Author: Confex Makhalira

Confex Makhalira is a a husband, father, pastor, missionary, and writer.

Love: The Story of John

John one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ is an interesting character.  We first read about his problem with anger in Luke 9:51-56 in which Samaritans have refused Jesus a passage to connect to Jerusalem.  John is angered by Samaritans and he asks Jesus if they should command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans. Jesus rebukes John.

Later on John writes his First Epistle and the major them of the letter is love. “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer… he writes in 1 John 3:1, 15.  “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God,” he adds in 1 John 4:7.

What happened to the old short-tempered John? It is no doubt that the time that John spent with Jesus from the incident of Luke 9:51-56, John learnt more about love from Christ. The power of the love of Christ steadily transformed him and anger and selfishness slowly gave in to love.

This is what happens when we spend time with Christ. The more we turn our eyes upon Christ, the more we become like him. The more we look at the cross of Christ, the more his love fills and controls us. The world can, continually, remind us of the need of love for each other  but it is only Christ that will enable us to love truly.  Without Christ, there shall never be genuine love in this world.

When Success Eludes God’s Children

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose,” boldly declares Romans 8:28 (KJV).

It is good that the verse clarifies that it is not for everyone that all things work together for the good. It is only those who love God and are called by him. Those who are called by God are his children. So, in other words, the verse says that all things work together for the good of Christians.

It is one thing to accept this verse as it is it appears on the pages of Scripture and it is quite another to accept it in real life experience. We are living in the world that exalts success. Everywhere we go, achievements are lifted high and rarely do we hear stories of failure. It is as if failure does not exist. Even in churches we share our victories in Christ and hardly do we share otherwise.

This has led many to believe that Christianity and success are synonyms; however, this is not true. Christians also face failure. However, what differs between Christian and non-Christians is that the former have a comfort that God in all things (including that failure) is working for their own good while the former regards it as a hindrance to their brighter future.

This is not to mean that Christians accept their failure and sit down. Not at all! They work hard to succeed yet at the same time they realize that failure is not out of God’s plan for their life. A very well known American theologian, A.W. Tozer, once wrote that Christians travel an appointed way.  This is true. Everything that happens in our life including failure was already ordained by God even before the foundations of the earth were laid.

Therefore, we should never regard failure as a weird thing in the plan of God for our lives.  Believe you me, God will allow failure to come our way as long as it is part of his plan for our lives.

Salvation and Good Works

The fifth and last trustworthy saying is found in Titus 3:8 and reads: “This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.”

Good works do not produce salvation but salvation produces good works. For sure, salvation is by the grace of God and there is nothing we do to earn it yet true salvation will always produce good works.  This is what Apostle Paul is stressing in this trustworthy saying.

The relationship between salvation and good works has sometimes caused confusion but I believe God’s Word clarifies the issue better in the saying. Every Christian is saved to do good works.

The only difference between good works of a Christian and a non-Christian is that a Christian does good as a result of the Holy Spirit who has come into his life. It is this Holy Spirit who motivates and gives the believer the grace and desires to please God by doing what is good.

A non-Christian, on the other hand, will do good works hoping to be accepted by God and usually driven by the natural guilt that is in all those who don’t have Christ due to original sin of our first parents which all of us are born with.

Reflections on my 2013 Birthday

Today, I celebrate a gift of over three decades in this world from our Father whom all blessings flow. As the day is progressing I have taken some time to reflect on my journey of thirty plus one years. One thing that has lingered in my mind is the truth that God can do all things and no single plan of his can be thwarted (Job 42:2).

Over the years, especially, the time that I have been a Christian, I have fully understood that God’s plan for my life cannot be frustrated by anything or anybody. Where I am today and what I am doing today is exactly what God planned before the foundations of the earth were laid.

This is a source of my comfort, especially in hard times,  hence I can’t  agree more with what Martin Luther once said, “… the greatest and only consolation of Christians in their adversities, is the knowing that God lies not, but does all things immutably, and that His will cannot be resisted, changed, or hindered.”

But life is not only about hard times, there are also good times. In those good moments too, it is also of great consolation to know that God is still in control. Another instance this morning has even confirmed this great lesson even more.

