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Troas was a city in the northwest corner of Asia Minor. The Apostle Paul arrived in this city after trying to preach the Gospel in areas called Mysia and Bithyina. But the Holy Spirit led him to Troas instead.

Troas was a cultural and commercial hub but also had a huge religious significance in Greek mythology. As Paul and his companions spent a short time in Troas, they brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Troas. It was in this city where Paul saw a vision of a man in Macedonia calling him: “come over to Macedonia and help us”. Paul concluded that God had called them to preach the Gospel to the people across the Aegean Sea which was part of the European continent.

New Churches sprung up in Macedonia and Greece, but also in Troas. Years later Paul travelled on his farewell tour visiting the Churches he had established. He had agreed that he would reunite with some of his co-workers in Troas. When Paul arrived he and his companions stayed in Troas for seven days.

The day before their departure the whole Church was gathering on the third floor of an upstairs building. After breaking the bread and sharing Holy Communion Paul started teaching the Word of God. As it was getting late they put on the many lamps that were located in this upper room.

Paul continued to share the Word of God with the believers who had gathered to learn more of the plan of God for their lives. Probably the room must have been filled to capacity. Therefore a young man called Eutychus sat in an open window. Paul kept speaking until midnight giving the believers as much as possible of the bread of heaven. Eventually Eutychus fell into a deep sleep. As he was sound asleep still sitting in the window he fell down from the third floor. He was picked up dead.

Paul immediately went down the stairs, bent over him and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry” he said, “he is alive!” When the young man rose up everyone was greatly comforted and relieved. 

This story serves as a dramatic demonstration of the power of God and the authority of the Apostle Paul as a representative of Christ. Paul’s ability to bring Eutychus back from death underscores the miraculous nature of his ministry and reinforces the message of faith and salvation. Paul did not accept Eutychus to be robbed from the family of God.

But this story has also a deeper symbolism for us today. Eutychus falling asleep during Paul’s teaching can be interpreted as an illustration for spiritual lethargy or apathy. When the Word of God could no longer find entrance into the heart of Eutychus he lost balance, fell and died.

There are times in our lives when we become distant to the Word of God. The Word of God is the source of our life and when we do no longer listen we are in great danger. We begin to lose our balance and begin to doubt God to come through in our situation. 

In the natural world, we understand that without a regular intake of food we become weak and might even harm ourselves if we don’t eat for a prolonged period of time. Ultimately our body can’t survive without nourishment.

What we easily understand in the natural world we do not fully comprehend being true in the spiritual realm as well. God teaches us that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthews 4:4).

Eutychus could also be an area of our life, a dream or a vision that has become dormant. When God first communicated with us about the purpose of our life, our future and our dreams we got very excited. But along the way we get entangled with all kinds of worries which leads us to lose our hope that God’s promises can indeed come true. We at times try to make the promises come through in our human strength and when this fails we get discouraged to such an extent that we are in great danger to throw God’s promises overboard. 

The promises God gave us through His Word must not die and even if one has already died there is still hope.

Thank God, the story of Eutychus gives us an assurance that God can renew and even resurrect our broken dreams to new life again. Paul, the carrier of the Word embraced the dead body of the young man giving him breath and life back again. What happened to Eutychus in his physical life can also  happen through our spiritual life by the renewal and awakening of the Word of God. This Word will be a deposit of God’s Grace into our areas of need. God revives what has died! 

Let us be encouraged by the way this story ended. 

God speaks the Word of His Grace into our lives and revives everything that has become tired, weak and dead. His Word is able to resurrect all the shaky and even dead areas in us to a new overwhelming and joyful life again. Never give up. Joseph had to wait for between 13 and 20 years until all the dreams God had given to him became reality. 

We must never panic but rather seek to get new courage, energy and life from the eternal Word of the Lord. His Word never fails! It will never return to the Lord without having fulfilled its mission (Isaiah 55:11).

Your Eutychus must live!

Make sure that you expose your Eutychus to the Word of Life. 

