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Month: June 2020

I Am Who You Say I Am

I Am Who You Say I Am

Mmmmm, something to ponder on! I am who God says I am. Does that ring true to you?

Today, I would like for us to really ponder on this. Who does God say I am? Who do I think or believe I am? Is it in contradiction with God’s word or is it in line with what God’s word says? If it is in contradiction with His word then it means I am believing a lie, isn’t it?

I want to share with you what God showed me many years ago. He spoke to me about Gideon. Judges 6:11 – Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the wine press [instead of the threshing floor] to [hide it and] save it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valour”.

Why would God say to Gideon he is a mighty man of valour? I mean, valour means to have great courage in the face of danger. Seriously, Gideon is hiding away, very scared, the Medianites are coming!

Here is what was really going on there. The Lord spoke to Gideon and called him, “mighty man of valour.” Why? Well, this is what God saw when He looked at Gideon – inside (his spirit) and not his outside condition. This is what God had deposited in Gideon’s spirit while He was knitting him together in His mother’s womb – to be strong and courageous; to be a man who has great courage in the face of danger! Gideon’s name actually means “he who cuts down”. Gideon just didn’t know it yet; he was not aware of what God had placed inside of him. He didn’t know that God created him to be the one to bring deliverance to the nation and wipe out idolatry.

God had to give him a bit of a nudge by using this title to address him, “might man of valour”. His spirit had to hear it and be reminded of it. Then, Gideon’s soul – his mind – got in the way. He was looking at the circumstances and at how scary the enemy looked and he was overcome by fear. Fear dictated to him that he would not be victorious and that which the Angel was telling him was a lie. Fear made a lot of noise. That is why he first asked for a sign; he was not sure that it was God speaking to him. Fear was still whispering in the back of his mind (keep in mind, in those days Holy Spirit wasn’t indwelling, Jesus hadn’t died yet).

22 When Gideon realized [without any doubt] that He was the Angel of the Lord, he declared, “Oh no, Lord God! For now I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face [and I am doomed]!” 23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah, of the Abiezrites.

It was after Gideon had “come to his senses”; realising that God is in his midst; and he has seen the God of peace, face to face; that he went and did what he was instructed to do. Gideon had an encounter with God. All of a sudden that which God had deposited in him kicked in, and he took up the call that God had placed over his life. Later in the chapter, in verse 34, it says, “that the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon” and he blew the trumpet and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. In another translation it says that “Holy Spirit wrapped himself around Gideon” and took charge over him. In the commentaries you will read that Holy Spirit clothed Gideon (like a glove over a hand) with zeal, strength and might. Exactly that which Gideon needed to accomplish his task – Holy Spirit power, not his own power.

If you have ever been scared of doing what God told you to do, remember Gideon and pray that Holy Spirit will wrap himself around you and take charge over you. Do we need to be scared when God has a specific task for us? Do we run away because we think He can’t use us? Maybe because we just don’t believe we’re wired for it. Gideon didn’t take up his calling because he didn’t think he was able; he did not look to the one who enables us.

So who does God say you are? First of all, we are called sons and daughters if we have given our hearts to Him. Do we believe it? Because if we don’t, we need a brainwashing, a reprogramming. It means that we have been bombarded with lies from the enemy and we believed them. Lies where the enemy used people (or ourselves) against us to make us feel unqualified, inadequate, weak, ugly, fat etc. We can not afford to entertain the deception and lies that the enemy throws our way through people or even our own thoughts. What does God say? People do not define us; you do not define yourself. God defines you. You are His workmanship, His Spirit enables you to execute His missions. You just need to be His hands and feet and be available for Him to use.

God has placed his scrolls in our spirits that carry His words and purposes for our lives. A blueprint from heaven with all the information we need to know who we are created to be and what we are supposed to do for His kingdom. Our war is always between our spirit and soul. The soul hooks into that which is seen; all the trouble; all the chaos and pain in the world; all the violence etc. We allow the soul to dictate that we are doomed and then fear takes over. Our spirit on the other hand carries the heart of heaven, our spirit knows where LIGHT is and it wants to follow, but the soul overrides our spirit because we allow it. We need to get the soul in submission to our spirit. This is done by packing ourselves with the word of God and conforming to it and not to the world’s view of things. We do not live by sight but by faith, which is of the kingdom of heaven.

Beloved, are you ready to pick up that which God has called you to be and to recieve from Him who He says you are? Are you willing to reject what fear is dictating to you and walk in Abba Father’s will for you?

Today I want to say to you son and daughter of the Most High God. ARISE SPIRIT OF VALOUR!!! Get up, Your king is waiting for you to take your place and to not be overcome by the enemy. The spirit of the overcomer (Holy Spirit) rests upon you and you have everything you need to be truimphant.