Last year in November, I was offered a place and tuition scholarship to study at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS).  Like any other person who would find themselves in my shoes, I was very excited. Then the process of planning to go and study begun which eventually led to visa application then to visa interviews. Now, the thought of  ‘visa interviews’ sent a cold chill down my spine, particularly, as I faced the possibility that my application could be turned down and my cherished dream to study at PRTS would be shattered.

The process of visa interviews began today at 8 O’clock in the morning. My wife and I passed through all the necessary stages then came the last stage of actual interviews. Our names were called on a speaker within the waiting room and we went into the ‘interview room’ our hearts in our mouths with the fear of being denied the visa.

To our amazement, the interviewer just asked very few lighter questions like why did I chose PRTS of many seminaries in USA. She also asked my wife and I regarding our previous visits to US respectively. Then she found out when we got married and confirmed if we met at African Bible College where both of us were students. Then, that’s it! Visa granted. “Come tomorrow afternoon to collect your visa…good luck,” she ended the interviews.

We could feel our hearts settling down as joy and amazement took over anxiety and fear.  Just like that? Yes, just like that. Then we recalled that “God can do all things and his plans cannot be thwarted.” It was God’s will and plan that we get the visa today which also happens to be my birthday and nothing or anybody could stop that.

Friends, may this great truth also comfort you both in joy or pain. Never ever forget to remember that God will always accomplish his will. William Cowper was right when he composed that famous hymn, God moves in a mysterious way, and said:

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.

Oh, what an amazing God!

Christian Husbands and Fathers, Where are You?

This other day I was chatting with a friend and we ended up discussing false teachers and prophets that are rampant nowadays.  My friend then remarked: “Especially, women and youth, they are easily taken away by these false teachers and prophets. Whenever a person rises up and claims to be a ‘man or woman of God,’ you will see many women and youth flocking to him or her.”

Without giving it much thought, I agreed with my friend but later on as I reflected on this conversation, I realized I was wrong. In as much as we can blame women and youth and say that they are easily taken away by false teachers and prophets, men, especially husbands and fathers, are equally to blame.  My point is: most of these women and youth that my friend described as ‘easily taken away’ are wives and children. Now, what do the husbands and fathers of these women and youth do when they see these things?

I asked myself this question because to some degree, I think that some of us men, especially, husbands and fathers, are not providing the spiritual leadership we are supposed to give in our homes and churches. Scripture is clear that God has entrusted spiritual leadership both in the home and church to men (husbands and fathers) (1 Timothy 3:1-13).

Failure to provide this leadership both in the church and home will lead to scenarios like the one I have cited above where women and children will fall into the trap of false teachers and prophets. Believe you me, when men fail or chicken out from providing spiritual leadership in their homes, the homes will crumble, churches will crumble and nations too.

Consider the fall. When we read Genesis 3, we notice that Adam failed to provide spiritual leadership when his wife, Eve, was being tempted by the serpent.  Scripture tells us that Adam was with his wife when the serpent was tempting her. We read in Genesis 3:6:  “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her” (ESV, italics added).

Adam was with Eve yet the Scripture does not record any word or any action from him. He probably just kept quiet and watched his wife being misled by the devil.  So, we see that Adam’s passiveness when his wife was being tempted led to the entry of sin into the home, church and nation. Can’t the same be said of us, Christian husbands and fathers, when we let our wives and children to be led astray by false teachers while we are there watching or we have busied ourselves with other things less important than the spiritual lives of our wives and children?

Furthermore, when Christian men fail to take up their leadership roles in the church, women end up being forced to provide the leadership which is not Scriptural.  For instance, in my denomination, there is currently a great and hot debate regarding women taking leadership roles in the church as elders and deacons. Some, basing on the testimony of Scripture are opposing it while others are for it. Yet what surprises me most is that more women than men in my church attend services of worship on Sundays and mid-week prayers. Where are the men? I don’t know.

Now, when the time to nominate leaders for the church comes, even though some women will accept and understand that church leadership is for Christian men, they are somehow forced to nominate women because few men are available to take leadership roles in the church.

Please get me right here. I don’t intend to justify disobedience to God’s Word. The end never justifies the means. However, this is the reality that Christian men should ponder on. I still believe that some of us men are running away from our God-given responsibilities and roles and we are letting women down.