There is power in the Word of the Almighty God! Trust Him.

Caesar Augustus decided to conduct a census in the Roman empire. This census required all the people to go to their home towns and register there. Since Israel was part of the Roman empire at the time Joseph and Mary had to travel from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the city of David, as Joseph was from the house and line of David. They had to travel despite Mary being pregnant. (Luke 2:1-5)

While in Bethlehem Jesus was born as Micah the Prophet had foretold in Micah 5:2  “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” 

It needed the ruler of the Roman empire to redirect Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, otherwise Jesus would have been born in Nazareth.

Take note: Even world rulers are in the hand of God!

About one thousand years before the birth of Christ another baby was born in Bethlehem. This was David, the great grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:16-17). David is a central personality in Old Testament times. Apart from being King for forty years, David was also a Prophet. David was the author of over 70 Psalms. The Psalms are songs, prayers and prophecy.

Amazingly, David wrote Psalm 22 which is a description of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. Jesus was speaking his last words and they came from Psalm 22.1: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthews 27:46)

Many details of Psalm 22 are reflecting the agony that Jesus has gone through at the cross:

Verse 14: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.

Verse 16: …they have pierced my hands and my feet.

Verse 17: I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

Verse 18: They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. (John 19:24)

Verse 15: My strength is dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust of death.

David also reports of the victory that Jesus would gain on the cross and His work among the people Verse 19-31.

Verse 27: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him

Verse 28 ..for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

Verse 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him…

Verse 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

Verse 31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn – for he has done it.

Praise the Lord! This was written about one thousand years before it happened and some details are still to happen in the future.

This is an amazing insight given to David by the Lord he served. 

One more example of David’s prophecies is Psalm 110. In this Psalm we read a prophecy that allows us to look behind the curtain as it reports a conversation between the Father and Christ the Son:

Verse 1 The Lord (Yahweh) said to my Lord (Adonai): Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Verse 2 The Lord (Yahweh) will extend your mighty sceptre from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

Verse 4 …You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

There are many more of David’s Psalms which are of a prophetic nature. God is the God of all times, the God of eternity.

God tells us:  Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. (Isaiah 46:9-10) 

God’s Word was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That’s why we need to study it and pay attention to His eternal Word giving us revelation of the plans of God.

This is the Word that gives us life, light and direction. Without His Word we are just floating like logs in the currents of our confused times. Students of His Word stand on a solid foundation and must never be shaken!

Let us not get tired of being good students of God’s Word.

Helmut Reutter

Most people only know what they want, but they have no clue what God wants! And yet, Jesus asked us to pray that His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthews 6:10)

If we are asked to pray that His will should be done on earth, which really means it should be done in our own lives, then we need to seek to understand His will. God has given us His Word so that we can explore the will of God.

One day a Pharisee asked Jesus: “What is the greatest  commandment in the Law?” (Matthews 22:36)

Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. He added, ‘this is the first and greatest commandment’. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” This was another quote from the book of Leviticus 19:18. After answering the question about the greatest commandment Jesus made this astonishing statement: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthews 22:40)

Once these two commandments are fulfilled the Law and the words of the Prophets of God are fully being taken care of. 

Imagine a world where these two commandments would be followed by everyone without exception! Our world would be guided by the love of God that would find expression in how we treat our neighbour. Selfishness would be a thing of the past. If all people would live in this way in totality it would bring to an end all fights for money, superiority and pride.

After the Pharisee got confirmation (he already knew the scriptures) of what the greatest commandment was, he wanted to justify himself asking this question: And who is my neighbour?

This prompted Jesus to share a story of a man who fell into the hands of robbers. After they stripped and beat the man they left him to die. A priest happened to travel the same road and when he saw the man he passed by on the far side. The story repeated itself when a Levite walked down the same road. He equally squeezed himself to the other side of the road and was gone. Eventually a third man arrived at the bloody scene. The traveller was a Samaritan. He would have been despised by both the people who passed there earlier on. Those religious guys looked down on Samaritans as they did not consider them being part of God’s promises.

