Truth Memoirs

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME The phrase money is the root of all evil is very popular to a point that there is also a view that the only way to accumulate real wealth is by getting involved in shady deals. As a result wealthy people in some circles are always viewed with suspicion WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS Money is a medium of exchange in this world; it is a resource from God that allows people to obtain what they need to live. There are many things in this world that money can be used for so how can it be the root of all evil?  In Matthew 6 :31 - 33 Jesus tells his audience to stop worrying about material wealth instead they should focus on God and he will provide for their needs. I believe with this scripture Jesus is teaching me to change my perspective on money and treat it as a resource and not the source because God is the source of everything. In other words, I should focus on the creation and not the Creator to stay on in his will. CONCLUSION Money is not the root of evil but my perspecti

WHAT THE WORLD IS TEACHING ME When I Googled what is the most important thing in life a lot of different things come from different sources but almost all agree that relationship with others is the most important thing in a human life. WHAT IS THE BIBLE TEACHING ME: In Mark 8 :37 Jesus asks what could be more valuable than my soul? The soul is defined as a life principle, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body. In other words all human actions is decided  in my soul. This the reason God wants to capture my soul God wants me to make Jesus Christ the Lord of my souls. It is through the soul  that human action is driven i.e. it is the engine of my human action.  When I give up my soul to Jesus Christ I am guaranteeing the eternal future of my soul through the salvation that comes with this commandment and I am making it easy for God to use me as a vessel for his purpose and to bless others My relationships with others are valuable but

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME I grew up believing that God’s interested in ensuring that I  live a happy life. I believed that my happiness is a sign of God’s presence in my life. WHAT FAITH IS TEACHING ME  I am a fan of Formula 1 and Lewis Hamilton is my favorite Formula 1 driver at the moment. This weekend was a finale between him and Max Verstappen, unfortunately for me Max won it As a Lewis Hamilton fan this did not go down well with me. The morning before the race I secretly prayed for Lewis Hamilton to win because his win would have made me happy in a very long season where nothing seems to go my way and I was convinced that God will grant me this prayer so I can have some happiness even if it was for a short while. But it was not to be. The outcome of this race really scared me and for a brief moment I doubted my faith because there are other consequential things I am waiting on God for and if he would not deliver on this none consequential outcome then I am in trouble. I even quest

WHAT IS RELIGION TEACHING ME?  Through religion I have always believed that my knowledge and practice of religious rituals completes my love for God.  WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY: Religious practices are man- made and will therefore they will not complete my love for God. In 1 John 2:6 I am taught that when I obey the commands of Jesus Christ and follow his example of how to live life only then does my love for God is made complete. My love for God is made complete when I obey the teachings of Jesus Christ and follow his example on how to live. CONCLUSION: My knowledge and practice of religious rituals does not  complete my love of God but obeying the teachings of Jesus Christ on how to live life makes my love for God complete.

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME I have always seen the Bible as a book of rules for Christians to follow. WHAT THE BIBLE IS TEACHING ME God exists in the spiritual realm and we exist in the natural realm this means with our natural eyes we cannot see or perceive God. In his wisdom God provided us with the Bible so that with the help of the Holy Spirit we can get to know him and to know his character and that knowledge empowers us to have our spiritual eyes opened so we can perceive and experience God. The Kingdom of God is a place in the spiritual realm where everything is under the authority of Jesus Christ. I believe God does not want us to wait for the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ before we experience his Kingdom; he wants us to experience it while we live here on earth. The Bible  guides us on how to live here on earth as if we are in heaven. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we immediately receive the Holy Spirit which enables us to understand the Bible and also helps us im

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME I have been taught that God does not want to see me in unpleasant circumstances which is why he is interested in changing my circumstances whenever I face unpleasant circumstances. WHAT THE BIBLE IS TEACHING ME God wants to use me to fulfill his purpose and to be a blessing to others, but due to my sinful nature I am by default unable to submit to his direction Romans 8:7. Therefore God allows unpleasant circumstances in my life so he can use them to change me so that I can learn to submit to him so he can fulfill his purpose and bless others through me. Joseph said it better in Genesis 50:20 - You meant evil against me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  In other words the enemy is responsible for all the bad in my life but as a child of God, he uses that bad to accomplish his purpose by changing me. CONCLUSION  It is true that God does not want to see me in unpleasant circumstances but he is more intere