It is also not my intention to put the whole blame on men in regard to the spread of deception nowadays but still I feel compelled to say that we men need to do soul-searching on these matters and see if we are really providing the needed spiritual leadership in our homes and churches.  The question that ought to linger in our minds is: “Where are Christian husbands and fathers when wives and children are falling prey to the deception orchestrated by false teachers and prophets today?”

Christian men, please rise and stand up and be counted. Of course, the battle is not physical but rather spiritual. It should, therefore, be our prayer that God will grant us the  grace and strength to help us in providing leadership in our homes and churches. Really, this is not about us but Christ.  His grace is always sufficient for us, so let’s lean on him as we rise to take up our God-given leadership roles and responsibilities. Can I get an “Amen” on that, please?

Death and Life in Christ

The fourth trustworthy saying is found in 2 Timothy 2:11 and reads: “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him.”

It is believed that the verse is a part of an early Christian hymn.  The death and life mentioned in the saying should be regarded in two ways. First, it is in reference to physical death. All believers who die in Christ have assurance that after this life, they will live a far much better one with Christ in his glory. This is why physical death should never be a threat to believers since although Christians die, they still live (John 11:25).

Secondly, the life and death in the saying should also be looked at spiritually. Anyone who believes in Christ for salvation dies to his old life and begins to live a new life.  This is why Apostle Paul also said: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Galatians 2:20).

Salvation in Christ refers to death to old-self and life in Christ.   Dietrich Bonheoffer was right when he said: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” We die to our old-self so that we can live in and  with him.

Our Defense Lies in Prayer

“We know that our defense lies in prayer alone. We are too weak to resist the devil and his vassals. Let us hold fast to the weapons of the Christian; they enable us to combat the devil. For what has carried off these great victories over the undertakings of our enemies which the devil has used to put us in subjection, if not the prayers of certain pious people who rose up as a rampart to protect us?

Our enemies may mock at us. But we shall oppose both men and the devil if we maintain ourselves in prayer and if we persist in it. For we know that when a Christian prays in this way: “Dear Father, Your will be done,” God replies to him, ‘Dear child, yes, it shall be done in spite of the devil and the whole world.’ “- Martin Luther

Godliness

The third ‘Trustworthy saying’ is found in 1 Timothy 4:8, 9: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.”

Timothy being a young man was most likely involved in some sporting activities. Apostle Paul then takes advantage of Timothy’s knowledge of sports to communicate an important truth. He tells Timothy that physical exercises are good but they cannot surpass the need for godliness in a life of a Christian.

Now, godliness does not just come automatically in ones life; there is a need for deliberate effort to pursue godliness while still relying on God’s grace. This is why the apostle is bringing in the analogy of athletics.

In as much as athletes train for physical fitness, Christians while relying on God’s grace should ‘train’ for godliness. This is where spiritual disciplines like studying God’s Word, prayer, fasting, meditation and others come in.  Christians should not neglect these things.

It is also true from the saying is that Christians should always bear in mind that all the things we do in this world will pass away but only that which is done for Christ will last. Therefore, Christians must always seek to glorify Christ with their lives. Remember:

“Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last” (Anonymous)

This is not to discourage Christians from participating in other activities that the world offers us like education, business, sports, and music.  Let’s get involved in these things; however, we should never at a single time let them take the place of God in our lives because they will one day pass away but our relationship with God through Christ is eternal.

 

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The Noble Task

The second ‘trustworthy saying’ is found in 1 Timothy 3:1 and reads: “Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.”

The words ‘Overseer’ and ‘Elder’ are used interchangeably in the Bible (Acts 2:17, 28; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:1-2). This, therefore, means that an overseer is an elder and according to Scripture the duties of an elder include teaching and preaching God’s Word (1 Timothy 3:2), directing the affairs of the church (3:5) and guarding the church from error (Acts 20:28-31).

There is a false belief which says that one should not openly desire to be a Christian leader or an elder and those who openly express their desire are regarded as ‘unspiritual or prideful.’ However, according to 1 Timothy 3:1, this belief is unbiblical. Christian men should desire to be elders or to provide leadership in the church.

The Church is in a sad state today because some Christian men have run away from their responsibility of teaching and preaching God’s Word. Sad to note that some Christian men have chickened out from their duty of guarding the church from error hence false teachings are rampant nowadays.

The Scripture is encouraging Christian men to be deeply concerned with this status quo. Christian men should desire the duty of standing up for God’s truth and guarding the Church from error. This is a noble task.

 

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