But unlike them, the Samaritan saw the man and took pity on him. But he did not end feeling pity, he got off his donkey and bent over the victim carefully treating his wounds and eventually bandaging his wounds. (Luke 10:29-37)

You can only know the wounds and pain of your neighbour if you get close enough. This Samaritan humbled himself in his determination to help. He was not self centred like the two travellers before him. He took the time to attend to the needs of this unknown neighbour spending his own resources of oil, wine and bandaging materials. And he did not even end there. He put the man on his donkey, transported him to the next care facility and paid for the expenses even into the future. When he left he assured the caretaker to whom he entrusted the patient that he would come back to take care of all possible expenses that could arise from the treatment of the patient as well as of his upkeep. This is what true insurance is meant to be.

After Jesus had finished the story He asked the clever Pharisee: “Which of the three was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers”? The Pharisee  replied: “The one who had mercy on him.” After this confession out of his own mouth Jesus told him: “Go and do likewise.” 

The question to us would be soul searching: Do you know the wounds of your neighbour? 

If we do not it is just because we never took the time to draw close enough when we saw the need from a distance. We might even come up with a story and add insult to injury.

Yet those who are true neighbours will make the sufferings of their neighbour their own and attend to the need as the Samaritan traveller has done.

Now we know what God wants! If we DO the will of God, it will change our world.

Jesus’ command to us is still the same: “Go and do likewise.” 

Helmut Reutter

We need help!

We human beings live in a space that God has entrusted to us. If we just take a few minutes to think about this, we will realize that this space has lots of limitations.

Think of our ability to see: We can only comfortably see about 120 degrees of a 360 degree spectrum. This means, we can see about one third of the reality that is around us. Of course you can turn your neck or even your body which will allow you to see all 360 degrees around you. But in reality, our heads are focused forward which limits our vision. Should there be a danger just behind us we will not see it. This is why we need another person to be near us and warn us of impending danger.While our eyes may be good, the eyesight of a number of animals is far superior. A buzzard for instance can spot a rabbit moving its ears from three kilometres (two miles) away. Eagles are able to even see UV light which allows them to see far more than we humans do.

What about our hearing?

A typical human being can hear sounds between 20 and 20,000 Hz. If we get older we even hear much less. An Elephant can hear sounds 20 times lower than humans. Dogs can hear up to about 50,000 Hz. But Bats and Dolphins can even hear far more, they can hear sounds as high as 100,000 Hz. Beyond all these are Radio waves, wireless communication which are in MHz or GHz bands. To make such sound waves audible we need radio receivers that translate these high frequencies into audible frequencies that we are able to hear.

Why do I talk about this?

We must accept that man’s perception is subject to boundaries that God has set. Therefore our knowledge is always partial. Mankind has studied the night sky for hundreds of years. As a result we have come to know a lot about our Universe, yet our knowledge is subject to many constraints which we cannot overcome. Despite our ever more powerful technology we just find out so much of what we can’t find out. Our natural world gives us many frontiers that we cannot overcome.
When it comes to spiritual realities in the world of God we are even much more deficient as we cannot see spiritual substance. The only way we can learn about the plans of God is through God’s Word. But even then we must have a regenerated spirit (be born again) in order to understand the ways of God revealed in the Bible.  Our knowledge of God is very minimal. About His marvellous plans we know very little.
Therefore we must be diligent to learn about the nature and the plans of God. If we miss Him and His plans for our lives we will waste our lives on this earth. It is a tragedy that people do not recognize their needs despite all the limitations human beings have. God teaches us through this, that we should seek Him, because those who seek shall find. And yet Psalm 10:4 tells us: In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.  – We can’t afford to be proud as the consequences are devastating as we are told in Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

The lesson we need to learn

No matter how brilliant we may be, we all need the help of the people that God has placed around us. Every child needs teachers, this we may easily accept. But it is equally true for adults. Don’t look down on others, you may just require the input from the person you feel is inferior to you. You are not an island, God made us to support and encourage each other. Begin to see the great value in those people God put into your life. Don’t ever think you don’t need them, you do!But we also need God in our lives. This is why Jesus promised us that He would never leave nor forsake us. He is always on call! The question is, are we calling?Jesus told us before He went back to His Father, that He would send the Holy Spirit to be our Guide and our Counselor to be with us forever. Everyone of us needs the guidance and the counsel of the Spirit of God so that we do not miss His ways.