I want to bless your spirit with the word of the Lord for you –

Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

John1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Let us pray: Abba Father I bring to You all that I am and all that I am created to be. I repent for running away and laying down the calling and purpose for my life. I have allowed fear to dictate to me who I am. I ask forgiveness and I ask that you will cleanse me with Your blood. I choose today to pick up that which is mine, I pick up my call, I pick up my purpose and I pick up my birthright. I ask that you will cleanse it all with Your blood and pour fresh oil upon it. Holy Spirit please help me when fear wants to override my spirit. Help me to stand and not run away. I ask that You would wrap yourself around me and take charge over me so that I can overcome in Jesus name. Come Lord Jesus come, lead me in Your paths. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen and amen.

Why Patiently Wait?

Why Patiently Wait?

I don’t think there is anyone that hasn’t wrestled with this before. Why do we need to wait sometimes before our prayers are answered? Can’t it just happen immediately?

Psalm 27:14 AMP Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

Years ago when I was a primary school teacher, God taught me something about prayers that don’t always get answered immediately. In that time, I had a lot of personal pain and issues that needed healing. My selfworth and confidence were nonexistent and I struggled to stay positive.

God gave us a mission as a class where we had to go and minister to a nearby school. We had to go into each primary school classroom and pray for the teachers and the students. This was something that I wasn’t confident in doing because of my insecurities. I did do it because I always wanted to obey God, even when all of me was against it.

During that time I had to push myself out of my comfort zone by obeying what I felt God told me to do. The Lord taught me not to go on what I feel because my negative emotions towards myself or others would betray me. I had to push against my feelings of being inadequate and believe what God’s word said about me.

God allowed me to teach His word to the children in my class every morning for devotions and by doing this, He started healing my pain and trauma from the past. He knows exactly when to put us in a place where He can heal us. He especially puts us in places where we do not feel adequate at all, where we feel more worthless than ever. Ever wondered why He allows that? It is to help you see that you have pain that needs Him to heal.

The one morning I was speaking to Jesus about revival and about Him wanting me to pray for our school and schools in our country for revival. I was very excited to see the fruit on my prayer for revival when it happened. God spoke to me and said that He won’t always show me the fruit on my labor. I was taken aback by this, but I chose to believe that God knew best and that He loves me. I told my collegue what God had said and without me knowing, she started praying that God would have mercy on me and show me at least a glimpse.

In my last month at this school, I called my class together for some prayer. The Lord showed me there was oppression in our midst and we had to sort it out. Everyone had a chance to speak and Holy Spirit fell on us and repentance and forgiveness started flowing from our lips. All of a sudden, the children made groups and started praying for one another, one girl stood on my chair, she took the Bible and started reading the word, the boys were praying, one Porteguese girl started walking up and down the classroom, speaking in tongues; some were crying, some were laughing. It was amazing. My collegue and I were standing amazed by what we saw, Holy Spirit had invaded the space and God was busy encountering each student in that classroom. My heart was overcome with joy because I had thought that God wouldn’t show me any fruit. My collegue then told me that she asked God to show me a glimpse of the fruit. I never saw the fruit of our prayer for the other school and I didn’t expect to see it, I trusted that God knew best and I surrendered to that.

Many years after this incident, I had still not seen fruit on my prayers and the effort I have put into peoples lives. After much healing, deliverance and dealing with my selfworth, I asked the Lord about the fruit thing. His answer was, “That time of your life you were struggling with legitimacy issues, I love you so much that I couldn’t give you what you wanted because if I did, you would’ve fallen into a trap by taking the glory for yourself. Pride would’ve swallowed you and the enemy would’ve wiped you out. I couldn’t allow that.” WOW, LORD!

One can easily think, “God doesn’t love me”, “I did something wrong and that is why God doesn’t answer me or give me my hearts desire.” Is this really true? We need to start thinking differently. God is LOVE and God is Good, always. Isn’t LOVE busy protecting you by not answering yet? When we pray, “Your kingdom come and Your will be done”, doesn’t it mean that we are asking God to intervene and do it the way He thinks best? What we desire or want is not always good for us – it can destroy us. That is why we ask that God’s will be done, so that He can save us from ourselves.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

When God revealed to me why He didn’t show me the fruit of my labor I was so blessed. God’s ways are not our ways. I would’ve never thought God was busy protecting me by not giving me what I desired. I actually said to God that I don’t mind if He doesn’t show me the fruit; if this is a vulnerability in me, He can keep it away. All I want to do is please Him, do His will and walk in His ways. To be His hands and feet and to love and serve the broken.

Beloved, believe that He knows best, believe that He has got your back and believe that He will open the way. Expect Him to do it in His time and in His way. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Hang in there, He is always busy doing something behind the scenes while we are patiently waiting for an answer.

Let’s pray – Abba Father, what an amazing dad You are. Your ways are truly not my ways. I ask forgiveness for many times blaming You for leaving me and for not carrying my interests at heart, I repent. Please forgive me for getting mad and throwing tantrums when things don’t work out the way I think it should. I surrender to you Lord, I choose to give up my way so that Your kingdom can come and Your will be done in my life in Jesus name. Please have Your way in my life and thank you for protecting me because You love me. In Jesus name. Amen.

Psalm130:5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.

Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.