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Month: July 2020

What words?

What words?

Psalm 19:14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Proverbs 10:19 Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues. (This means that when we speak carelessly it ends in sin, but the wise person keep his mouth shut)

Beloveds, today I want us to really take a deep look at the words that come out of our mouths. Firstly, do we glorify God in what comes from our mouths and secondly, do we build or destroy people with our words?

Many times we can lose the plot when it comes to watching our mouths. Anger can so easily take hold of our hearts and before we know it we say things that are very destructive to the person at the receiving end.

What do we do when our hearts are overwhelmed or when we are triggered by something someone has said or done? Do we choose to behave or do we just let rip and lose control over our mouths?

Let’s really weigh our hearts today and let’s be real with ourselves about what our “default setting” (our usual way of response) is towards things that offend us.

Years ago, I had quite a wake-up call when I realized how much toxidity came from my mouth when I was offended by someone or something. I felt the Lord prompt me to listen to what I was saying when I was triggered. That’s when I realized how much pain I could cause others.

It was then that the Lord spoke to me and said that to be an example to others and to make a difference in this world for the kingdom of Heaven, I have to “look” (behave) different than the world. I was actually convicted in my heart by how I was displaying God every time I lashed out and by the way I reacted when I was offended. I read that scripture in Isaiah 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

This was a turning point in my life. I decided that, no matter how hurt or offended I was in the moment, to have the Lord in mind. For His name sake, I will behave myself and I will quickly run to Him with the pain that was triggered. I have decided to first go and report to Him everything that was in my heart before defiling others with the ugly that wanted to come out of me. I usually say to the people I deal with, “Go and unload to the Lord everything that is in your heart. Tell Him exactly what you are feeling about the offence and what you are feeling about the person, even though He already knows. Don’t harm the one that offended you by lashing out and don’t gossip about them either. Move in the opposite spirit.”

How do we move in the opposite spirit? Well, if the person’s words that offended you felt like an attack, don’t attack them back. Keep your side clean. Like the second scripture at the beginning of this post reads, “the wise holds their tongue.” By holding your tongue you won’t say things that you will regret. You want Jesus to help you, and you don’t want to make it worse by using the enemy’s strategies that can harm both of you. The more you respond from that place of pain, (the devil’s way) the more you give him right to ruffle your feathers and keep poking at your pain.

I would really like to encourage you to keep in mind something that my husband always says – OFFENSE IS TAKEN NOT GIVEN! What does this mean? If you are offended by someone, the problem is NOT them, the problem is with you. Listen carefully, you can either take the lie that the enemy is trying to tell you or you can reject it. If you struggle to shake it off, you can be sure that the devil has a hold over you; he has something on you. Usually this means that there is pain that you haven’t overcome yet and the devil will use it to scratch you. It is often due to rejection or some self worth issue. When you have unresolved issues the devil knows exactly how to push your buttons so that you fall into his trap.

What is the trap? He uses your negative response to break the other person down. The devil doesn’t always use his demons to come against us, he manipulates us by using our unresolved pain an issues so that we destroy each other. We become tools in his hands and we carry out his assignments to destroy people. If we respond by breaking that person down, the enemy’s plans for destruction have been excecuted on them and you by you.

Why do I say the enemy will destroy you too? Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” I have seen in my life that when I have accused people of certain things, how that very thing has come back against me. Sometimes it takes hours, days or even years. Usually, I was not guilty of the accusation, but I was guilty because I had judged someone in the same way. This is why you run to Jesus immediately with your offenese and you ask Him to help you with the anger and judgment you have in your heart against that person. Involve Him in everything: the good, the bad and the ugly. With Him, there is safety! Most importantly, stay in repentance and ask forgiveness for wanting to fight the devil’s way.

While I was still working through my self-worth issues, and struggling with weight issues as well. I tried diets, eating right; I did everything exactly the way I should, but my weight did not come down. So, as the devil knew how to scratch me and at my lowest point, he came in to bring destruction. By this time, by God’s grace, I had learned to keep my mouth shut.