The agony of hindsight

After we get caught because of our mistakes or when our sin catches up with us we often come to the conclusion: I should never have done this! But then time will have already been squandered and at best we might be able to do is to start all over again. Therefore receive the outstretched hand of God: He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. (Psalms 25:9)
Therefore let us be wise and humble ourselves as we seek the help of people and above all the help of our creator. Life is short and there will be a point of no return when it is too late to correct our selfish ways.
We need help, we all do.

The good news: Help is available today!

Building a life of greatness

Hidden in the story of King David we find a powerful description of the road to greatness. It is probably common to all human beings to aspire to greatness. Deep in our human existence is a desire that seeks to propel us to greatness. It is very unfortunate that many misunderstand this desire and therefore get derailed as life proceeds. Since we live in a world of good and evil, some get caught in questionable pursuits for material riches, no matter what methods are to be used.

But greatness is not the same as being rich in material possessions or being famous. Greatness that is found as a seed in all of us is meant to lead us to an inner strength and excel in life and be a force for good in our world.

Greatness is diametrically opposed to selfishness. A good definition of greatness we find in the life of Christ. If we consider His life, we can see an example of who and how we all should be. He is the Son of man, the prototype of a person after whom we should all be fashioned.
The Bible calls Him the second Adam (Adam simply means man), because the first Adam who should have been our example and prototype failed in his mission to give us accurate direction for our lives. Therefore God sent a second Adam who gave us an accurate representation of the greatness that God yearns for all of us to achieve.

Let me take you back to the life of David, whom God once described as a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). In a very short description in 2 Samuel 5:7,9,10 we discover the road to greatness that we can all travel.
“David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David. .. So David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward. David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him.”
This passage of scripture reveals our way to greatness.

When David became King he could not rule the whole of Israel. The country was divided and therefore he was crowned King of Judah in Hebron where he reigned for seven and a half years. Thereafter David and his men went to Jerusalem, also called Zion where they conquered the Jebusites and took possession of Zion, which became known as the holy place of God. From then onward David lived in the stronghold of Zion and called it the City of David. Zion is a picture of fellowship with God. He expelled the enemy from this defiled place that then could become a sacred place from which he now ruled in fellowship with his God.

Then David built all around Millo, which was a Defence terrace and from there he built inward. This is a powerful reference of David building his house, more specifically his family and his nation. The word built is the world Ban-nah in Hebrew, pointing to family. Ban comes from the word Ben meaning Son. So David built inward, making his nation and his family strong. In future the descendants of David would be called the House of David.

Then the Bible testifies that David became greater and greater. But this could only happen because the Lord God of Hosts was with him (Verse 10).
There is so much truth in these few words.
In Hebrew it says because “Jehovah Elohim” was with him. These are two words both used for God. We should know that “Elohim” is plural. In Deuteronomy 6:4 we read: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! Here we have the same names for God Jehovah and Elohim. The Lord is described as one, but the word used here is not a numerical one, but rather the word for united one.

This points to the fact that David had a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This explains the reason for David’s greatness and influence. It is for this reason that God called him a man after His own heart.

The God of the trinity is also the God of hosts, referring to all creatures God created in the invisible world of God. Jesus on the cross told us that He could command legions of Angels to come to his rescue. But He did not do this, because we required salvation which could only materialise through His death.

