QUIET TIME WITH THE LORD

Church is very important for people to have interactions with each other, but I believe that your quiet time with the Lord is the most important.

Why? you may ask.  Because in your quiet time with the Lord, you grow nearer to God and build a relationship with Him.  The church is not your paved way to heaven, but your relationship with God is.

WHAT ITEMS MUST YOU HAVE FOR YOUR QUIET TIME WITH GOD?

• Bible
• Pen
• Notebook
• Journal book
• Christian music

Here are a few simple steps to help you with your special time with God:

SPEND TIME WITH GOD EACH DAY

It is very important that you establish a specific time to spend time with God.  It can be in the morning or the evening.  This depends totally on your preference.  I prefer to have my quiet time early in the mornings, because my whole family is asleep and I have all the time in the world to talk to God and learn from Him.

WHAT DO I DO IN THIS TIME WITH GOD?

This is your time to pray and study the Bible - and get quiet before the Lord so that He can talk to you!!

LISTEN TO CHRISTIAN MUSIC

You can start your quiet time with beautiful Christian music, just to align your spirit for prayer.   You can go to this URL on you tube to find 7 hours of Christian music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XUKNSqS3C8&t=212s

This is just to get you in the mood for prayer and your quiet time with God.  If you want to, you can play this music softly in the background whilst praying or just stop it if it is a distraction.

READ THE BIBLE

Pray before you start to read the Bible and ask God to teach You from His Word.  Start to read the Bible from the New Testament. (I think it is just a little more practical!  It will give you the do's and don’ts and is a little bit more practical advice on daily matters.)  When you have finished to read the New Testament, start to read the Old Testament. Take only one chapter or a few verses every day, but read them with intense focus.  Be quiet before God to hear if He is speaking to you from this specific part of the Bible. You will be surprised sometimes, because certain verses will speak to your situation directly.

PRAY

For some reason people think that they don’t know the perfect words and the perfect phrases to pray.  They think they have to use mighty and powerful words to pray.  They believe a prayer has to sound like a poem, and they just cannot do that.

This is not what prayer is all about.  Prayer is just talking to God, like He is your best Friend.  If you are going to talk to your best friend, will you say something like?
Oh dearest, most wonderful, more precious than words Paula?
No, you would not say that.  You’ll probably say something like:  Morning Paula.  It is so great to see you?

But… we are now talking to God, the Creator of heaven, earth and the cosmos. So, you could most probably start with something like:

Dear Father
Or… like I do:
Dearest Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

There is no right or wrong way!!  But… you have to have respect for God, so the way you start your prayer is important.

EXAMPLE:

Let’s say you are praying about your finances.  If it was me, this would probably be an example of the prayer I would be praying (just in short)

Dearest Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit

Thank You for a wonderful morning and that You have protected me through the night.  I love you very much.

Lord, I want to pray for my finances today.  You know how hectic my finances are, that I do not know where my money is going to.  Please help me to sort my finances out!  Please help me to make a budget and to spend my money wisely. You know that we do not have a lot of groceries left.  Please Lord stretch our groceries and our money till the end of the month!  I place this money problem in Your hand my King, because only You are able to sort it out for me.  I ask everything in the Name of Jesus!  Amen

So?  Was that difficult?  No, not at all!  You just talked to God and poured your heart out! Prayer is not difficult.  Prayer is just talking to your best, and only TRUE FRIEND in the universe!  In prayer, you must become childlike.  If a child prays and want a bicycle they would probably say something like this:

Jesus, can I please have that red bicycle I saw in the window for my birthday?  It is the coolest bike ever! I promise I will drive very carefully with it!

A child’s prayer is honest, open and without pretention.  This is how God want us to pray!!

If you look at Matthew 6, where Jesus taught about prayer, you would also see that the prayer was plain and simple:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
” Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” ……

It was a plain and simple prayer.  There were no big and poetic words, just normal words that you will speak in daily life.  So… here is the good news:  if you can talk to a friend, you can pray!

May this simple explanation help you to feel more comfortable in your prayer life and to be childlike and honest before God!!  God is pleased with an open and honest prayer!!!

