It's All About Heart 
by Marietjie Chase

King David was about heart. God called him a man after My own heart. He was the best King Israel ever had, aside from Jehovah Himself. In David we see the great commandment fulfilled: Love God and Love your Neighbour like yourselves.

David made mistakes. As king he made mistakes, as husband and father he made mistakes.Yet, looking at the overall picture one can easily conclude that he had heart.

David loved God. As a matter of fact, he was so consumed with his love for God, that his own self; his own importance; faded into the background. It was when Goliath defied the God of Israel when David stepped into battle. He wrote: (Ps 57:7) My heart is steadfast, O God. God was obviously the love of his life. Even when running from His enemy; Saul; and presented with the opportunity to rid himself of this problem, he chose to honor God. David's heart relationship with God produced the fruit of humility without humility ever becoming the issue. He trusted Jehovah and left his life and the kingdom in His hands even to the end.

Secondly, David loved the people. Some of his failings as a father comes clearly out of a heart full of love. In his dealings with Absalom this heart cracks wide open as he weeps: O, Absalom! My son, My son, had it been me who died instead of you. O, that God would give us leaders in the kingdom, the church, the body of Christ with a heart like David's. Those who will mourn for the wayward and weep for those who turn against them.

Out of the heart flows the issues of life, a wise man once said. Through the ages people have only responded, once the heart was touched. No wonder Jesus lumped all the law into this: Love God and Love your Neighbour.

Matt22:36-40, Mark 12 : 29 - 34, Luke 10:26 & 27

The Chases at a Butterfly Consevatorium on 2/19/2007.

Discernment : not optional by Marietjie Chase

There was a time in the mid eighties in South Africa when thousands of people lost millions of rands in a scheme that involved rotting milk. The basic concept was that people bought a culture and recipe from a company, which then bought back the envelopes of dried product. (in essence just dried rotten milk) The story was that they were using the product in the manufacture of cosmetics. When it turned out that it was only an elaborate scam and the so-called product were stinking up warehouses some laughed and some wept.

We are warned by Jesus and almost every book in the New Testament that false teachers, lying spirits and false Jesus's exist. We all think we cannot be deceived and perhaps that is at the root of deception. Our pride and arrogance leads us into deception. "Be careful you that think that you stand..." Humble yourself. God won't do this for you.

Another root issue is ignorance. Immaturity is only cute in babies because of their innocence. Immature adults are disgusting. Ignorance is also not a mark of some super spirituality. Desire the unpolluted word of God like newborns desire milk, so that you can grow by it.

What is this thing that the study of the Bible is no longer being esteemed as necessary? Do we really think that all our subjective experiences can replace scripture? This smells like rotten milk to me.

Understanding or hearing something does not equal obedience. Just because we understand that we are to obey the speed limit does not mean that we are doing it. We can only mature spiritually by obedience. You will stay an eternal infant in the Body and Kingdom of Jesus Christ unless you study the Bible and obey it.

There are no shortcuts. There are no quick fixes. You cannot escape the disciplines of Christianity. If you do, you will end up with something other than the real thing.

The mature are those who have their spiritual senses exercised, trial and error, to discern both good and evil. Let's not make the mistake to embrace every soft woolly thing we encounter. We may be hugging a wolf.

Focus on the pursuit of God. Read and study the Bible. Pray. Listen to more mature believers and go and assemble with the church - not to 'set them straight' but to learn.

Don't be foolish beloved. We have a real enemy that really truly hates us. We cannot afford to be undiscerning.

Spiritual Childhood. by Marietjie Chase March 10, 2007

One of my high school Teachers, Mr Bothma, gave me some of life's best advice: Live every stage of your life to the fullest. If you don't, you will always revert back to it.

We have celebrated children as a gift from God, as can be attested by the fact that we have 5 children and helped to raise five more. One of the speeches my children would tell you their Mom gives a lot is: Enjoy being a child. It does not last. You will be an adult forever. Once you grow up there is no going back to being a child.

A while ago I had a dream of a man with greying hair surrounded by children. He was somehow causing the hair of the children to turn grey in streaks. In the dream I felt like this was just wrong and pled the blood of Jesus. As I did this, the man faded and disappeared and the grey streaks in the children's hair disappeared as well. This was only part of the dream and I wrote it down and moved on. While praying last night, the Spirit of the Lord started giving me insight into some stuff.