Therefore greatness in our life comes from our living in Zion, in the presence of our God. Greatness requires fellowship in our house as we build a strong family. Greatness is the result of our closest relationship with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Then He will not only be the God of Hosts (Army) in the heavenlies, but He will be our guide and our commander in our daily life as well. This will bring us to the fulfilment of the deepest desire inside of our hearts:
A LIFE OF TRUE GREATNESS.

May we all follow the example of David into a life of true greatness.
Let us increase in greatness!

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For many people life is limited to their own personal interests and ambitions. People go to great lengths in order to achieve their own dream, if “necessary” even step on the legitimate rights of others. This is the calamity of the world we live in. It is marked by selfishness and egotism. This explains why some people are hoarding currency and property of astronomical value, while others are languishing in poverty.

God had a very different plan for His creation. He created our world and put man in charge of earth to give them the chance to live in harmony with their creator and in concord with God’s creation. God designed our life on earth as a preparation for life in eternity in the very presence of our Heavenly Father. But since God created man in His own image, He had to put mankind into a place where everyone could exercise their freedom and make any decision, whether it would be in line with the plan of God or not. That included the possibility that man would turn his back on God and even hate Him. Yet God still created us, because His love desired to find more recipients of His glory and goodness, His grace and His love.


No wonder God created an elaborate Universe and more specifically prepared a beautiful Garden for the very people He created with great love and in His own image. This place was so amazing that it was also called Paradise. It must have been an amazing place with overwhelming vegetation and amazing opportunities to develop a world reflective of the very attributes of God, based upon His never ending love.

But the Garden that God entrusted to man needed to be protected. This was one of the assignments God gave to man. He made man a ruler of the jurisdiction of earth. This was necessary for man to learn to be a ruler just like His creator.
Earth is a miniature Universe that God created as a training ground for man. This included the fight against evil and selfishness. Man was to learn to be generous, learn to be a giver, just like God.

Satan, the enemy of God, knew God’s goodness. He also knew that man had a free will. He made it his mission to corrupt that free will of man that he would no longer walk in the glory and goodness of his generous creator. He wanted to inject his own nature into man, the nature of selfishness, of egotism and of evil. This is the operating system of the devil and he attempted to make it the operating system of man as well. 
If he would manage to install this system in the heart and mind of man, then man would no longer flow in God’s glory and be in harmony with Him. Rather he would become subject to all his evil intentions, he would become his slave. Unfortunately for mankind, satan managed to corrupt man. Sin destroyed the divine operating system in man and got permanently infected by the virus of sin and evil.

This resulted in a broken relationship. Sin became a barrier that man could never cross. God could not cross this barrier either since it would have meant instant death to the fallen creature. Man could never have remained alive had He appeared in His glory.

However God had a plan of how He could appear on earth without causing harm, but rather bring us salvation. For this God had to become human, just like us. This plan of God was extensively foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament.
Eventually the plan of God was executed when Jesus was born of a virgin as the seed of God was implanted to Mary through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus grew up and lived his life on earth without sin. In this way he could become our saviour. Despite doing good throughout his ministry he was hated as he was beaming light into our dark world. The people who lived in darkness and enjoyed their stay in the condition of selfishness and pride became increasingly more uncomfortable. Their verdict was clear, that light needed to get extinguished. Eventually His own people managed to have Jesus nailed to a cross. Jesus died! While he was brutally killed by this roman way of a torturous, slow death, this is not what actually killed Jesus. He died as a result of the judgment of God over sin. While Jesus never sinned he yet accepted to carry the sin of all of mankind. On that cross all sin of mankind got judged! This cost Jesus his relationship with his Father in Heaven as he cried out: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthews 27.46) But because Jesus had never sinned, death could not hold him and he bounced back to life. It’s only sin which gives death the right to hold us as slaves. Paul told us that “the wages of sin is death but that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

It’s when we receive this gift of God, eternal life in Christ that the original plan of God is being restored. Now we can live in the glory of God once again. God transforms our old way of life and makes us into people who carry His nature. We now fit into His family where God always desired us to be. Now we can overcome the evil one and be more than conquerors through Christ who loves us (Romans 8:37).
We are now getting trained to reign in life through Christ (Romans 5:17).