BE STILL

It is very important to become still before God.  We pray so much that we do not give God a chance to speak to us.
You will see that I included a list of things you will need in your quiet time. One of them is a notebook.  The devil tries to steal from us when we spend time with God.  Once you become quiet, a lot of things will cross your mind – things you still have to do.  Quickly write them in the notebook and continue to be quiet before the Lord.  When you become quite a verse will most probably pop into Your head.  Open your Bible and read that verse. (You can jot this down in your journal book to refer to it – if you want to.)  It is astonishing what God can teach you from the Bible.
Sometimes you might hear a thought in your mind.  This can be God or not.  The devil would try to stop you in your tracts, because he doesn’t want you to have a relationship with God.  He will come to you with whole lies, half-truths, etc.  Do not let him get you off your path.
Remember:  God will never tell you to do bad things to people.  God and His Word is always uplifting and good!
(Example:  God will never tell you to have an affair with your neighbour’s wife.  But God may tell you to go and pray for your employer or neighbour.)
If you cannot find Scripture for the thought you have, rather discard the thought.  It will take time and commitment for you to become real still before God and hear His voice.  But it is also the most wonderful and uplifting time you will have with God!
May Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit take your hand and teach you about your quiet time with Him!  May He bless your time with Him and help you to grow!!

Blessings to you and your family!

Babs

HOW DO I FORGIVE SOMEONE?

Forgiveness is very hard to do - especially in some cases.  So why do I really have to forgive someone?

The Bible says in Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV):

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, you heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins your Father will not forgive your sins.

Ouch, this is hard words - words that we don't want to hear but have to hear!   So let's just read the last part again.

But if you do not forgive men their sins your Father will not forgive your sins.

Hard words for all of us to hear!  This means:  forgive your ex husband/ wife, forgive the guy that stole from you, even forgive the person that has done unspeakable things to you as a child. Forgive your parents for mistakes they made when you were a young child.  And last but not the least: forgive yourself for mistakes you have made towards others.

Before you hit me with a stick, I just want to say:  I have been there and I had to walk this long road of forgiveness myself.  

It is not a nice road to walk at first, but a very good road to walk on later.  And the minute I knew I was getting somewhere is when I could pray for a guy that pulled the carpet from underneath me and my family, causing us severe pain, trauma and lots and lots of hate and unforgiveness.  And I was not just praying for him.  I begged God in tears to forgive him and not punish him or his children for his deeds.  That was when I had the biggest breakthrough of my life!!!

Yes, I am not in your situation and I do not know what you have been through.  I do understand that.  But the Word does not say that this and this would excuse you from the above word. I wish it could, then life would be so easy.

Unforgiveness and hatred is your worst enemy, because it steals your joy and keeps binding you to the person that you hate and do not forgive. Read this again out loud so that it can sink in: 

Unforgiveness and hatred is your worst enemy, because it steals your joy and keeps binding you to the person that you hate and do not forgive.

The person that you hate sometimes does not even know that you hate them, so it doesn't affect them at all.  They have moved on.  Maybe they have confessed their sins to God and got forgiven.  And who gets hurts the most in this process?  You - the one with the unforgiveness in your heart.  

Jesus knew that we had to forgive in order for us to get free from things that is keeping us away from serving God with everything in us.  

I know a lot of bad things has been done to you, which makes it very hard to forgive.  I have so much empathy with you and I really do not judge you.  No one knows what you are going through.  I just want to give you a little guidance  from the hard road I have travelled and try and help you to make things a little better.

HOW DO I FORGIVE SOMEONE THEIR SINS?

You have to confess before God that you hate that person, that you are bitter against them, that you have unforgiveness in your heart.  

A typical prayer could go like this:  Father, you know what  ..... did to me.  I want to confess that I hate him/her, I despise him/her, I even wish he/she was dead.  I have so much anger and bitterness against him/her.  I don't want to forgive him/her.

But...  

But then you must tell God that His Word says you must forgive.  Again a small prayer: 

 I don't want to forgive him/her Lord, but Your Word says if I do not forgive him/her his/her sins, You cannot forgive me my sins.  And if you do not forgive my sins, then I might miss heaven.  And I don't want to miss heaven.  Therefor I want to forgive him/her and I want to set him/her free in the Name of Jesus.

Repeating thoughts?  

