NHCF Blog

by Calven Celliers I’m not a fisherman, never have been, probably never will be! But the other day as I was reading a passage of Scripture in the book of James, dealing with temptation, I found myself thinking about the terminology that Jesus’ younger brother used, and for whatever reason it created a story line involving a little fish in my mind. Random, I know. But bear with me and hopefully it will soon start to make sense. “14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” (James 1: 14 & 15NLT) Imagine a little fish swimming along, having a great day. Sightseeing is hungry work and before he knows it, he’s worked up quite an appetite. He has an inner desire. At this point he is still ok; he’s just hungry. No harm done… yet. Just like that hungry little fish we all have inner desires as part of our sinful nature. The word desire in this passage refers to the illicit desires that we all have within us. We all have temptations. Be it to think something wrong, say something wrong, or even do something wrong. So, our little fish is innocently swimming along when suddenly he spots a fat juicy worm dangling in front of him. Instantly, he is attracted by it. The word James used is enticed. Like this little fish, we are all enticed from time to time. We see the bait, and it looks good. It may even make us feel good. We want it. Just as a fisherman puts bait on a hook to lure fish in, so the devil and the world put bait out there for us. Just as our little fish is enticed by his hunger and lured towards the worm, so James says that we are enticed by our own natural desires and lured toward the temptation. When we see that bait, of course, we should immediately turn around and flee. Unfortunately, however, we’re a bit like little fish that hang around dangling hooks too long. Eventually we start playing with the bait, in the hope of satisfying the hunger within. But we need to be aware of the danger. Temptation is not a catch and release game. The moment that you and I said yes to Jesus, we became an enemy of Satan, and he would like nothing more than to see us take the bait and end up sizzling in the frying pan of defeat. The temptation to sin is a given, so don't be surprised by it. Expect to be tempted daily, and be prepared for it. Temptation is not a sin. Sin happens when we yield our wills to the temptation. That’s when we get into trouble. If we do not spend time with God, developing our relationship with Him, how will we ever endure the temptation that will come before us? We…

Guest Postby Herman GroenewaldSee the Birds in the AirI am sitting on our patio this morning watching some of the many birds in our garden. I occasionally feed them some bird seed, but they do not need me to feed them. They know when I have put out some food for them.When I looked up the word birds in the Bible I was astounded that there were 93 references in the NIV Bible about birds.I delight in watching the many kinds of birds and how many of them come two by two. How they find their own food in our garden without me having to give them some food.How wonderful is our heavenly Father  who provides for the living creatures who do not store up in barns. "Photo courtesy photos-public-domain.com" "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Scripture then asks the question: Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" (Matthew 6:36-37)I wonder how many people are anxious today about their provision. Who do they blame for the lack of it? Who have they turned to?Job had some friends who made a mockery of him when he lost his possessions. And see what happened to him when he replied to them."...I, who called to God and He answered me..." (Job:12-4)“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;" (Job 12-7)Later we are told that we are wiser than the birds of the air. 10 "But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,    who gives songs in the night,11 who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth    and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’" (Job 35:10-11)We then read in Ephesians 1:3-14 of God’s blessing in Christ Jesus and how he has chosen us even before the world was made. How awesome is that?Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the…

by Graham Mol"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"These words have been uttered countless times whenever someone has had a problem operating their phone/computer/printer/router or pretty  much any piece of technology. And there is a very good reason why that advice is given because 9 times out of 10 it works. The more technical term is "reset" and the reason why it often works is because it clears out any programs or instructions that are running on the device, flushing its memory, and starts over with the initial, "bootup" instructions. This means that any program or instruction that had stopped working properly, or was preventing another instruction to function, gets cleared and reset. In layman's terms: "The Wi-Fi has stopped working!" Reset. "Something's wrong with Whatsapp on my phone!" Restart the device. "My computer is frozen!" Reset.Sometimes, like our beloved devices, we too need a "reset" every now and again. This can also apply to our faith walk.  We can get so caught up in things, meanings of Scripture, Christian debates and issues, how well we are doing, "Are we doing enough?" We start to focus more on our service to God than on our relationship with Him. And like some of those computer programs stop responding or start causing issues in other programs functioning, we find ourselves confused, distracted and discouraged in our faith. Sometimes we just need a reset.These are Jesus' words to the Church in Ephesus in John's revelation:2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." (Revelation 2:2-5)The Ephesian Church were doing a great many things well, Jesus commends them for their works, their toil and patient endurance, their standing up for the truth, resisting evil. But they had lost sight of the most important thing, their relationship with the Lord. Jesus calls them to repent, to go back to the things they did at first in pursuing Christ in their hearts and lives. You could call it a reset.The Gospel is simple despite the depth of its significance and impact. At the end of the day, we must return to the basics of our relationship with Christ. A simple reset can fix a great deal of problems in our lives, "9 times out of 10". God BlessGraham

by Caryl MollI don’t know about you, but this has been a really long winter - one of the longest and hardest in my lifetime. Maybe I can blame it on COVID but also perhaps on my own underlying need to establish some sort of daily routine. I’ve been restless. I have also tried – desperately - to search for that “small, still voice of God” amidst all the sadness, despair and economic chaos around me. Admittedly I’ve struggled. I would bet you have too?Ironically, my own quiet-times have been more fervent during this period. They’ve been more creative too as I have embraced the time to polish up my God-given talents. Quiet times have also led me outside to take a breath of fresh air and observe the changes that our Creative God is making in my own garden.  The transition this year from Summer to Autumn… to Winter …and now to Spring have been quite visceral.  For me, the sounds, smells and temperatures have been far more pronounced than other years. I have literally felt God’s seasons in action. And it’s been such a joy.The other day, armed with my camera, I took a walk outside again. It’s still early, but the signs of the approaching Spring are evident. The tiny mulberry tree, in one of my pots, is sprouting its first precious leaves. The African Speckled pigeons have produced two gorgeous fluffy chicks in the nest below my neighbour’s roof. Birds are twittering and the clearer skies and warmer temperatures are heralding a brand, new season.As I walked around to the back of the house, I also noticed our old Fig Tree in the corner. To the human eye, it looks all but dead. It made me think of Jesus and how, during that Passover week, He also noticed a fig tree. I edged closer to its branches to get a better look.“Look carefully,” a little voice whispers.Unlike Jesus’s tree, mine seems to have big, strong buds. With my tree, there’s a sure sign that a revival is happening underneath its dark bark. There is definite life in its old branches even though they looked ugly and gnarled.Like a rose bush producing its first rose, my fig tree is quietly working its magic. In a few months, the fruit and beautiful emerald green leaves will appear. Its crop should be abundant, I have no doubt. This tree should produce a healthy crop.But what about us?Whether we are in business, other economic fields or at home, the fact remains:We are God’s fig trees!Yes, we are all custodians of our Lord’s Creation and His people. By our actions and words, we all bear some kind of fruit – good or bad. And we can, indeed, compare ourselves to the fig trees that God has planted. Are we wilting? Or are we flourishing? Will be produce a bountiful harvest? Or does a curse await us? Either way, the New Season will arrive and God’s careful plans will prevail. The question…