Let the nature of Christ become evident in our lives! Let His peace and humility prevail even during this week’s election. Let us exercise the love and goodness of our Lord. This is our mandate!

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Jacob was on the run.

He had to leave home as his actions caused a rift in the family. Jacob had disguised himself as his brother Esau and brought his father choice food. Isaac his father was old and almost blind and he therefore prepared himself to pass on his blessings to his son Esau.

But Esau had already sold his birthright to his brother Jacob. God was displeased with this action, because Esau despised his birthright and the blessings from God.
Rebekha, the mother of Esau and Jacob had her own experience during her pregnancy with the two boys that were in her womb. As she had faced some challenges in her pregnancy she inquired of the Lord about her condition. At the time God gave Rebekha a word of revelation. God told her that two nations are in her womb and that eventually the older boy would serve the younger one.

As they grew up Esau became a skilful hunter and treated his father to good food. So became his father’s favourite. Jacob on the other hand was content to stay at home among the tents. He became the darling of his mother. (Genesis 25:21-26)

When the time came for Isaac to pass on the blessings to his son Esau, Rebekha heard of Isaac’s plan to bless Esau.Rebekha encouraged Jacob to appear before Isaac instead and present food that Rebekha would cook to the liking of her husband. So Jacob disguised himself and presented the food his mother had cooked. For sure, Jacob got the blessings that Isaac had intended for Esau.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob and planned to kill him. When his mother learned about the plans of Esau, she urged Jacob to flee and find refuge with her brother in Haran.

Scripture tells us: Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.  Genesis 28:10-13 (NLT)

Jacob was a refuge, he was alone and probably anxious he was wondering what his future would be like. As he lay down to sleep with a stone as his pillow he had a dream.In this dream he learned about a reality that he did not know. He was in a remote place but he was still connected to the heavens through a stairway from the earth up to heaven. God had not rejected him and not forgotten about him. More so, there was angelic activity on the stairway and Angels were going up and down the stairway. This is an amazing revelation. God showed Jacob that he was served by Angels who were going back and forth between him and His God. The Bible tells us that Angels are God’s servants who are sent to serve those who inherit salvation. (Hebrews 1:14)

But the most stunning and surprising fact was that God himself was standing at the top of the stairway.  He was standing, denoting action and He was facing Jacob. God had risen on behalf of His servant Jacob. And that was not all. God spoke to Jacob introducing himself as the God of his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.  God used these precious moments to let Jacob know that He would continue the same covenant He had with his fathers with him as well. To underline His promise He repeated the words that He had spoken to Abraham and to Isaac during their journeys of faith.God assured Jacob: I am with you and I will watch over you wherever you go.. (Genesis 28:15)

When Jacob woke up he made a powerful statement: Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it. He called this place the house of God and the gate of heaven.

What Jacob experienced is not unique to him alone. In Christ we are sons of the living God and He is equally working on behalf of all of His sons including you and me. It could be that you have been in situations like Jacob. Maybe you are in a dark valley right now. Let me assure you that God is looking out for you just as He did for Jacob. We are assured that Christ intercedes for us in the presence of our Father in heaven. Nothing escapes His attention. He knows exactly what you are going through.

Through these few words God wants to encourage you that He guides you despite difficult circumstances and that He assures you of a great future as you journey forward on the road He has marked out for you. Be confident, He is on your side. His Angels are keeping you safe until you have fulfilled the purpose of God on this earth. 

You are blessed!

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Without courts who deliver righteousness and justice in our world, we are in trouble.

Imagine you live in a world where laws are ignored and everyone does what comes to his or her mind without any consequences.Very quickly evil would become ingrained in society. Mankind would quickly get into a downward spiral without hope of escape.There are many examples of this in history and in the Bible. In the days of Noah evil had become the order of the day.
Genesis 6:5-6 tells us:  The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. – (NIV84)

To restore sanity in the world, God had to execute judgement in order to remove all the evil. God was grieved and pain filled his heart. Nevertheless, God restarted His relationship with Noah and his family. But soon evil was still raising its ugly head again. God was in a dilemma. On one hand He loved the people that He had made. But on the other hand, God is righteous and can therefore not tolerate evil.Parents may understand this dilemma in a small way when they have to execute punishment to the children they love.