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME I grew believing that to demonstrate my love for God I have to attend church regularly WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ME The Bible teaches me that to be an effective Christian I have to be an active member of a Bible teaching Church, so regular church attendance is a good thing for me as a Christian. What I am also learning from the Bible is that regular church attendance is for my benefit as it is where I can grow Spiritually within a community of like minded people. Therefore going to church demonstrates my interest in my spiritual growth. In James 1:12 I am taught that those who remain faithful to God while facing trial are blessed and will receive a reward that God promises to those who love him. In other words it pleases God when we remain faithful to him even in our times of trouble and he rewards us with the blessings promised to those who love him. CONCLUSION Regular church attendance is for my benefit but remaining faithful to God even in times of trouble  is

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME I have always understood that Jesus took up the cross to save me from taking the cross. WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ME In reading the Bible  I came across a scripture where Jesus tells his disciples if they truly want to follow him they must be willing to share his cross (Matthew 16:24) . I believe Jesus is implying in this scripture that if I want to follow him I will also have to take up my own cross. So then the question remains why then did he come to earth to be killed on the cross if not to save me from going to the cross? I believe Jesus came to earth to teach me the Good News about the Kingdom of God and  to fulfill God’s purpose for his life i.e. to reconcile God with humanity.  He took up the cross to demonstrate to me that in order to fulfil God’s purpose for my life that is what I will have to do. CONCLUSION Therefore Jesus did not take up the cross to save me from taking my cross  but he took it up  to demonstrate to me that to fulfill God’s purposes for

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME I have always believed that the commanded God gave to his children that they should not worship other gods/idol other than him was given for his benefit because he is a jealous God.  WHAT MY FAITH WALK EXPERIENCE TEACHES ME A few weeks ago while on my morning run I noticed an Allen key lying on the road. I ran past it but something said I should pick  it up as it was a small sized key which I had always struggled to find and I might need it someday so I went back and picked it up, put it in my pocket and continued with my run. I never thought about it again. A week later my wife told me about a fixture in the kids bathroom that had fallen off the wall and needs to be fixed, I knew it required an Allen key and I also know I did not have the right sized Allen key for this job, I  tried using other tools but I could not find the right tool and my wife then told me about an Allen key she saw in my son’s bedroom so I tried it but it was one size too big so I cou

I grew up with the understanding that the purpose of prayer is to inform God about my expectations so he could fulfill them, but  I did not know what to make of it when  my expectations were not fulfilled as I expected. This  led me to ask questions about whether I prayed hard enough or long enough? Or even question the existence of GOD. I never asked these questions out loud but they were there at the back of my mind. So when I saw the headline “ Ace Magashule humbled by prayers ahead of corruption trial” , I paid attention because in South Africa it is common to see a politician or a prominent individual running to church for prayers when they find themselves in trouble. This always bothered me but previously it did not bother me enough to do anything about it.  The fact that churches even complied with these politicians and in some cases they even invited them made me wonder about the purpose of prayer. It seems to me I am not the only person who thought the purpose of prayer is to

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME Doing what makes you happy is a popular motto where I come from this means pursuing happiness should be the ultimate life goal WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS Joy is deep-rooted, inspired happiness This deep rooted inspired happiness endures hardship and trials and connects with meaning and purpose.  God is the source of joy and we experience it when we focus on Him by obeying and trusting Him. It is the secret to contentment and it is  God’s good and perfect gift that is eternal Benefits of pursuing deep rooted inspired happiness : It not only impacts our souls, it also has a positive impact on our health.  It brings us peace that protects our souls It positions us to be always be in God’s presence so not to lose our confidence It reminds us to give our burdens to God through prayer so we do not allow ourselves to be pulled in various directions in times of crisis It helps us focus on the present instead of worrying about the future It allows us to experience divine pleasu

