Praetor

At one time or another we all look at our circumstances and try to deduce from it how successful we are or not. Our happiness depend on our circumstances. Many people look at the world and decide there is no God. How can a God of love allow all these disasters and atrocities to happen. The world is in chaos. It sure doesn’t look as if God is directing it and if He is in control at all. Even in the life of Joseph it does not look as if God is control either.
Spoiled by his father, intensely hated and ridiculed by his brothers. His grandiose dreams did not improve the situation at all (cf. Gn 37:3-8). When the first opportunity came, Joseph’s brothers decided, “Let’s kill him … Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.”
But some of them did not have the gall to do it. In the end after kidnapping him, stripping him of his richly ornamented robe, they sold him to the Ishmaelites. So in Egypt he became a slave of Potiphar, but just as things went well, trouble loomed. Isn’t that typical! Potiphar’s wife’s attempted to seduce him, but Joseph made a bad mistake (we would say) by refusing to co-operate with her. He resisted her advances and even avoided her. Nevertheless he was still implicated.
He landed in the king’s prison, a miserable dark hole of a place. In spite of his isolation and loneliness things started going well again. Until Pharoh’s officials landed in prison as well. He declared their dreams, hope sprung up of a possible release, but nothing happened. Sure we can identify with this situation. Don’t we all experience our circumstances just like this at times?
At last Joseph is released after a long 24 months. He isn’t just out on probation, he is appointed second in command of the country! He marries and from the names he gives his children we can see that he made a decision to put the past behind him and not to bear a grudge. Their names were: Manasseh = God has made me forget all my hardships & all my father’s house; and Ephraim = God has made me fruitful. How could he do that? It reminds us of another scripture, “Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope” (Rm 5:3-4).
This sounds like a fairy tale, every thing turns out all right in the end. Don’t be so sceptical. Things can turn out for our good as well if we hold fast to God’s perspective: God has a greater and good purpose in mind namely, to Save lives. God uses the unmistakable evil of his brothers to get Joseph to Egypt so that he can supervise the collection and distribution of the food. Many thousands of lives were saved in this manner (cf. Gn 45:4-9). At the same time the lineage of Jesus was preserved. God also had to prepare this opinionated young man for the job and sent him through some hardships to learn him to be humble.
In the end it turns out that Joseph’s dreams were actually God’s destiny and plan for his life. Do you believe that God has a plan with your life? Is He capable of achieving his plan for you?
How do you discovered your destiny?

• Are you in the right relationship with Jesus?
• Don’t look at your circumstances
• Hold on to the dreams God has given you
• Focus on what God is doing in your life at this moment (shaping your character
• Be available to God
• Have the right attitude: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jms 1:2-4).

“Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls” (Hbr 12:1-3).