The book of Judges tells us that the downward cycle of evil continued to happen even amongst the people He showed so much love and care. Israel had seen the miracles of God like no other nation on earth. And yet we read in the Book of Judges:After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. Judges 2:10-11 (NIV)

The statement “they did evil in the eyes of the Lord” appears at least seven times in the book of Judges.Only when God appointed a Judge would sanity be restored in the land.
Sadly, this is the story of mankind. Man sinned and the result was death and evil.Thank God, this is not the end of the story. God decided to work for the redemption of the people He created in His own image.
Consider the powerful word of John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  – (NIV84)

Jesus Christ became the lamb of God who carried our sin. He endured the judgement of God on our behalf at the cross of calvary. Jesus was innocent, but He agreed to carry our iniquity and our judgement.
It was hard for God to judge His own Son, but there was no other way for our salvation, unless evil and sin were to be judged.This is what the prophet Isaiah declared over 700 years before Christ came: Isaiah 53:5-6: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  – (NIV84)

This is what Easter is all about. Forget about Easter bunnies and sweets. Rather meditate upon the judgement that Jesus carried on our behalf. Only when we believe in Him are we free of judgment and can live in peace with God and fellow men.

Helmut Reutter

Through many generations people have heard and followed the call of God. Those who have followed the Lord’s call have become co-workers with Christ in building the most unique and magnificent structure that has ever been known in the creation of God. For this building to materialise it was not enough to just speak a word of creation as God had done it so often before. This time Christ, the son of God had to come into this world, he had to become flesh and blood like us. Sent by the Father, Christ became flesh and became known to us as Jesus, the son of God born of the virgin Mary.
The purpose of the coming of Jesus was to build the very structure that he called the ecclesia (Church). Jesus said to His disciples: I will build my ecclesia and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matthew 16:28). What is the ecclesia which today we call the Church? The ecclesia are people coming out of darkness (the quarry of this world), who are broken loose of the slavery of sin and who are becoming the precious living stones in the light of God, out of whom God is building His ecclesia. While we may be meeting in houses of prayer which we call the Church, the ecclesia is not a physical building. It is the most glorious building ever known to man and God.

For this ecclesia to materialise, Jesus had to sacrifice His own life, His relationship with His beloved Father and become the object of sin and judgment. The one who was without sin agreed to carry the sin of all mankind so that all mankind could have the opportunity to come back to our loving Father. The invitation is still going out into all the world: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest!” (Matthews 11:28).Those who follow this call are not just able to come into the light of God, but they will be transformed into precious, shining stones, full of life and full of God’s grace. The apostle John had the privilege to see into the future and describe the structure to us, called the New Jerusalem (see Revelation 21).This is the city that Abraham was looking forward to by faith: For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:10)

This is the only structure built on earth that will remain in eternity. All other structures will vanish. This is the reason why we should follow the call of God and become co-workers with Christ in building this amazing city of God. To begin with, we are ourselves to be stones in this city, but we should also help others to become part of God’s wonderful building. It is a privilege to be part of God’s construction of the city that will last for eternities. All of us are called to join hands in this most amazing project the world will ever see. Many have gone before us who were part of God’s construction team. Today it is our turn. When our time is up, there will be others who will continue with the work under the supervision of Christ. Yet no one who lives by faith will lose out.Hebrews 11:39-40 tell us:  “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
We are all on a journey. Those who have run their race eagerly await our arrival so that together we can witness the unveiling of the city of God.  Why don’t you start to imagine the glory and the lavish celebration that we will have in the very presence of our loving God!
In anticipation and excitement I remain,

Helmut Reutter