are His servant and are called to serve and not to be served. We do not have to compete with one another but make sure that we carry the mandate of the Kingdom as expected of the trustees. Spiritual gifts are given to us by grace so that we can share the gospel message so that the lost are brought back to God. As disciples of Christ, we must not compete with one another but compliment one another so that we can drawn a lot of people to God. Those who can prophesy, let them do so, those who can teach, likewise as spiritual gifts are not from us but from God. Therefore, God has trusted us with these gifts not to hoard or boast about them but we need to do His will more than ours.

The relationship is that the gifts that we received are given to us by God through grace. God knows that we are undeserving of those gifts but His grace made us to be recipients in order to advance His Kingdom. A generous person gives without expecting anything back from the receiver. That is how our God is. He gives us so that we can serve others well with the gifts He has given us. Spiritual gifts are given to us so that we can edify one another. Isn't it that when Christian sees another one going astray, we are able through grace and truth bring that fellow Christian back into the fold. Spiritual gifts compliment one another in the body of Christ and as such assist us to grow, be stable and become matured spiritually.

God's power flourishes best when we are weak because that is the moment when we seek Him more. We wholeheartedly put our trust in Him and solely depend on His power to rescue us in whatever situation we find ourselves in. We become vulnerable so that God takes the centre stage and take us out of the misery we are in thus making us not boast about the whole situation but give all the Glory to God and acknowledging that without Him, we can do nothing. God's grace is sufficient to accomplish everything in and through us. God will not give us a burden that we will not be able to fulfil. His grace carries us through stuff that when we look back, we truly confirm that had it not been of His grace, we would be consumed by whatever challenges or situations we find ourselves it. There are no limits in the sufficiency of His grace. The limits come when we doubt that God will not carry us through situations we face.. God is Omnipotent and therefore, He cannot be limited by anything. We need to put our faith in His Word and allow the Word to perform that which been promised to us.

We feel weak in times of sickness and affliction because we do not put our trust in the One True God. We need to declare His Word in all circumstances and give thanks continually. We allow our minds to play games with us instead of acknowledging that when I am weak, then I am strong ( 2 Corinthians 12 verse 10). We stop ministering to others when struggling because we think how will God answer them through us if He has not answered us when we approached Him. We need to understand that His timing is perfect. God does not want us to look at our situations but we must focus on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. We lack faith and think that ministering to others happens only when things are going smoothly in our lives. There more we minister to others, the more God takes us out of the things we are struggling with.

People get intimated to approach God's throne because they do not understand that firstly, He is our Father and not only that, He loves us unconditionally which makes His grace to be sufficient for us. We acknowledge that we were born in sin and even when God has given us His only begotten Son, we still condemn ourselves and think that we are sinners. Christ has paid the price and it is finished. The Word of God says we must approach His throne boldly and with confidence understanding and knowing that our sins are forgiven. We fear judgement and condemnation because we do not understand whose we are and who we are. We are heirs with Christ and even when we sin but realize that we have sinned against God, we need to go to His throne and ask for forgiveness and repent. This does not give us the latitude of living in sin and expecting that we will go cry out to God when we have deliberately sinned. Fearing judgement and condemnation is when you know that you are violating God's principles but you go ahead and do that which the Holy Spirit impressed upon you not to do. God dispenses His mercy and grace in His throne by welcoming us just as we are. The fact that we do not have to work to receive His grace is indication that He expects us to approach for whatever we want to discuss with Him. Whether at that point in time the answer will be "Yes", "No" or "Wait" it is because God knows what is best for us. We mentioned predestined in the previous lessons and God knows exactly what is best for us and that is demonstrated through His Mercy and Grace. Our home is a house of grace as we have opened it for our Hope Connect meetings on Wednesday. But it is not only for our members from church but our neighbors as well as we are approachable people. We take time to speak to them and show our love. We also pack whatever is left when we have overcooked and show love to the guys who collect recyclable goods. We are always there when people need us.

The assurances are there to give us hope in all the situations that we face in life. God wants us to know that He will not relent from the promises He has given us and assures us that He is not a man to lie nor son of man to change from His promises. When we face different and difficult situations, each one has its own assurance. These assurances do not by any means signify that God is unsure of what He wants for us but indicates that whether we are in fire, in water, He will be there with us and not for us. My favorite promise is in Isaiah 26 verse 3 " You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trust in you". So many things are happening in this world and most of the time we want God to act immediately and solve all these challenges but when your mind is in Him, you will see and pray that God will at a time appointed by Him deal with all these uncertainties. I am at peace with myself, my family, my colleagues, the church members and everybody that I meet along the way because I know that God is at work.

When we allow the power of God to work in us, we are strengthening our faith because we do not believe in our own limited understanding. There are so many doctrines and false prophets that the Word of God warns us about and the Word says, even the elite will be deceived. The only protection we have is when we obey the Word of God and keep all His commandments. We can only do this through prayer and reading His Word. The Word of God says 'Without Him, we can do nothing". It is therefore important to rely and trust in God alone. Along the way we disappoint God by our actions, thoughts and speech, but that does not make God to remove us from the Book of Life which I believe that those who trust in Him are already written there. We have been discussing predestined in the previous questions and I believe that God knows who will be with Him until the end. I am reminded by what the thief who was hung along our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that did he was promised to be with the Lord in Paradise that very moment. God in Omniscient.

