"For yea are all the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:26)
Sometimes we look at our current situation and feel disarmed. We know ourselves by the past, by family name and by our level of education and cultural background. But God calls us to another direction. He calls us to know ourselves in Him, to understand who we are through Jesus Christ. I thought to myself: "Oh Lord, why can't you just show me a Scripture that will allow me to mix tradition with your Word". But I received none. Instead these three verses below showed me how Jesus Himself was against people who exalted traditional beliefs more than they exalted the commandments of God:
"But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3)
"And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." (Mark 7:9)
"Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this." (Mark 7:13)
Just by reading these messages do you get a better understanding of how tradition can cause the Word of God to be without effect. It shows us that we are not supposed to believe our tradition more than we believe the Word of God. This also teaches us that we are not what tradition has taught us that we are, we are more than that, we are who God says we are, not our tradition.
Our tradition teaches that when you are called you should be separated from the world. You should be distinct, your attire, tells a story of your abilities. It reveals your grounds and your powers. It shows what you are called to, in a way; it positions you to your called profession. Everything that a graduated twasa trainee wears after completion of training symbolises his or her particular calibre. You are known by the way you dress. The attire will reveal the spirit that is at work in an inyanga or sangoma. Mostly are revealed in an animal form like the lion, snakes, pigeon and tiger. They all symbolise the spirit that the practitioner possess. To the colours of head bands, beads, etc., all that represents the power and the strength to perform, cast spells or heal. So when you look at the inyanga or sangoma their attire will automatically tell you their spiritual ranking and you will know by what they wear their abilities and position.
I used to sometimes look at myself and feel that deep desire of looking a certain way, hoping that if I look in a more natural looking way, maybe I would feel better about myself or I would be pleasing the ancestors. I remember not even wanting to wear make-up, or dress up, and then my thoughts were invaded by the voice that said "first cleanse the inside of your cup before you can cleanse the outside".
We read in Matthew 23:26 "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also". Here Jesus Christ was speaking to the Pharisees. They were known for upholding the Laws of Moses and tradition of the elders, and then Jesus saw their hypocrisy of trying to hide behind their well-behaved manners and their talit (a Jewish robe). Jesus was teaching them to first observe their inner man than trying to look good from the outside whereas inside they were carnal, judgmental and pretenders... all about the dress code and the looks.
Nothing matters more to God than our hearts. The Lord wants us to dress our hearts, with love, peace, joy and purity.
There are so many restrictions involved in Ukuthwasa call. What are all these limitations worth that restrict us from evolving and realising that we are not what only our eyes see? We are spiritual beings located in a body and we possess a soul to manoeuvre the flesh. We should look at our inner person to be able to know who we are in the natural. People are being chained to this movement of tradition that restrict them to live and be fruitful. They are restricted on certain foods, certain lifestyle and others are even restricted to marry. Does it add anything to their spirituality? Or does it boost their ego? There is a huge difference between looking a certain way and to be recognised as a spiritual person. This may sound like an argument, but it's not.
We should refer to the Bible in all we do. We should hear God speak to us and when we find the truth then there is no need to try to look a certain way to be classified as spiritual. Do we possess the good spirit and are our hearts in a good place? To be dressed in the spirit means that you should first die to the flesh. I am not talking the death of the body but the death of your will, to die in doing things your own way. This death prepares us to be dressed in the form and presence of God. It begins by turning away from sin and accepting to be washed into a new life with Christ through Baptism of water.
Traditionally when a twasa comes out of initiation they will go to the river to wash away their "old self" and acquire their "new self" through the cleansing ceremonies by the blood of a bull or goat, etc. This symbolises the new birth in the spiritual realm. It is so in the Lord, but this time it is by entering into Christ that you are washed from your old selves and this part positions you to being a partaker of the Divine. After being cleansed, a twasa is ready to acquire his/her status and is free to be who he/she was called by the ancestors to be. In this way he/she is now already positioned for the cause of his/her call.
You receive the birth into the Kingdom of God. We only receive this new life of adoption by being born again, by renouncing the past and entering this new dimension with new hearts knowing that we are no longer about the flesh and looks, but we are the spirit and the spirit of God lives inside of us.
Look into this picture with God: One is required to also be washed so that they may acknowledge that they are no longer the same. They now have received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, thus making Him their Master.
So what I see with the call of Ukuthwasa is that, when people go out they have already confessed their faith and they have accepted to be bound by the rules and regulations and be under the control of their spiritual master, who leads them spiritually and they know whom to listen to. That is what I've managed to gather spiritually when the Ukuthwasa call was unveiled in my spiritual eyes. In this case I am wondering who has God-given power to cleanse, to save and to master lives? The Word doesn't speak of anyone, but only One and is it Jesus. So; is it godly to accept to be birthed into other spirits? Is it good to have another master or lord for one's life? Can we choose whom we want? Can we be represented by our own traditional belief? The answer to all these questions is a plain and simple "no"! There is only One that God has ordained to purify us and that One is Jesus Christ, not river gods, not ancestors but Jesus of Nazareth.
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved". (Acts 4:12)
By accepting Jesus as our Lord and saviour we put on our new garment of Faith. When you receive Him in you, you are changed, birthed into a new world, a new ground, and a new sky. You become a new person, a new creature. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new". (2Corinthians 5:17)
You receive the birth into the Kingdom of God. We only receive this new life of adoption by being born again, by renouncing the past and entering this new dimension with new hearts knowing that we are no longer about the flesh and looks, but we are the spirit and the spirit of God lives inside of us. We have made right with God by accepting Christ, and for that reason we have a new dress code that is not visible to the naked eye but can only be seen by our spiritual eyes.
We are no longer bound by rules, laws, regulation of this world. We follow the commandments of the Lord Christ. In Him all is made, no laws or rules are more superior to Him (Colossians 1:16). Our new dress code is called armour of God, which is the reflection of what we are called to do and also reveals our position in the Lord. Who we are in the spirit should reflect our new garment of faith so that we can know what our capabilities are and what is it that we are dressed to do and be. You are ordained by the Spirit of God to wear this Armour. When you are clothed with this you are like a soldier in an army of the lord, the Word says in 2 Corinthians 10:4 "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds". We have weapons and those weapons the word says are not material. They are not to be taken lightly. They can help us and protect us from evil forces that are brought against us by Satan and his demons.
- The Helmet of Salvation
- The Sword of The Spirit
- Breast Plate of Righteousness
- The Shield of Faith
- Feet Shod with the Preparation of the Gospel
- Loins Girded about with Truth
This is how you get to know who you are, how you draw your inner person out and continually practice to be that person you are spiritually.