This is a time of festivities. hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas. Everybody is dressed brightly, people eat and drink and are happy! It is the time of year that happily in love couples want to complete the magical ceremony of marriage. It was like this the year before, and the previous one, ah, it was like this the past fifty years (… or longer). Will it always continue like this? There are many people that don’t have a doubt it will. But Jesus said about 2000 years ago: “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt 24:37-39).
A pregnant lady starts getting birth pains when the delivery is at hand. Many times they become alarmed and rush to hospital because they think now is the time, but then it turns out to be a false alarm. When the pains are genuine birth pains, it takes a few hours before the birth takes place. We live in a time where we hear of more and more natural catastrophes: devastating earthquakes (Turkey, Japan, China, Iran); hurricanes, flash floods & mudslides; unprecedented droughts hand in hand with famine; the tsunami. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet (Matt 24:6). Nations fighting one another (WW II; Korea; Vietnam; Sudan; Ethiopia & Eritrea; Iraq & Iran; Iraq & Kuwait; Russia & Afghanistan; USA & Iraq; USA & El Qa’ida (Afghanistan). These signs are the beginning of the birth pains (Matt 24:8). Even the hate, persecution and death of Christians are not a sure sign of the end (Matt 24:9).
Does this mean we can still relax because the return of Christ is still distant? Jesus says specifically when the end will come! He mentions two things: i) Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray. Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold (Matt 24:10-12); ii) This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matt 24:14).
Do we see these things happening? Yes, more and more programs go directly against the will of God e.g. Charmed; Stuart Little. Many laws reflect the disregard for God and his commands: Legalising of abortion; abolishing death penalty; legalising homosexual marriages; questioning Jesus & the gospel; the media blowing up the Da Vinci Code out of all proportion. After all it is just fiction (based on a thin layer of historical occurrences).
What about the other side of the coin? Evangelical Christians in 1960 were less than 1% of world population (=84.5 million). In 2000 they were 7% (=420 million). There are 2`932 mission agencies in the world; 201`260 missionaries work all over the globe bringing the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the earth. Radio and TV waves penetrate with the gospel where countries are officially closed for missionaries. Over the last two decades Jesus marches took place; Praying through the window actions; 30 Days prayer in the time of Ramadan; Focused prayer on the Hindu and Chinese world. Statistics for the showing of the Jesus Film is just as spectacular: 4.1 billion individual viewings. The release of the The Passion of the Christ triggered an unprecedented reaction in the Muslim world! It was even sold on the black market in Saudi Arabia. This brought the gospel to virtually all peoples.
“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near. Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Most assuredly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished (Matt 24:32-34). The twigs are getting tender & its leaves are coming out. We are the generation to see Christ’s return!
Why did Jesus tell us this? Jesus warned that the end will come like a thief in the night, when you least expect it. So we must not be caught napping. We must personally be ready, but more importantly the time of opportunity is passing. We must use every opportunity to share the Gospel with those who have not heard. How will the Master find you spending your time when He comes?

Can you believe it! The Christmas decorations are out. Some shop personnel are wearing their red Santa pixie caps. All over the world people have commercialised Christmas.
Rushing around in over crowded shops, spending money that we don’t have, buying gifts, food, liquor, trees, decorations, tinsels and trinkets. The focus is on the tree, the gifts, (even in the southern hemisphere) on Santa, and the reindeer. The birth of Jesus forgotten. Even the non-Christian world advertise and celebrate X-mas. Should followers of Christ participate in this kind of Christmas celebration?
A very real danger is that our attention will be drawn away from what Jesus told us and that we will not be ready for his return. Lk.12:42-48 - ‘The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes’
The way followers of Christ celebrate Christmas must be distinctly different than the rest of the world does it. The distinction must in the first place be that do not merely look back at the birth of Jesus, but also at the promise of his return. Rm 13:11-14 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let’s put on the armour of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts. [World English Bible]
Our celebration of Christmas will only be different when we come to a deliberate, conscious acceptance of the Lordship of Jesus so that all our emotions, desires and deeds are under his control.
We like to say that Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us, therefore we should give one another gifts. We must learn from the magi who brought the baby Jesus gifts. Why did the do that? The magi travelled a long distance to honour and pay homage to the king that was born.
How can we honour Jesus? Firstly we can seek opportunities to tell the people who Jesus is. He is called the Christ (=Messiah = anointed one). How many people have not even heard about his birth once, who don’t know the Anointed one.
Who is the Anointed one? What names titles is he described with? [Is 7:14 So the Lord himself will give you this sign: A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel [God Is With Us].; 9:6 A child will be born for us. A son will be given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. He will be named: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [God’s Word translation]; Revelation 19:13,16 He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.” … He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” [World English Bible]]
Secondly we can meet the needs of the destitute 1 John 3:16-18 By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him? My little children, let’s not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. [World English Bible]