Here’s what had happened: My husband and I were discussing having a third child. He argued that we should wait because I was not healthy enough. As He said it I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “don’t take the lie”. What I heard from my husband was, “no we can’t have a baby because you are too fat!” (I heard through the filter of my unresolved pain, not what he was actually saying). Even after the Lord said not to take the lie, I was weak and I took the lie even though I did not try to protect my broken heart by lashing out at my husband. I immediately left the room and ran to Jesus with my broken heart. I had to wrestle with God to get this lie out of me; it took a few weeks. Most of all I had to disconnect my husband from the lie that I believed. I had to work at that which triggered me, forgive my husband and choose to believe that he was not my enemy. After about two weeks, I spoke to my husband about that incident. His response was that because I had been struggling with recurring bronchitis for the last three years, my health should recover before we took the risk. It had nothing to do with my weight and I realized that this was the truth. His intentions were pure. Because the enemy had something on me (my unresolved weight issues) he twisted my husbands words so that we could destroy each other, but because I kept my tongue and ran to Jesus; God could immediately intervene and save both of us from destruction.

Beloveds, are we mindful of displaying God’s splendor in every situation in our lives and are we mindful of the hearts of the people around us?

I don’t know about you, but I want to honor the Lord in everything I do. Yes, we mess up and then we ask forgiveness and we try again. We should stay mindful of Who it is that we want to glorify in everything we say and do. This surely helped me a lot, constantly being mindful of my Saviour Jesus in all I do.

Therefore, let us make this a priority that when we are offended, we seek the Lord first before we respond.

Let us pray: Abba Father, I come to You by the blood of the Lamb because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. I want to repent for where I have fallen into the trap of the enemy by lashing out against …………………………..(insert name), for allowing my unresolved pain to twist what was said or intended. Please forgive me for judging this person and for breaking down their character. I ask that every judgment against them will be broken in Jesus’ name and that every judgment that wants to come back to me will be broken off of my life in Jesus’ name. Holy Spirit, please help me to see immediately when the enemy is poking at my pain and lying to me. Please help me to see when he is trying to use me to do his bidding. I ask that you will give me the strength to shut my mouth, to walk away and to run to Jesus. Father, please deliver me from the pain that has been triggered and set me free from evil. Father, I want to glorify your name in everything I do. Please forgive me for everytime I have not walked worthy of the Lord. I love you Abba Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done in my life in Jesus name I pray. Amen and amen.

How We Ought To Fight!

How We Ought To Fight!

Something to remember is that we are always at war with the enemy of our souls, the devil. We have to daily be mindful of the fact that our enemy is looking for an oppertunity to devour us. Therefore the most important thing to remember is that how we approach our battles will either make or break us.

The word of God says in 1 Peter 5:8 NLT Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

I had to learn the hard way that it is not up to me to try to sort people out for the wrongs they have done to me or someone I love. Especially for injustice or for an accusation that we were not guilty of. I had to learn that God is the one who will vindicate me and that He is the Righteouss Judge that deals with injustice exactly the way it should be dealt with.

Isaiah 50:8 The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me!

It can be really difficult to stand back and allow God to sort things out for us. The moment we feel threatened by something or someone we go into survival mode where we need to protect ourselves immediately. What do we do? Either we put up our fists ready to fight, or we freeze and go into a “give up” mode, or we run away and don’t face it at all.

In my life whenever I felt threatened, I would immediately respond with anger, trying to justify myself, fists ready to fight back. But the result was always a terrible mess. It was here where I had to learn to shut my mouth and wait a day or two before I decided on what to do.

I have learnt that God justifies me, all I need to do is to run to Him and ask Him for help without trying to fix things myself. Something I have learnt from my husband that has been very useful to me is to first take a step back and get out of emotion before I respond. To put aside the emotions and to think logically about the situation and not what I feel.