Man cannot come to God without the help of the Holy Spirit. I always believe that it is only the Holy Spirit who guides, leads, directs, advises and helps us do the right things and choose to do the right things. When Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, He promised us that He will not leave us alone but will send the Holy Spirit because He understood that our unrepentant hearts, our stubbornness need the Holy Spirit to work in us. The Holy Spirit is very gentle and will not force any man to make a decision without willing to do so. Again, the sufficient grace comes into play because if it were not sufficient, God would have long given up on mankind. Even if we do not listen to the Holy Spirit, He does not give up. Silently He knocks at the door until we are ready to open for Him, then He will come in and dine with us.

I believe predestination functions well with grace because we do not choose both of them. God chooses what we are to become and His grace, which is the unmerited favor takes us there. I am one person who clearly understands that when God has decided what I have to become, He paves ways for you and when you acknowledge that it is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord, you surely flourish and excel. Predestination is glorious because our God wants the best for all of us. It is only when we move away from His grace that that which God has planned for us does not get fulfilled. God has made us to be heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore it means that He has the best interest for all of us. God grace is glorious because it does not impose itself on us. We have a choice of believing that His grace is sufficient for us and solely depend on Him for everything. When we go through trials and tribulations and God says "Be still and know that I am God", you need to be still because if you juggle around and want to put the pieces of the puzzle on your own, you will surely hit the rock bottom. Trust in His unfailing love and know that His grace is indeed sufficient.

When the Word of God says He is Omniscient, it means He knows everything. God says in Jeremiah 29 verse 11 "For I know the plans I have for you", God knew us before we were even formed formed in our mothers' wombs and sanctified us. God predestined us and foreknew everything about. His Word says God knows out thoughts and this basically translates that there is nothing that can be hidden to Him. God allows us to make mistakes but knows that we will come back to Him when the odds are against us. He knows are intents and therefore, we cannot deceive Him and pretend to be righteous. It is only through Grace that we are saved. God is faithful and always gives us the opportunity to repent. Faith is us believing that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and when we serve God's people we are doing not only doing that unto men but unto God as well. We are not buying faith through our works but we are showing our gratitude to God through our works.

The Spirit assists us to obey God's commandments and walk in humility, understanding that we did not save ourselves but it is only through grace that we are saved. We therefore have to allow God to work in us. It is a process because change does not happen overnight. We do not have to condemn ourselves when we see areas of sin but need to trust that God's real work has begun in us. While working it out, God is working too. God planned before we were even born to do special "good works" in us. He gives us spiritual gifts so that we can continue to work out or salvation with reverence and fear. We need to understand that God is rich in mercy. We need to allow God to continue working in us until the fruit of the Spirit become evident in our lives.

The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom, knowledge and understanding to know God's unconditional love for all mankind. He is persistent in making us understand that we do not have to work for our salvation but believe that it is the gift from God. The Holy Spirit convicts all who are spiritually dead, making them aware of their sins. The Spirit removes self-doubt when you think that other Christians are better than you. He comforts us in knowing that we are enough as we come to God just as we are. The Spirit reveals God to us and not the other way. We need to understand that God is patient and us for us to repent. He grants us the opportunity to come back to Him like He did with Saul/Paul. God does not impose Himself to us. I have seen people who have hardened their hearts coming back to God because of His unconditional love. God waits for us to be ready to accept the wonderful gift of salvation. There are many prodigal sons and daughters that come to their senses and fully give their lives to God. The role of the free will in salvation is that the Holy Spirit guides, leads, directs, advises and helps us in revealing the importance of salvation through faith and not through works. Our lifestyles, actions and works are evidence of the faith we have in God and bring up the understanding that salvation is for all mankind.

It distorts the essential gospel because we must all understand that salvation is a gift from God and not a reward for having done good deeds because if it were a reward, we will all be boasting for the good works that we continue to do. That is why the Word of God says "let your right hand not know what your left hand is doing". If salvation were because of our good works, the Cross would have been in vain. We must understand that there is nothing that would have rescued us from eternal death had it not been of Jesus Christ saying "Yes to the will of God". Absolutely nothing. We needed Christ to rescue us and give us eternal life. We do not have any sense of self-righteousness nor pride because we could not save ourselves. No matter how big we can go doing good to others, it just cannot take away what God has done for us. The good that we do for others is but temporary but what God has done for us is eternal therefore, we cannot look down upon others and think that we are better than them. There is nothing wrong in doing good for other people but that does not make us righteous. It is only the Holy Spirit that works in us to understand that salvation comes through grace and faith. God does not impose Himself to us by allows the Holy Spirit to do His work for us to understand His favor upon us.

God rescued us from spiritual deadness, that is, from our transgressions and sins that we have repeatedly engaged in. We have been rescued from following the ways of this world; from following Satan, who is the ruler of the kingdom of air; and from our own gratification. God has personally rescued me from my situation before Christ by showing me His abundant love. I could have died in my sin even though I was a church-goer from birth. He saved me from all terminal diseases and never contracted any. That how miraculous of God is and will forever be grateful for rescuing me. I want to belief that I did not have to work to earn my salvation. It was on through God's love and grace. It is a gift from God that I did not deserve.