We must remember that the devil walks around and he wants to keep us away from heaven.  He loves it when we hate someone and does not forgive them, because then we stand a chance to miss heaven.  He will target you with hatred memories and remind you of things the person did wrong.  Whenever this happens, just confess it again before God, forgive the person and set him/her free in the Name of Jesus.  If you have to do it a million times, please do it a million times!!!!  It is so worth it!!!

Forgive yourself!  

Maybe you were the one that did something wrong to someone else and hurt them very much.  If you have confessed it before God before, He has forgiven you - because His Word says so!!  

But... you have hold it against yourself for all these years. You have played God over your own life and not forgiven yourself!  Now is the time to come clean and free before God. 

Here is a prayer:  Lord, I have sinned against ....... and in the process hurt her/him (and my children).  For all these years I have hold this against myself, even though You have forgiven me already.  I want to confess that I hate myself, that I have not forgiven myself.  So... I forgive myself in the Name of Jesus and I set myself free.

Severe sins that cripples you.  

There are things that may have been done to you as a child that makes it severely difficult to forgive someone (Spiritual, emotional, physical and sexual abuse).  In cases like this, it would help you to pray the following prayer:  

Lord, you know what ...... did to me.  And it is not easy for me to forgive him/her because I have to live with the consequences of his/her deeds.  In fact, I do not want to forgive him/her.  But Your Word says I must forgive him/her or You will not forgive me.  So... because Your Word says that, and I want to do what Your Word says,  I want to forgive ...... for what he/she did to me in the Name of Jesus and set him/her free.  But Lord, You know I am suffering with this.  Please help me to forgive him/her in the Name of Jesus - day by day by day.  Take my hand, help me to forgive and never let go of my hand.  

And again... if any thoughts pop up in your mind, confess, confess, confess.

I know that this can be difficult to do, because there are circumstances that had life altering effects on your whole life.  But... if you start to forgive, you will be set free - little by little!  You will feel a freedom that you have never felt before.  It might come over a time if the trauma you had was severe, but you will just one day realize that you are not thinking of that person or situation so much!  And this only comes through the help of God!

Remember:  all things take time, especially when your emotions were bruised beyond compare.  But in the end it is so worth it!  

When you forgive, that person no longer has a hold on your life!  When you forgive, you also give that hold that they had over your life away.  When you forgive, your sins are forgiven and you are on your way to heaven!  Is this not a wonderful???

May God reveal your unconfessed sins and unforgiveness to you, not to cripple you, but to heal you and to pick you up!!

Blessings!

Babs

THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD (Epehsians 6:13 -17

We, in South Africa, and the whole world need to learn how to put on the full armor of God for our families.  If you know how to do it, please do it regularly - minimum once a week!  For those of you that has never done it before, I will try to explain the way I am doing this. I always do this on a Wednesday.

You must see each member of your family before you.  If it is difficult for you to do, put their full length photos on a wall or in a frame to help you.

I normally start with my husband, then myself, my first born, her husband, then my second born, his wife and then the grandchildren from the oldest to the youngest.  I see them in my spiritual eyes while I am putting on the full armor of God for each one.  It goes something like this.

I see how I take the belt of the truth in my hand and place it around their waste.  I then call each one on their name in the following order and see how I place the belt of the truth around their waste in the Name of Jesus.  I also say (example:  "Babs, receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus."

My husband              receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Babs (me)                 Babs, receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Eldest daughter         receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Her husband              receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Second born              receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
His wife                    receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Grandchild one         receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Grandchild two         receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Grandchild three       receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Grandchild four        receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus
Grandchild five        receive the belt of the truth in the Name of Jesus

I then continue to the next one:  the breastplate of righteousness.  Again I put the breastplate of righteousness on each one of my family as if I am putting it on for them.  Again I call every person by their name and say:  "... name..., receive the breastplate of righteousness in the Name of Jesus. " I continue till the last grandchild.

Then I start all over again with all of them.  I say:  "... name..., I put on the shoes of readiness to spread the gospel of peace."  I see how I hand the shoes over to each person and even help them to put the shoes on.

I start from my husband again and see how I am giving him the shield of faith in the Name of Jesus, with my left hand.  Look him and every other person in your family in the eyes while handing over the shield of faith.
"... name... receive the shield of faith in the Name of Jesus."