I marvel at the fact how naïve we are at dealing with HIV/AIDS. We think that by reducing youngsters (and grown-ups) as animals we will solve the pandemic of aids. Yes, animals cannot control their sexual drives because they act by instinct. They don’t have any morals or scruples.
We are in effect saying that people cannot control their sexual urges therefore they must take measures to prevent the transfer of aids. But if they are not capable of controlling their urges, how on earth will they behave responsibly by using condoms? Young people like saying, but it is our culture, and the deputy president of the ANC also falls for this lie.
The other side of the coin is the immoral lifestyle that is propagated through music and dance. I don’t believe you can gyrate and thrust your pelvis around and not become excited sexually. I don’t believe you can see all these half covered bodies moving around you and be untouched by it. Let me explain something quickly. At the swimming pool you see this girl in her swimsuit. You admire her lanky legs. But when she leaves and is dressed in her mini dress those very same lanky legs look downright sexy and you have this urgent desire to meet her. It is what is covered that excites, more than the naked flesh that is visible.
I think the fundamental problem is that there is no standard that people are living by. Oh, al right the standard is so low (on the level of instincts) that it does not mean anything. It does not stop people from behaving in the way they want to.
It is so different from biblical times. “Blessed are those who keep his statutes, Who seek him with their whole heart. Yes, they do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways” (Ps 119:2,3). Wow! to be truly happy and to do nothing wrong. That is a bold claim. But is can’t be otherwise, because the Psalmist is living according to the designers manual. It guarantees the best performance and joy.
Lets apply this to sexual behaviour. “The Law of the Lord is a lamp, and its teachings shine brightly. Correction and self-control will lead you through life. They will protect you from the flattering words of someone else’s wife. Don’t let yourself be attracted by the charm and lovely eyes of someone like that. A woman who sells her love can be bought for as little as the price of a meal. But making love to another man’s wife will cost you everything. If you carry burning coals, you burn your clothes; if you step on hot coals, you burn your feet. And if you go to bed with another man’s wife, you pay the price” (Proverbs 6:23-29). God wants us to have a healthy respect for sex. On the one hand it is something beautiful - like a fire in the hearth, but he warns us that sexual relations is like playing with fire, it has dire [dreadful, ominous] consequences. We ignore the obvious consequences namely, STD’s, HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy. The less obvious, but nevertheless just as serious consequences, we don’t even consider namely, loss of innocence, loss of the specialness of the marriage, loss of your own dignity and worth. We don’t have to debate it, we see that those who don’t heed God’s warning pay the price one way or the other.
James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.” We see this happening in the life of King David. David was at the right place at the wrong time. When the other kings were off to war, he remained at the palace. When he saw a beautiful lady bathing, he gave in to his desires instead of heading the warning of Proverbs - “Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, Neither let her captivate you with her eyelids“. Once the desire is ignited, you forget everything else. Once the desire is inflamed, it cannot easily be put out. That is why you cannot make sensible decisions in the heat of the moment. David tries to cover up his sin, trying to deceive Uria whose wife is pregnant with king David’s baby. When deception does nor bring the desired result David plans to have Uria killed. (cf. 2 Sam. 11:1-27). David paid the price for this transgression. He suffered the consequences the rest of his life.

What do we learn from this example?

• Stay away from places/ situations you know will be tempting.
• Guard over your mind because one thought leads to the next until your desire is inflamed.
• Make a sober minded decision to obey God and his statutes;
• and work out a strategy, then stick to it.

God treats us as rational, responsible human beings who don’t have to give in to their urges. Joseph is a good example (Gen 39:6-12).

Xenophobia has become a big problem all over the world. You even get an organisation “The International Organization for Migration” (IOM) which was established on 5 December 1951 in Brussels under the name of “Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration” (ICEM) in order to support the migration and resettlement of displaced persons and refugees in post World War II Europe. The organization has offices in over 100 countries globally. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. IOM serves migrants and governments by providing and processing organised movement arrangements for persons in need of international migration assistance. To this end, it maintains agreements with most major airlines, and has the capacity to mobilize emergency movements via air, sea and land. It also seeks to create an understanding of migration issues, and help find ways of ensuring migrants can contribute to the economy and the social development of their host countries. Achieving these objectives becomes easier if migration is managed in a way that recognises the human dignity and well-being of migrants.
Reality is, however, that migration of great numbers of foreigners has led to the estblishment of large communities of foreigners, putting the economy and the available resources of the host country under strain. Further more the saying, birds of a feather flock together, expresses the way we identify those that are different from us socially and eventually isolate them from us. But is such partiality acceptable?
I believe partiality is sin because we are not showing the goodness of God to people when we are showing favouritism. We decide this one should be treated differently from that one, because we decide this one is more deserving than that one on whatever grounds. This is how people generally treat others. We who are imperfect become judges on the wrong grounds. We who have limited knowledge and are temporal want to judge other people.
We judge on the grounds of accidentals and externals - mere appearance. Showing respect to elderly and to a person in an important position is OK. But to say this lady looks important by the clothes and jewels she is wearing, or this guy is rich, he must be influential, therefore I better treat them well, are the wrong reasons for dealing with them. These are judgements on appearances.