I use this advice when I run to God to wait on Him for answers too. You have to put a bit of effort into this and be very disciplined to get your thoughts back into order. I would get my emotions back into peace, usually by repenting and asking forgiveness for my anger, bitterness, dissappointment (or whatever it might be) against that person. I would then wait on the Lord to give me direction on how to handle the situation.

We have to understand that when we are triggered, our hurt emotions will usually betray us and we should rather not respond or say anything in that moment. It will only bring harm to you and the other person.

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Romans 8:33 Who will bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One justifying

When our daughter was in her first year of High school we had to face injustice against her in a big way. One day at school, in break time, she and her friend saw smoke coming from the back of a building and the smell of the smoke was completely different from what cigarette smoke smells like (our daughter knew what cigarette smoke smelt like because her grandfather was a smoker). They went and reported it to their register teacher. After break this teacher called the whole class together and started smelling each childs hands. When he smelt her hands he made a remark and he went on to the the next child. She did not think much of it because she knew she was not guilty.

It was Friday and after the “smelling”, school came out. When she got to the car and she switched on her phone she received a message from her best friend saying, he can’t believe she did it. Now, this friend of her’s was the little brother of the register teacher. Immediately fear took hold of her heart and the enemy started tormenting her.

My mother’s instincts – to protect her baby, kicked in and anger rose up within me. I wanted to let this teacher have it! Our daughter was distraught. She was crying, had anxiety and I got angrier by the minute. I started praying and asked the Lord for help and then I heard: “You cannot feel sorry for her because anger will rise up in you and it will make your prayers inaffective”. This wasn’t nice to hear, how can I not feel sorry for her? She was not guilty and this was injustice. She was tormented by the fact that so many people at school will find out and she would be bullied.

I had to stay in repentance for my angered heart the whole of Saturday because every time I saw her I could see the strain on her face and how sore her heart was. By God’s grace I got it together, I could forgive this teacher and I hung unto God with everything in me. I decided to fight this battle the way the bible prescribes to us. I had realised that it was not the man that I had to fight against, but the demons operating through him.

Ephesians 6:12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

God is the Righteous Judge, the Judge of all Ages and I focussed my prayer on Him judging the situation and giving us a righteous verdict.

The Sunday morning the Lord told me to take her for a drug test at our clinic (I was devestated, I knew she wasn’t guilty, but I had to take her). They tested her for 5 different drugs and all 5 tests came back negative. Monday morning after a lot of prayer we went to school to speak to the headmaster. We did not go in with guns blazing. The headmaster had started an investigation and would contact us as soon as she had all information.

That week at school was hectic for our daugter. The register teacher’s cricket team members started bullying her by making remarks like she was a druggy and how bad she was. The anger started brooding in my heart again. I had to pray for myself constantly to let go and let God do this. The headmaster did come back and she did speak to the teacher and according to her all were resolved. The bullying did not stop and everyone that was either taking sports or were in this teachers classess would keep on making hurtful remaks toward her.

The Lord said to me to keep praying for our daughter to be vindicated by Him, to break off the curses being placed on her by the people bullying her and to wait until He tells me to go and speak to this teacher. I had to keep my heart right before God. I knew I couldn’t ask God for vindication if our attitudes towards this teacher were in the same spirit (the devil) as those that we were standing against. God can only fight for us if our hearts are right before Him.

A few days later as I woke up, the Lord said to me that today is the day to speak to this teacher. I made ready, prepared my heart and I asked Holy Spirit to take charge over my mouth and to speak through me. I gave the report with the negative test results to the teacher and I said to him that the bullying will stop now because she is proven not guilty. It was all that was needed, there was no need to scream or shout or get angry. I knew I was drawing the line in the sand in the spirit against the enemy and that God had already judged the enemy for accusing our daughter injustly. In less than a day all bullying and torment had stopped. Her friend that accused her also came and asked forgiveness for believing the accusations.

