Ester: “At the end of the year I always pray for a word for myself for the new year. This year I received a special Bible text that I would like to share with you…”
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men of all the languages of the nations shall take hold, yea, they shall take hold of the tip of the robe of a Jew, and say, We will go with you , for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zechariah 8:23)
Much is organized and done by Christians and by the churches in the Netherlands. All beautiful and useful things. But Heavenly Father’s greatest desire, and it should be our calling, is that we reflect the glory of God. For that we have to enter the ‘Holy of Holies’ every day to worship God.“The Father seeks the true worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and truth. God is Spirit, and we can worship Him only if our worship is spiritual and sincere.” (John 4:23-24)
The Father wants us to meet and worship Him every day. He wants His presence to be visible in our lives and His glory to shine upon us when we go out to the people. That is how the Father wants to see us and that is how people can see that God is with us. Then, when we speak, things will arise that we see only through the eyes of faith, and impossibilities will become reality. When we encourage others, things will change in their lives. The Father wants it to become visible in our lives that we are His redeemed children and that the price Jesus paid for us was not in vain.
When people of all nations and tongues see this, they will say, “We will go with you, for we have heard and we have seen that God is with you. We also choose this God and we want to belong to His people.”
Immanuel – God is with us! Let’s make this happy tidings in the new year visible to everyone through our lives so that people can also pull our coats and say: I’m going with you because what you proclaim is true, God is really with you.
On 1 November 2022, 4,673,382 people with a migration background were living in the Netherlands. They represent 200 nationalities. It is estimated that approximately 1.3 million Christian migrants live in the Netherlands. 34% of the population in the Netherlands calls themselves Christian. In October 2021 (according to CBS data), there were 89,800 churchgoers who regularly attended church at least once a month.
How many people will live in the Netherlands who take their relationship with Jesus seriously and worship the Father in truth and in Spirit? I do not know. But if our Christian, or rather spiritual, life becomes so attractive to those around us that every true worshiper is pulled by ten people from peoples of all languages and said, “We want to join you for we have heard and seen that God is with you” – then there is hope for the Netherlands. – then there is hope for the Netherlands.
Biblestudy for non-native speakers
Ester Bruining has developed beautiful small group material for non-native speakers in collaboration with ICP. Discover and order these materials on our website. “Ruth – Traveling Across Boundaries – Small group Resources for Foreign Languages About the Book of Ruth.”
Want to understand more about the why of Bible study with foreign speakers? Read this article.
Download Chapter 1 for freeand request more information office@icpnetwork.nl