How would it be for us to put ourselves in their shoes, be on the receiving end of xenophobia or other forms of prejudice. That is why we should keep the royal law - the supreme law over all human relationships: treat others as you would want them to treat you.
Another question to consider is, where is God’s heart on this matter? “The LORD your God is more powerful than all other gods and lords, and his tremendous power is to be feared. His decisions are always fair, and you cannot bribe him to change his mind. The LORD defends the rights of orphans and widows. He cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing. And you should also care for them, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Dt 10:17-19). Isn’t this where our hearts should be?
We should measure ourselves by Jesus and not by other fallible people. Jesus did not cling to his equality with God, but gave it up, identifying with us - the least and the worst, taking the position of a servant. Why? So that he can share his kingdom with us. He wants to give us a part in the sphere of rich blessings that he has available. This is the glory of God: Jesus showing/ demonstrating the goodness and fullness of God to us.
Isn’t this exactly why people today increasingly believe that God is absent in our world. The church is reacting exactly as the next person on the street. But we will again show God’s presence in the world by showing the family likeness with God in treating people like He does. Then they will believe that He is impartial and in so doing they can also share in the rich eternal blessings of God. Then we will contribute to the  cause of IOM by treating people with dignity and worth.
Consider this scripture: Jms 2:1-4, 8-9 - My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you won’t treat some people better than others. Suppose a rich person wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings. And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes. You must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor. That is the same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would be acting like a crooked judge. … You will do all right, if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves. But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned. (Contemporary English Version)

Surely you have had the experience that as you leave a shop a vagabond / child approaches you for a contribution. The hopeful, pleading eyes, sometimes ragged clothes makes an indelible impression on you. I detest it when people beg off me when my wife and I leave the restaurant with nice full tummies. Why do we work?
We are very aware of the curse on work because we experience the stress and strain of our daily tasks. But it is not the task itself that causes the hardship, as Charlie Brown once said, “I love mankind, its people I hate”. Then suddenly the tramps and beggars seem to be well off. They don’t have the hassles and worries that the rest of us struggle with. They live a simple lifestyle, and take life as it comes.
Work is actually very noble because God worked (cf. Gen 2:2); He planted a garden (Gen 2:8); Jesus worked as a carpenter (Mk 6:3). We are created in His image therefore we work (Gen 1:27-28). Many kinds of trade is mentioned in the Bible (Gn 4:17-22). We should find joy in work (Eccl 2:24-25) “The best thing we can do is to enjoy eating, drinking, and working. I believe these are God’s gifts to us, and no one enjoys eating and living more than I do.” (Contemporary English Version)
Is work just earning a salary or is there more to it? John Stott defines work as the use of energy (manual and/ or mental) in the service of others (community and/or God) which brings fulfilment to the worker, benefit to the community, and glory to God.
The focus nowadays is so much on fair wage, decent conditions, security and a measure of participation. People go on strike when they perceive these conditions to be unsatisfactory or threatened. But what value do we still place on job satisfaction?
Job satisfaction comes from being useful, being of service. Three men were breaking stones with big hammers in a stone quarry: A passer-by was interested to know what motivated the people to work so hard in the hot sun doing such a mundane job. So he asked the first one what he was doing. He replied very irritable, “Can’t you see I’m hewing stone”. He approached the second person with the same question. The reply was, “I’m earning money”. Approaching the third person with the same question, he stopped working, & proudly said, “I’m building a cathedral. The stone from this quarry will be used for the cathedral to be built on the hill there.” The last worker got most job satisfaction, because he saw a greater purpose in what he was doing. What about you? How far do you look? Oh, alright how much job satisfaction do you have?
What we achieve in this life has limited worth. What we achieve for God has eternal value. No, that does not mean you can only find eternal value when you become a pastor. My wife is a guest house manager. She can have a short sighted view of what she is doing: Managing the workers who make the beds, cook the food & do dishes; earning a salary; bearing with demanding customers. Or she can have an eternal perspective: The work she is doing is to enable a missions organisation to reach the unreached with the Gospel. What is the motive driving you?
In the light of everything said above, we have to agree that unemployment is a curse. But we must not lose sight of the fact that there are people who don’t want to work. Some of them define begging as the effort they put in to ask people for favours. They say it is hard work standing in the hot sun all day, facing the wrath of some people. It requires dedication. Do they, however, render a service to anybody? Is it of benefit to the community? The car watchers also stand in the hot sun all day, but they render a service, although their work is not very challenging (it is potentially dangerous). It is of benefit to the community, because it helps to limit crime and in many cases prevents damage to your vehicle.
Those people that have been retrenched or lost their jobs are needy. Suddenly their purpose and value in life has been diminished. Shouldn’t the local church welcome and support them? Shouldn’t the church share (Eph 4:28 - “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.” ; Lk3:11 - “John told them, ‘If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.’”)?
People are quick to remind you that we have a responsibility to provide for our families (1 Tm 5:8). What about the family of faith who is in need? Are the church members involved enough with the unemployed?
I think we should revisit the issue of work and do more to promote the attitude of service and finding job satisfaction. We also need to look further for the greater purpose of why we are doing things, so that we can glorify God.

