Are You Hungry?

I love a good home cooked meal.
Kim makes the most delicious roast chicken you've ever tasted.


We all need to eat.
Our body makes a demand that we have to obey.
Eating is as natural as breathing.
We eat to get energy and we eat for the enjoyment.
But most of all we eat to live.


If you starve yourself you may survive for a few weeks but eventually you will die.
Not from sickness or disease, not by the sword or the gun.
You will starve to death.


The exact same is true of our spiritual life.
However I really don't think we truly believe this.
But Jesus said: It is written. That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4.


Did you hear that? Man shall not live on bread alone...
In other words, if all you eat is physical food then you will not live.


So many christians are starving themselves day after day after day.
As a result they are weak, tired and have absolutely no energy.
It is a type of madness that fails comprehension.


When a person suffers from a weight related issue like anorexia, it is well understood that they are sick. It is a sickness.
Well the church is full of anorexic christians.
People who simply refuse to eat - or are so unhealthy that they only eat spiritual snack food like a verse here or there.
Do not be deceived! You cannot live like that!


If you want to experience a victorious life in Christ then you must become power-FULL in Him!
And the only way to become FULL is to eat as much as you can!


I think one of the problems people have with feeding on the Word of God is that its not their acquired taste.
It does not allow them to continue in the sinful lifestyle to which they have become so accustomed.


The bible even calls itself by food names.
It is bread, milk, meat and honey.
It is a completely balanced spiritual diet.
Don't settle for anything less than fresh from the word produce folks!


Why have soya when you can have meat?
Why fill yourself up on the musing of "other" authors when you can feast on the purest words on earth?
Are you feasting on the Word of God?
Or are you just nibbling on a sunflower seed here or there?


My sister suffered from anorexia and the hardest part of her recovery was getting her to see what she truly looked like.
In reality she was as thin as a rake but when she saw her reflection a fat person was looking back at her.


When you look into the mirror what do you see?
A healthy christian FULL of power and ready to serve God?


Well let me tell you the reality.
If you are not feasting daily on His word, through bible study and prayer, then I do not care what you see, I see a stick thin, starving very sick christian who will not be able to stand the trials of like that are sure to come.


Are you feeling hungry?

Who Are You Striking Against?

Picture from the telegraph.co.uk

With all the strike action affecting all South Africans I though i’d share some thoughts on a christian perspective on what is happening.

Working is God ordained.

In His plan for creation God made man to work.

We work to provide for our families and this is something God takes very seriously.

In his second letter to Timothy Paul wrote that “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 2 Tim. 5:8.

But what about the strike?

Is is biblical to take to the streets and use fear and intimidation to have your demands met?

Well before we answer this lets us examine our attitude towards our chosen profession first.

Paul had this to say to the workers in Colossians:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

This single passage reveals the truth behind the attitude of the heart.

This concept is almost alien to us today.

Who nowadays works to please their boss?

We work to get paid.

Paul is saying that our work should not be done in an attitude of getting paid, but rather that we should work to please our employer!

The fact that we even get paid should not be a motivator.

How can the Lord expect this of us?

Especially since many of us work for Beelze-boss  himself it seems!

The answer is found in the next verse:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Paul is saying that we must understand that in reality the person we are really working for is Him.

Your boss may be your employer but He is your Provider and your attitude towards your work should reflect that truth.

The Word makes no exception here, Its is speaking to slaves who had no union to protect them.

The truth of the matter is that as children of God we serve God in EVERYTHING that we do.

I have had many people come up to me and say that its easy for me to as a pastor to be faithful because I work for God, whilst they work for a secular employer.

This is a deception!

You do work for God, wherever and whatever you do your attitude should be that of service.

Lets look at the next verse:

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

The strikers in the streets feel that they are owed something. We live in a society where everyone wants to be a victim.

But, you may say, what about the employers? Don’t they also need an attitude adjustment?

Probably yes, but it is not for us to adjust.

There are no favorites here in the sight of God.

If the master treats the slave unfairly then the Lord will repay his wrong for wrong.

And vice versa.

Chapter 4 speaks to the employer:

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

Ha! there you have it! its the employers fault!

Not so fast.

Here we need some interpretation and some contextualization of the word “fair”.

What is fair?

When is fair replaced by greed?

This is open for debate but in our country with an unemployment rate of over 25% it needs to be looked at very carefully.

Workers will always be under the impression that they are underpaid.

And employers will always want budget cuts.

There is no middle ground here. History has shown us this.

However with over one million teachers striking that 25% looks set to increase.

(or perhaps the striking medical workers will solve the problem by neglecting the dying and thus lowering the number of unemployed who rely of government hospitals.)

At the end of the day, or month by the look of things the only one who will suffer are the ones already in need.

If the teachers were true teachers then they would do what the Lord called them to do: Teach. And they would do it as unto the Lord.

Do we want to be Blessed?

Blessed - Its a word that we use so often. From an automatic response to a sneeze to a greeting and farewell.
But do we really want to be blessed?
What do we even think the word means nowadays?


Most folk would agree that to be blessed is to receive material and spiritual benefits from God.
And i thinks thats a pretty accurate description.
However I do also feels that most people tend to desire more of the material than the spiritual.
In our modern world we would not call the poor widow who gave her all blessed.
We would not call Elijah and his flour blessed.
We would never think of John and his diet of locusts and honey blessed.


And so we often look at our lives and take inventory of them by looking at only the material and for many of us this can only lead to one conclusion:
"Wow, but I sure am blessed! I must be doing something right."

However, the Bible tells us how we can be blessed, truly blessed from God in all matters.

This is how the blessing of God flow into our lives.


Psalm 1
¹ Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
²  But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Now ask your self this question:
"Is this Psalm a representation of me?"
If not then your conclusion of being blessed and doing something right is inaccurate.

In Christ we have received all God's spiritual blessings, and because of that we should desire to please Him.

The only question that remains is "Do you want to be blessed?"
If so then seek God's perfect will for your life and submit to Him.

Welcome to Rudy's Blog.

Good day all!

With my blogs growing in popularity I though a change in location and functionality might be better.
Blogger allows me to archive my blogs and gives me greater flexibility with regards to content and function.

I will still share them through Facebook and I ask you to please share them as well for your friends and family.
It brings me great joy to bring the Word of God to you and to hear how you have been encouraged this day by His wonderful Presence and power.

So watch for my links and please share them for the Lord's glory.
In His Masters Service
Pastor Rudy Du Plooy