Author: Mark Davidson

I often find myself wondering how the world has gone so crazy, so quickly. Things that make absolute no moral sense, are being sold to us as being kind, loving and accepting. And the scariest thing about it all, is that we are allowing ourselves to think the way the world does.

There’s something we need to understand. It is in our nature to be selfish. Human beings desire to be accepted and we seem to be willing to do anything, for people to like us. Even when that means we let go of what is right, and we grab on to what is popular. When we allow what’s happening outside of us, to change our moral compass, we are changing from the outside, in.

Clearly, that doesn’t mean we need to condemn people in the world who are simply acting on their need for acceptance. What we as Christians need to do, is to lead by example. We need to be the ones who don’t allow the water around our hulls, to leak into our boats, letting us sink into an ocean of immorality. We need to sail firmly, without leaks, and show the world that there is another way.

When we experience the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we begin to understand that He is the only One who can save us from that dark ocean. With Him in our lives, there is no more need for acceptance from others. The desire might be there to please the world, but the need to do so is gone. Because Jesus’s acceptance is the only acceptance that counts.

When we realise that, we allow His Spirit to change us from the inside out. Our ‘life’ boat begins to span its beautiful sails in an otherwise, dark ocean. We then make it possible for the ‘dark waters’ around us, to see the beauty of a life impacted by Christ. Our minds and our hearts start focusing on eternal things. In so doing, we ‘sail’ with purpose, and there is no more ‘sailing’ blindly in life’s ocean. Our eyes have been opened to the things that really matter and we are directed by our ‘Lighthouse’ – Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderful day.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)

Yesterday we spoke about being ‘homesick’. And that’s how we will feel until the day we close our eyes here on Earth and open them in Heaven.  Because, until that day, we are not yet home. Until that day we can never truly settle and feel completely at home. When we look at what’s happening around us, it is clear that the ‘wrong thing’ has become the ‘right thing’ in the eyes of the world.

But, as citizens of Heaven, we have been given ‘Heavenly eyes’ to look around. There is no need to look at things the way the world views it. We need to look at things through God’s eyes. Through His eyes, there are broken people. Through God’s eyes, there is eternal hope despite the temporary chaos. The choice to live for God in a world that despises Him, is not easy, but it’s simple. Just do it!

It’s easy to lose hope in a hopeless world. But it’s simple to be filled with hope because we serve the One who is Hope! It’s easy to become despondent because of our circumstances, but it’s simple to know that God loves us despite what’s happening in our lives. All we need to do in order to confirm that, is to look at the cross. We may be living in difficult times, but it is a simple choice to put our trust in Him. It’s the best thing we can ever do!

Have an amazing day!

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Wow, what a wonderful part of Scripture. I’m not sure about you but living in this world is getting more and more uncomfortable. But let me say this… That’s a good thing. We know that this world is not our home. Our home is in the presence of God, who longs for us to come home. But while He chooses for us to still be here, we have a purpose.

I want you to put your hand on your chest. That heart that is still pumping means that we still have some work to do here. It’s not work in order to earn God’s love. Because that’s impossible. It’s work He is calling us to do because He longs for everyone to come Home to Him one day. So, He is calling us to be His hands and feet in a broken world. That is what Paul is talking about.

The day will come when we will be called home! To tell you the truth, I can’t wait for that day. A day when I will stand face to face with my Saviour, and worship God the Father, for eternity. A day when the only scars in heaven, will not be on us, but on the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. But until that day, let’s continue to run the race.

Be encouraged, that whatever pain you may be experiencing, whatever hurt you may be going through, it’s temporary. This journey we are on might be hard, but the race has already been won by Christ, for us. The cross brought heaven to Earth, but there’s still more to come – an eternity with God in our eternal home. The question isn’t ‘if’ it will happen, but ‘when’ it will happen.

Have a blessed day.

The answer to the age-old question, “What’s the purpose of life?” begins to reveal itself when we look at the cross. What millions of people have been trying to figure out since the beginning of time, was planted on Golgotha. Two beams of wood that was meant to destroy one man, brought life to all of mankind.

Trying to find purpose in earthly things, will only lead to earthly disappointments. All material things are temporary. What’s the point in placing our identity in them? When we do, it simply means that we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. Stock markets can crash, and the housing market can plummet. Our health can fail us, and our popularity can dwindle. Yet, those are exactly the places where society is telling us to find our security.

On the other hand, finding our purpose in Christ, will always lead to heavenly joy. When we look at the cross, we see the vertical beam reaching to the heavens. The horizontal beam is reaching out to all of mankind – every tongue and every nation. But it would be two meaningless pieces of wood without our Saviour. Because of Him, we can reach out to heaven and have a relationship with God the Father. Because of Him we can reach out to our neighbour and share God’s love. And that, my friends, is the purpose of our existence.