All over the world the word “freedom” has become fashionable. What does freedom mean for you? We see ourselves as liberated people - nothing restricting us. Free from burdens. It is my right to claim.
Basically we think of freedom as doing what we want. Even freedom of speech boils down to saying what we want. It means that we can make our own choices. We are free to watch “adult movies”, do “adult” things. We decide what clothes we wear, where we go to. As a teenager I did not want to become a Christian because there were still things I wanted to do. To demonstrate how free I am I start smoking. I decide what girls/ guys I want to date - the “sophisticated” ones that know what they want. The more they want what I want, the higher the points they score with me. Many times this degenerates into indecency. I decide I don’t want to do boring stuff like going to church service. Night clubs/ Disco’s are interesting places. But things don’t always go peacefully there. People get into disagreements that gives rise to strife, party intrigues - messing around with someone’s girlfriend, jealousy, fighting. My life in actual fact becomes miserable and before long I begin indulging in unrestrained drinking bouts.
Now lets be honest about it. This dark scenario doesn’t happen over night. One thing leads to another and one day when I look at my situation it has become out of hand. I may make feeble attempts to change things: wrong girlfriend, wrong night club, wrong friends, wrong drink, so I change them. But basically I still continue on this road I started walking some time in the past.
Mabe you don’t identify with the foregoing scenario. You are living a quiet suburban lifestyle doing what you want: on a Sunday morning I will cut my grass; go fishing; take my girlfriend/ family for a picnic; visit friends/ family; just sleep in; or do whatever I want to do.
But are the people that think and behave like both these scenarios really free? We are struggling with a lot of social ills, but we prefer to tend to the symptoms and not address the root of the problem.
Our fallen human nature is twisted with self-centredness. My desire as a teenager to do as I wanted, directly put Self at the centre of my life. I replace God with myself: I decide what is right and wrong and nobody tells me what to do. How often is our primary consideration for doing/ not doing something: What do I get out of it? In what way will I benefit from this?
What happens when somebody frustrates my desires? I get into temper tantrums, quarrels and fights. Jesus said, the one we obey is the one we become enslaved to. Thus we are not free but have become enslaved to our Self. Tit 3:3 sums it up pretty good: “We used to be stupid, disobedient, and foolish, as well as slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were evil and jealous. Everyone hated us, and we hated everyone.” (Contemporary English Version)
First of all we must ask, do I want to be freed from dondage to self? Dr Phil’s response is crucial: How is it working for you? How can we be freed from our bondage to Self? Way back in 1562 two young men Casper Olevianus (26yrs) and Zacharias Ursinus (28 yrs) asked the question: What is your only comfort (happiness; satisfaction) in life and death? They gave the following answer [my paraphrase]: My only comfort is that I do not belong to myself, but to the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed me from sin and freed me from the dominion of Satan.
God calls us to freedom from the awful bondage to Self. He calls us from trying to win His favour through our own selfish attempts. He calls us to approach Him without restriction as his children. Have you heeded his call? What is your comfort in life … and death?