Romans 8:33 Who will bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One justifying

Isaiah 33:22 For the Lord is our judge,The Lord is our lawgiver,The Lord is our king; He will save us

I have gone through this more than once in my life – where I had to completely trust the Righteous Judge to vindicate me or someone I love, His way. Many times I just wanted to say my say, to lash out. Many times I wanted to talk behind their backs about their behaviour to others. But then Holy Spirit was always faithful to help me to stay in repentance, to fight another way – by not allowing my heart to be hardened, by staying in repentance and by asking God to truly help me to forgive so that He could interfere in the situation and let justice be done. It is a different war – it is not against flesh (a person). We are fighting against demons and principalities. We have to learn to fight Heavens way.

Psalm 89:14 says: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; love and faithfulness go before You.”

God is righteous and just, He is Holy, there is no wickedness in Him. He cannot fight for you when you are operating in sin. When you are cursing someone, or when you have bitterness in your heart, or gossipping. These are the fruit of the enemy (the devil). If you try to fight evil with evil, justice will not be done. Be carefull of this.

I want to encourage you by saying that The Righteous Judge, Our God, the God who created heaven and earth has never let me down when the enemy came in to try to devour me. He has always shown that He is just! So, beloved, stick in there and keep your heart right before God so that He can give you a righteous verdict!

Let us pray: Father, I come before you by the blood of The Lamb, Jesus Christ. I repent, for my hardened heart. I am in survival mode and I want to fight my way. I want to say what I want to say so that I can feel better. Father, I am telling you everything that’s going on in my heart because You see it anyway. I am so angry because of this injustice. I am angry that nobody is fighting for me and that I am standing alone. Please forgive me for believing that I am alone because Your word says that You never leave me or forsake me. Forgive me for not having love like Jesus has. He was spat on, He was accused of being the devil, He was hated, but He still loved. Not one ugly thing came out of His mouth or was found in His heart. There are many ugly things in my heart and I repent and ask forgiveness, I choose to lay it down, I choose to grab hold of what is righteous. Holy Spirit, I can not do this by myself, please help me to daily forgive and to daily repent so that I can overcome. Righteous Judge, will you please take charge over this situation, I stand back and I allow You to let justice be done for me. Please show me what must be done and guide me in Your truth. Let Your will be done. In the name of Jesus the Christ I pray. Amen and amen.

Power of Proclamation

Power of Proclamation

Proclamation definition – a clear declaration, a decree, an order, an announcement.

Why is it important for us to proclaim God’s word? Let us look at the following scripture:

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Therefore, if we need faith and we are overwhelmed by our circumstances we need to take God’s word and start proclaiming it so that we can hear what it is saying. This doesn’t mean just reading it out loud, it means we have to really hear and focus on what we are reading.

When my husband and I were just married we went through a painful situation where someone that was very close to us betrayed our trust. Months after this, we met a wonderful older couple who walked a road of restoration with us for a whole year. Ministering to us, praying with us, helping us through our pain. We looked up to them because they had a great relationship with God and they taught us solid principles from the word of God. We became good friends and walked with them for 8 years.

In that time I was still struggling to get through my self-worth issues. I was very unsure of myself. My husband and I felt that something was wrong with this couple, but we couldn’t put our finger on it. We received news that the husband had left his wife and 2 kids and just dissappeared.

I was devestated; we had looked up to them and he had taught us so much from God’s word and I found myself in a place of turmoil and confusion. We had looked up to them as role models. So I ran to the Lord asking, “What now? What should we do now?” And I heard His soft voice saying, “You just carry on.” Fear had taken a hold of my heart; I heard the whispers of the enemy – “If he didn’t make it, you will never make it!”

There was a wrestling match going on in me – the voices whispering, “you are a hopeless case, you will never be able to stand against the enemy, you won’t be able to stay a child of God, you are a looser, you are weak.”