So, let’s be bold and live a life that looks beyond our own selfish desires. Let’s take our eyes off the mediocrity and safety of the shore. Our purpose is found outside our comfort zone. It’s found when we swim towards the horizon, knowing that we can’t do it on our own. Only when we look beyond what we are capable of doing, and we start trusting God to use us out of our depth, do we truly begin to live a life of purpose.

Have a wonderful day!

There are so many motivational quotes out there about what would matter at the end. Even though they’re all great quotes, they mean nothing when standing alone.

Listening to the ‘gurus’ of our time may motivate us, but it will soon dissipate because it’s based on nothing of substance. They may help us to take our focus off our circumstances and weaknesses for a while, telling us that we can do anything we put our minds to. But soon enough, the cracks reappear. And it will continue to happen, because by nature, humans cannot sustain themselves in a broken world.

I remember running the Two Oceans. It’s 56km of exhilaration, pain and perseverance. You run the first 20km or so, loving the scenery and feeling strong. Then you hit Chapman’s Peak, and what had been feeling like total control, evaporates into utter insecurity. “Will I make it up this mountain?” doesn’t only echo in your mind, it echoes through every muscle in your body. Once you reach the top, hope begins to well up when you see Hout Bay come into view.

But by the time you’ve run the equivalent of a marathon, you reach Constantia Neck. It’s a crazy steep hill that ‘tells’ you to give up. And you begin to seriously consider it. But then you remind yourself – “Only 12 more km’s!” And you keep going, because you can ‘smell’ the finish line. Everything in you, is telling you that you won’t make it, but the will to finish softens the voices of doubt, and the cheering on the side of the road lifts you to a new level.

I’ve chosen a long way around to share my point today, but I think it makes it more practical. At the end of the day, we all need something steadfast and eternal to focus on. If we live our lives believing that there is no God, then we will never have anything steadfast to hold on to. In the end, God is the One who has created me. He’s the One who longs to walk with me. And He’s the One who is cheering me on every step of the race.

If I trust on my own strength through life, I will continuously fall and become despondent. But if I put my faith and trust in God Almighty, I become strong when I am weak. Satan can come with all his attempts to make me give up, but when he does, l choose to listen to my God, cheering me on to finish strong. In the end, knowing God by accepting Christ Jesus as our personal Saviour, is the only way to keep our eyes on the finish line.

I’m not sure of you, but I want to finish this race strongly. And when I do, I long to hear God say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

Have a wonderful day knowing who you are in Christ.

Entitlement happens when we’re all branches and no roots.

We are living in a society that wants more than it is willing to work for. We have an, ‘I want it all, and I want it now’ mentality. The reason why the world is so confused, is because we are made to believe that we can build our lives without working on a firm foundation. It’s all about perception and what things look like to the naked eye.

Obviously, foundations are not seen. So modern-day mentality would be, “Why waste time on something that can’t be seen, when all that matters is appearance?” When one looks at social media, there’s nothing there about the unseen. In fact, it’s all about appearances. If someone gets a lot of likes on a post, they must be cool. If someone has millions of followers, we admire them, even if we don’t know anything about what their foundation is like.

In the same way, we look at massive trees and admire what we see. The truth of the matter is, that if the unseen part of that tree hasn’t been well-developed over many years, what we see, wouldn’t be there. It’s time that we begin to focus more on the unseen, than what our eyes tend to tell us. The time has come, for us to be more concerned about the roots in our lives, than the branches.

“Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” (Matt 13:21)     If we become so focused on our appearance that we forget about what roots us, we will soon wither. It’s time for Christians to spend more time in The Word, than in the world. We need to spend more time in pray, than in frivolous chatter.

The fakeness of the masks we wear to impress others are temporary and there is no security to be found in it. However, the absolute truth we find in having Christ as the Cornerstone in our lives is undeniable. So, let’s start by building strong roots embedded in the heart of the Father. When that happens, our branches will reach into the heavens and proclaim His majesty forever.

Have a beautiful day.

H

In the movie ‘Troy’, Achilles tells King Agamemnon how he wishes for a king who would fight his own battles. In Jesus, we have a King who went a step further – He fought our war against sin, and walked out of the tomb, victorious.

You see, Jesus didn’t fight the battle for His own benefit, as all kings do. Jesus certainly didn’t die for His own benefit. He did it for one reason alone – Love. He fought the battle against sin on our behalf and He smashed it. The stone was rolled away, the tomb is empty, and we are victorious for a battle in which we never needed to fight. Never again, do we need to be chained by our past life. No more, does sin have a hold on us if we choose to honour the King who fought in our place.