I start with my husband again and look him in the eyes. ".... name... receive the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, in the Name of Jesus."  I hand him the sword with my right hand and even speak a blessing over him and every member of my family.  It can be something like this. "May this sword and the Word of God lead and guide you and make you the priest of this house."

The helmet of salvation.  Again I start with my husband and continue to the last grandchild.  I take my hand as if I am holding a ball or the helmet of salvation between them and see how I am walking over to my husband, and every member of my family.  I then say: "... name... receive the helmet of salvation."  I then place the helmet on his head and then on every other member of my family.

It may sound a little long, but... it is the best gift of love you can give any person in your family!!!!  You can also start with one person and first put on the full armor for that person.  There is no wrong or right.  Just do it and see how wonderful this is!!!!

May this armor of God be a blessing to you and your family!!!

WHAT CAN WE DO IN A COUNTRY TORN APART?

WHAT CAN WE DO IN A COUNTRY TORN APART?

South Africa is a great land, with great people.  But somehow there is forces at work that is tearing this country apart.  So what can we do in a country that is torn apart?

HATE

Some people think that hate is the answer to all their problems.  Just hate other people and you will feel better about yourself.  But the question is:  who must you hate?  About what must you hate them? And if you hate them how will it change your situation?  

Hate cannot change any situation.  In fact:  hate destroys the person that is hating!  So... if you are hating someone for what is going on in South Africa, you are destroying yourself!!  So, is hate the answer?  No!  Hate is not an option!

VIOLENCE

Then surely violence is the option?  If you are angry about something then you can violate someone else's property, their business, a school and burn some cars while you're at it.  What the heck, you just want to hit or kill someone.  This will definitely make you feel better.  Or that is what you think.  But... is this really a solution? 

You can do all of the above, but it will NEVER give you inner peace.  You can be as violent as you want to, but in the end it is only you that is going to live with the consequences.  And... if you kill people to feel better, don't you think you are now getting lower than an animal?  Animals only kill to protect or eat.  So... if you kill or hit someone to make you feel better - are you human or animal?  

Violence is and never was an option.  In violence it is normally the good and innocent people that gets hurt, people that has nothing to do with what is going on in a country torn apart!  Violence is and never will be the answer!

BLAMING OTHERS

Wow, this is your favourite - blaming others for everything that happens around you.  It is easy and sometimes even human to blame others for your mistakes!  You don't want to admit that you have made a mistake, so you blame someone else.  In South Africa this has been the case for many moons!  

It is better so shift the blame to someone else than to admit you have done something wrong.  What is wrong with this picture?  Mmm... let me see...!!  What is wrong?  You are wrong!!!  When you blame others, you are not taking responsibility for your own actions. 

In fact, when you blame someone else, you are missing the part where you can learn from your mistakes and move on.  When you blame someone else, you don't take a good look at your own inner person and look for changes you can make to rectify the problem.  So... you are really becoming a product of others around you. 

"It was not me.  My neighbour told me we should rob that cafe."  I am sorry, you are saying what??  It was not your neighbours fault.  Everyone of us must make our own decisions!!!  You could have made the decision to CHOOSE not to rob that cafe!  All of us has a choice!!!  No one can force you to do something that you don't want to do!  

So come on!  Decide today that you are not going to blame others, but that you are going to do introspection, rectify mistakes you have made and become a responsible person, taking the blame for your own mistakes and learning from them!

WAR

O yes, in a country torn apart, this seems like the great option!  Those guys are not thinking the same way as I do, so... I will just start a war and kill them all. Then nobody will stand in my way.

But... what if you are wrong?  What if your ideas is not the right ideas and you go to war?  Yes, you will kill the people that frustrates you so much, but will you benefit in the long run?  Will that give you inner peace?  Will you stop when you have killed all the people that you think is the problem, or will other people with other views come up again?  So will you keep on killing until only you and your family remains behind?  Is that really what you want?

Let's look at war.  Again the innocent and weak suffer.  Take any war you like:  Vietnam or the Anglo Boer war in South Africa.  Who suffered the most?  In a war situation the women and children is always suffering at the hand of the enemy.  Why?  Because if they rape and kill the women and children, they are breaking the spirit of the enemy, thus forcing them to stop the war and just give over.  

