Positive Chain Reaction

By Marian Muller

Positive Chain Reaction is a narrative on chapters and characters from the living Bible. It tries to bring, above as the name of the book implies, a positive chain reaction in our society, because it deals with difficulties and emotions that go with any reaction experienced universally. It goes without saying that those in the biblical past had similar situations and adversities that we are experiencing today.

Through Positive Chain Reaction, I tried to teach and convey lessons in life by identification with the characters and bring across possible solutions on how to deal with difficulties and at the same time overcome it.

It gives way to very easy reading, and those who find it difficult to read the Bible will find it as an introduction.

Hopefully the readers will be stimulated and will begin to search for more, leading them to read the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Aug 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514447222

Marian Muller

Marian Muller, born in Strand, South Africa, was a prayer guide for prayer and life workshops for fourteen years. For the past two years, she has been a lecturer in early childhood development at False Bay FETC College.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Marian Muller.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5144-4723-9

                eBook            978-1-5144-4722-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Rev. date: 08/02/2016

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

728488

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: THE PREPARATION

CHAPTER 2: THE CALLING

CHAPTER 3: THE TRAINING

CHAPTER 4: THE MINISTRY

CHAPTER 5: FOLLOW ME

CHAPTER 6: THE AMENDMENTS

CHAPTER 7: A MOMENT OF TRUTH

CHAPTER 8: DEALING WITH LIFE ISSUES

CHAPTER 9: ONE IN THE CROWD

CHAPTER 10: THE REACTION

CHAPTER 11: FACE TO FACE

CHAPTER 12: LIBERATED

CHAPTER 13: HE WEPT

CHAPTER 14: KEEP FOCUSSING

CHAPTER 15: PART 11

CHAPTER 16: CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 1

THE PREPARATION

A voice of one calling: In the desert prepares the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.

(Isaiah 40; 3-5)

Matthias, who was a follower and close friend of John the Baptist returned to his hometown in Galilee from his missionary work in Antioch. He rested a while before preparing himself for the Sabbath Day.

It was in the Synagogue while listening to the Word that was spoken: A voice of one calling: In the desert prepares the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. (Isaiah 40; 3-5), that he felt a deep longing to go back to the river Jordan where his ministry had begun so many years ago, when he first felt the calling to be a follower of Jesus the Messiah. He made a decision just there and then to go back to the river Jordan the following morning.

Early the next morning Mathias packed a ruffle bag because he intended to spend some time at the scene and started his journey back to the river Jordan.

He arrived at the river and found that somehow the scenery had changed but in essence not. The essence of the Presence of God that he felt then, was still there. Was it the place or was it within him, he wondered; or is it because of this very place where it all began, that gives it so much meaning to his life.

He started to look for a place to meditate and saw a big river stone and decided to go there. He made himself comfortable and began to quiet his mind, listening in silence as the soothing sound of the stream of water that was running along the bedding fades away.

And while he was sitting on the stone near the river bank, he had a nostalgic retrospect of the early days of his Christian life. His thoughts went back to the day when John had baptized Jesus of Nazareth:

‘So there was John, son of Zachariah, ordained by God, our Father, to prepare the way for the One who was to come after him’.’ John was such a humble man’, a staunch believer. He was drawn to John from an early age, because he had the greatest respect for him and the way he lived his life, Matthias thought to himself.

Once he even told Elizabeth, John’s mother that her son had a very special place in his heart and that he believed that John had extra ordinary gifts from God. Therefore, he believed that John was God’s special gift to them, his followers, with a special purpose. Matthias recalled that John made it very clear from the beginning to them, his followers, what was expected from his disciples. There was no other way to live their lives if they truly want to pursue in the direction that John was leading them. He made it very clear that you were either for God or against Him. He used to say:’ No short cuts’.

John also lived a very monastic life. Solitude was his home, because, he felt more at home on the mountain, where he could be alone in the Presence of God than anywhere else.

Matthias felt very strongly that John knew that he was not the’ Messianic One’, but that he had to fill in the missing pieces to complete the puzzle of life that would