The mention of Barabbas, a miserable sinner, being set free instead of Jesus, is our story. Every one of us is Barabbas. We have been smudged by sin; some more than others, but nobody is blemish-free.  When God saw the depth of sin that mankind had sunken into, He could have left us where we deserved to be left. But not our God. He chose to be Emmanuel. He chose to be with us in bodily form and hang on the cross in the place of Barabbas. He took our place! What other king would do that?

And because of that immeasurable love He has for us, we never again need to be afraid. Jesus has beaten death and has won the victory for once and for all. All we need to do, is to invite Him into our lives. He left the tomb empty, so that He can live in our hearts.

Have a wonderful day knowing that, never again, do you need to fear Satan or his lies. The battle has already been won. Live for Christ and experience the victory.

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon he said, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior.”

The measuring standard of the world is so out of whack. Those who focus on themselves and spend time building their own image are congratulated and celebrated.  People are being called heroes for doing the weirdest things, and as a result, others look for that same recognition and step out even further into the obscure. Recently, two relatively unknown characters decided to write a song, call it ‘Unholy’, and act it out on one of the most watched stages. They were called heroes!

The most dangerous place to find ourselves is when, to be accepted by the world, becomes the purpose of our existence. If we choose to find our identity in what the world thinks of us, we will end up living a lie for a world that doesn’t really give aa hoot about us.  If we want to find our identity, it can only be in God! We all want to be confident in this life. The only place we can find true confidence, is in God.

Gideon was a nobody in the eyes of the world. He never gained recognition amongst his peers. He wasn’t an important man. In fact, he came from the lowest family, from the lowest clan in the lowest tribe. In the eyes of the world, he was a nobody – a small scale farmer. Who the world considered to be a nobody, God called a mighty warrior. Gideon went from considering himself a ‘nobody’ to leading a nation into the most unlikely victory ever. He took 300 men, with no weapons, to defeat an army of 130 000 armed and trained men. Not because the world said he could do it, but because he chose to believe what God said about him.

When we put our trust in a steadfast God, instead of a wobbly world, we begin to see that we are undefeatable. Satan has already lost. God has already won. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in us and there should be nothing we fear. Because with God, we are always a majority even when it’s 300 against 130 000. There is no longer a need to fear when we put our faith and trust in Our Heavenly Father. John 1:12 tells us that if we receive Christ, we are given the right to be called children of God. And if Our Father is for us, who can be against us.

So, let’s accept that we are mighty warriors in Him. We don’t need the world’s approval to make ourselves feel loved. Christ died for us so that we might live. That is the ultimate proof of love. So, today, know that you are loved, not because of what the world says, but because of what Jesus has done on the cross. Be bold, be confident, be fearless and take on those giants you are facing. Because you are a Mighty Warrior.

Have an amazing day!

I was looking for a fuzzy quote about grace, but there’s nothing fuzzy about it. God’s grace, cost His Son, Jesus, His life. It meant that the King of the universe, stepped down from His throne, into a world that had no time for Him, and gave His life for every single person. The mind-blowing thing about grace, is that Jesus died for every single person who ever walked and will walk the face of this Earth. Even for a sorry little sinner like me.

My prayer of thanks rings up to heaven every single day. Not because I want to ask God for anything. But because God has already done everything for me… on the Cross. Why would God, who is Almighty and the Creator of all things, choose to die for me? There’s a single word that can sum it up – LOVE. I have a song in my heart that no man can silence, or no circumstance can mute. It’s a song of thanks to God. A song of thanks because there was a day in my past, when I realized I needed Him more than anything the world could offer. A day when I realized that I was lost.

And now that I know that I know that I am safe in His arms, it is impossible to be quiet. How can I keep it to myself what my Lord and Saviour has done for me on the cross? I have prayed before, that God would break my heart, for what breaks His. And I can tell you that my heart is shattered. When I look at the world and the hatred that is spewed out towards the very One who is stretching out His hands to all, it breaks my heart. When the world sets out to ‘downgrade’ God to a hateful bigamist, it breaks my heart.

I’m going to be blunt right now. There are so many of us who have things too easy. Our Christian walk doesn’t require faith because things are too comfortable. How willing will we be to stand up to the attacks of the world. Every day we see the church giving in to the wokeness surrounding it. In a world we have been called to be the light, we have chosen to join the darkness. It’s time for Christians to stand strong and to pray less for the things we would like – for selfish things – and pray more for a world that is hopelessly lost.

The world is not evil because of those who do wrong and don’t know better. It is evil because of those who know better yet do nothing to shine the light of God in a dark world. So, what will it be?