Children, spiritual children, are not living as children. Their childhood is robbed by some entity that causes them to grow old before their time. We have a plague of immaturity in the Body of Christ because of this. Since they never were aloud to be "just kids", they are constantly acting childish. (For those who do not know what I'm talking about: bickering, clique-ing, getting offended about nothing, ignorant arrogance, lack of commitment and responsibility....etc. )

What does it mean to be "just kids"? In the natural it means that there is a parent involved. I firmly believe in: Children left to themselves bring shame to their mother. Being a parent means to love, guide, provide, supervise, be responsible for, protect and discipline. And I'm sure the list goes on. It is a nurturing relationship. One where the parent understands that there is a responsibility before God to do right by the child. Sadly, most people do not even have a positive parenting experience in the natural, so how would they understand or care for a 'spiritual" parenting experience. Read Ezekiel 34, John 10, Heb 13:20, I Peter 2:25 and I Peter 5:1-5

Paul wrote that when I was a child I spake as a child, understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things. He also said that we should as new born babes, desire the milk of the word. One of the saddest things of our society is , children having children. That ought not to be so. Spiritual children ought to be in a relationship,(fellowship, oikos, konania, covenant) where they are aloud to be zealous without knowledge-with supervision, ask and receive help, being carried in prayer and fed a balanced diet. They are to learn the spiritual disciplines so that they may mature into true sons(generic) of God who knows how to rightly divide the word. They need to learn, in this environment of love and acceptance; to discern - since it comes by experience.

This explains why there are so many people running around in the Church at large, with "Ministries" yet without effect. There is a lot of "growing up" to be done. Our "worship" of individualism and prosperity in our society afford us the "right" to never grow up, like Peter Pan.

Incidentally: the second part of the dream was of a small airport, where there was a small airplane with no wings, taxy-ing around the other planes. When I pled the blood of Jesus this little wingless plane faded and disappeared.

While praying about this, the Lord guided me to pray that these little wingless planes would be rooted out and the seed destroyed. The direction for prayer about the man was that it, the entity, be exposed. As soon as the children see that it is gone, they will go on to be "just kids".

A Complete Redemption

Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

There is a fourfold suffering in this verse for a fourfold result. Jesus did not leave some of redemption undone. There is no longer any other sacrifice needed. He did it all. The redemption is complete.

1. Transgressions are acts of rebellion and apostasy. It is the willful deviation from the path of righteousness, pre-meditatively crossing the line. It is the times when knowing right we do wrong. He was profaned and defiled. He was violated, subjecting Himself to violence, for the redemption of those who live by violence. He was desecrated for the filth and defilement of the lowest of humankind. He bore the penalty. There is no sin; how violent, putrid or gross, that He did not pay for this.

2.But He was also crushed. He was humbled and humiliated, afflicted. oppressed and broken in pieces just as we humans are. I often wondered at the mockery of the soldiers... It was for our iniquities, our depravity, for the perverseness of our crookedness on the inside. It was for our sinful twistedness, our misery, our faults. He paid the price. He was crushed, mocked, humiliated so that we can say "no" to shame and guilt. Jesus took that shame and guilt so that you can be free.

3. He was punished, chastised and bound. Disciplined... and in it all, did not break out but obeyed even unto death. Jesus submitted Himself to the will of God and obeyed. His obedience bought our peace. So much more than absence of strife. It is well being, wholeness, friendship; to live in security, tranquility and welfare. It means to be successful and blessed.

4. He was beaten, bruised, black-and-blued and hurt with so many stripes - without number-, for our healing and wholeness. He endured the Roman 'cat' for our healing. Now this healing is not only a privilege, a gift but also a responsibility. He suffered so that we may be healed. What does it say of our value of this suffering if we refuse this healing.

It is clear that Jesus Christ paid the complete price for a complete salvation: body, soul and spirit. There is no part of the human experience that is not covered. We have a responsibility to walk in this complete redemption. Be the best you can be. Do the best you can do. Find the will of God and obey it.

Every question humanity has, has been answered in Jesus Christ.