WHAT THE WORLD TAUGHT ME: The truth is subjective because it is based on a person's perspective, feelings, or opinions. Everything we know is based on our input - our senses, our perception. Thus, everything we know is subjective. WHAT GOD IS TEACHING ME There is a Bible scripture that says when we are in a Spiritual Warfare we should not fight it in our own strength but instead we should put on the Armor of God and in the passage it refers to the TRUTH as the belt in the armor of God. The Bible commands to put on the belt i.e. TRUTH when in Spiritual Warfare. This scripture has been a battle for me as I have been trying to apply it my life, mainly because I kept asking myself which truth because I thought TRUTH was subjective. I then initially thought TRUTH refers to the Word of God but the same passage refers to the Word of God as a sword in the armor of God. Recently while in my morning devotion it hit me. The TRUTH that is being referred to here is the Gospel message which tell

Recently a friend made the following comment ”having faith in oneself is better than having faith in some imaginary dude from Israel”. In another unrelated incident a friend sent me a video of Sadghuru - a very popular Indian yoga guru and proponent of spirituality - where he questioned why people loved Jesus when he died 2000 years ago. These incidents are making the assumption that Jesus Christ is just another Prophet  and  they are also questioning his validity and relevance today. As a follower of Christ I obviously believe he is more than just a prophet and he is very relevant today as he was 2000 years ago. Here is why. He is our bridge  to God When Adam and Eve disobeyed God that led to us being separated from God but God has been creating a bridge that will enable us to reconcile with him since then .This bridge is Jesus Christ, when we acknowledge him we receive God’s Spirit through which he reveals his purpose for our lives He is our teacher Jesus also came to teach us about

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME: I have always understood that true wisdom starts with great knowledge and/or experience WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT WISDOM A lot of things in my life were not going according to plan and having realized that I needed divine intervention  I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour one day in March 2019 after watching  a preach by Joel Oesten  on TBN. I did not understand why things in my life were not going according to how I had planned. It seemed to me all my efforts to boost my family’s financial situation were under attack. I did not know from whom or from where but  in 2019 I knew that whatever/whoever was against me was more powerful than I am and when I started reading the Bible and listening to the Word of God I started understanding what was happening to me and my family. I also understood that I am not the first person to go through this experience. The Bible is full of examples of people who went through similar circumstances. I also learnt that God is u

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME God is interested in me being GOOD WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ACTS 13:22 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Context of the scripture God called David a man of His own heart because David did everything God wants him to do What the scripture teaches me It pleases God when we do everything that He  wants us to do.  CONCLUSION God is more interested in my obedience

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME God wants to be part of MY plans WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS GENESIS 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[a] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,[b] and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” Context of the scripture After God  created the all the animals he then decided to create human beings to be like Him and reign over all animals and all of other God's creations What the scripture teaches me God created human beings to reflect Him on earth, in other words human beings were created to reflect an invisible God. CONCLUSION God wants me to be part of HIS plans

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME The objective of prayer is to move God so he is in agreement with what I want WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS JAMES 4: 3 And if you ask, you won’t receive it for you’re asking with corrupt motives,[a] seeking only to fulfill your own selfish desires. Context of the scripture James says we dont get what we want because we dont ask for it but even when we ask we dont recieve it because we asking for it to fulfill our selfish motives  What the scripture teaches me God does not answer prayer that is motivated by our own selfish desires, we should therefore use prayer to give our burdens to God and leave Him with the consequences CONCLUSION The objective of prayer is to move me so I am in agreement with what God says

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME You need self confidence to live out the purpose for your life WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS 2 CORINTHIANS 3:5 Reads: Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. Context of the scripture Paul tells the Church of Corinth that he does not  need a letter of recommendation  to validate his ministry because their lives are the recommendation enough he is confident of this because of his union with Christ but he does not see himself as achieving this on his own strength but this confidence comes from God.  What the scripture teaches me When we are called to do anything for God we should not rely on our own strength but God's strength CONCLUSION Dont  rely on own strength to live out  purpose for your life

WHAT RELIGION TAUGHT ME Do whatever makes you happy WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ROMANS 8: 6- 8  Reads: 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God Context of the scripture Paul tells his audience that those whose mind is governed by the flesh are bound for destruction because the flesh is hostile to God and thus make it impossible for them to please God. On the other hand  those who live by the Spirit are promised life and peace because the Spirit enables them to submit to God's law.  What the scripture teaches me Without the Holy Spirit  we are unable to please God therefore we cannot  rely on our human impulses to please God CONCLUSION You cant please God by relying on your human impulses