8 Years before this happened, someone had given me a small booklet by Derek Prince: The Power of Proclamation. The second part of this book had different topics with a few relevant scriptures. I found the topic for emotional pain and started to proclaim each scripture out loud everyday. Whenever I felt overwhelmed, I would take the book and start proclaiming those scriptures out loud. I had to build my faith by hearing the word of God. It took a week of doing this before one of the scriptures hit a sweet spot. I can’t tell you how or what happened exactly, all I know is that I had a mindshift and I knew that I was going to be fine. As my life is surrendered to the Lord, I would be covered.

We all have our moments when we deviate from God’s will. I realized that it is always our own decision to deviate from his ways and his principals; this is what causes us to loose the plot. If we stay close to God and keep giving Him permission to heal us, we will be safe.

There were many times in my life where I had to take the word of God and hammer myself with the truth until a shift came.

When our son was about 4 years he burnt his hand on a hot stove plate. It was terrible and he developed a blister so big it covered his whole hand! At that time, our finances were very limited and we had no medical insurance. He was in so much pain but I really couldn’t take him to the doctor because my husband had the car and was at work. All I had was Jesus and the word. The best I could do was to hold him on my lap with his little hand in a bowl of cold water. I had the worship music playing and proclaimed God’s word about healing and His sacrifice on the cross. I was sticking in there, not backing down, I kept worshipping and I kept declaring God’s healing. After about 2 hours, the pain had completely subsided. I then commanded that blister, in the name of Jesus, to be completely dried up and to be gone within 2 days.

The next day the pain was completely gone. That night while he was bathing, he took the soap and rubbed it onto his hands. I cringed for fear of the pain I was certain would follow (oh ye of little faith), but there was none. The following day, the blister was completely gone and all that remained was a slightly reddish layer of new skin on his hand. Two days, that is what I prayed for. God touched our son, removed that huge blister and brought complete healing.

There is power in God’s word. Everything we need for life is in His Word. We need to proclaim it loud and clear so that we can hear, because hearing the word of God puts us in a different mindset.

By proclaiming God’s word, my mind focusses on what I am reading and saying, shifting my focus from what is in front of me and that which is very intimidating to me. My focus turns to Jesus – who He is; healer, saviour, comforter, peace etc. It is when I look to Him and not at what is in front of me, that boldness and faith start rising up within me. I have realized that I don’t have anything else but Him and I know He is the only One that can help me in times of trouble.

There was a season in my life in which I had several experiences like this. Times where I couldn’t focus on what was in front of me, but had to dig in my heels and only take what God’s word says about a situation. My faith was being tested and I had to learn to trust the Lord in everything, especially with my children (this is a mothers biggest test, to not want to save our kids by ourselves, but to trust God). I have learned that to really trust and believe in God, I had to lose control – completely – to try not to control situations by making my own plans.

Isaiah 55:11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God’s word will be excecuted, it doesn’t matter how long it takes. It will come to pass.

Beloved, what is it that you need to proclaim? In which area of your life do you need your faith to be built? Get those scriptures out, write them down if you must and start proclaiming the truth. Faith comes by hearing so listen and focus intently on what you are reading and speaking. Let your spirit drink deep. Faith will rise up! Don’t stop until something happens.

Let us pray: Father, I know my faith is weak in this area of my life. I cannot see a way out. I cannot see how I will ever get over what I am experiencing now, but You are God Most High. You are the ruler of heaven and earth. Heaven is Your throne and the earth is Your footstool. Nothing can withstand You: when You act no-one can reverse it. You are the strongest force in the Universe. I look to You now. I choose to take my eyes off of what I see and I set my mind and my eyes on who You are. Holy Spirit please help me to find the right scriptures for this issue and please give me the strength to push through and not stop until something happens. In Jesus name I pray. Amen and amen.

I want to encourage you to not give up. Sometimes it takes a while before you see change, but stick in there. It will surely come!