So in a war situation a lot of people die,  but most of them is innocent women and children that never had something to do with the reason the war was started in the first place.  War is a game of men trying to prove something.  For men it is a game of strategy, but...too many innocent people loose their lives.  

And at the end the country and many buildings is destroyed.  So after the war you have to start to rebuild again - costings millions to a crippled country!  Where is the logic in that?  War is definitely not an option, but is the worst decision any person or country can make!

What is the solution then?

Well, the options are not too many, but their are solutions.

1.  HOPE

In a country torn apart, there is not a lot of hope.  

The second need on the basic need scale of any human is:  Safety.  That means security of body, work, health, morality and your family.  In a torn up country, violence is at it's worst. Therefore people loose hope not understanding that one of their basic human needs has been violated!  

This can be a big problem, because when you loose hope, you don't want to fight for survival.  You just want to work, go home and lock yourself up, praying that you will survive the night!  Then your drive becomes:  food, water, sleep and breathe - basic insticts!  So your are just staying alive, not living!

Restoring hope is the best thing any one in a country can do!   And it just takes one person to start the change.  You can start the change and live it out so much that others would also want to change.  How do you restore hope?  

1.  Give your heart to God - that is the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit

2.  Look past the stumble blocks in your way and up to Jesus!  That way you do not see the stumble blocks anymore, but only Jesus!

3.  Let Jesus become your HOPE!

4.  Talk to Him and even moan when you are having a bad day or something is bothering you.  Just sharing your life with Him makes the biggest difference ever!!!

5.  You will start to have hope in your heart, and it will grow and grow the nearer you get to the Lord - guaranteed!!!

2.  LOVE

I'm not talking about erotic love or self love!  I am talking about real agape love - God's love.  Wait, wait, before you destroy me with your looks...  Just think about this:

When you have God's love in you, the following happens:

1. You stop to think only of yourself and think about others around you
2. You WANT  to become a good Samaritan, doing good deeds to others.
3. You WANT to help someone that has a problem or a need

So... if you look at it that way, how can love help in a land torn apart?

1. YOU LOOK AT PEOPLE THROUGH THE EYES OF JESUS.  

Your heart changes and because your heart changes, you don't see the colour of someones skin, where they live or what they do.  You just see a person in front of you with a need, and someone you can love with the love of the Lord.

2. GOOD SAMARITAN

You are always looking for things you can help others with!  Whether it is carrying the grocery packages for an old lady to her car, or just standing with a child (of another race)  that is lost,  until the mother pitches up - YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!!

You really care about the people around you and you would not want something bad to happen to them and their kids.  So you become just as protective of their belongings and their lives as you are with your own belongings and family.  You pray for those around you and ask God to protect them also!!

3. YOU TRY YOUR BEST TO UNDERSTAND THE OTHER PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW

Because you love God, you try to have peace and spread peace.  This is the reason you would try to listen to another person's point of view and try to understand things from their side!  

And the interesting fact is:  the more you listen to the other person's point of view, the better you get to understand them, have empathy with their situation and the nearer your hearts and minds grow together!  At the end you will both walk out, satisfied because today you have started to build a bridge where there was no bridge at all!!!

4.  LOVE CONQUERS ALL!

So here you are - loving all those around you and trying to help them out the best way you know to.  And something in your heart starts to change.  You actually start to love other people with the love of God! 

You have more understanding for them, more empathy, much more willingness to help them out no matter what the problem.  And suddenly you realize that love really conquers all!!! 

With love you can start to build up a country torn apart - one person at a time.  But the best  thing about love conquering all is that you start to teach others through your love!  

Once your love has touched their hearts, they cannot do anything else but pay that love forward to somebody else.  And another, and another, until you have a caring nation of people that really understand each other, respect each other and want to help building up the land and it's people again.

So... here you have 2 great answers to help your country that is torn apart.  The biggest question now is:  

* Are YOU going to make a difference?

* Will YOU  start a revolution of hope and love right there were you are?? 

That answer my friend is now in your hands!!  

#HOW CAN I GIVE MY HEART TO GOD?

Giving Your heart to God is one of the ultimate things you can do in your life.

WHY DO I NEED TO BE SAVED?

Adam and Eve sinned in paradise, thus losing the loving relationship they had with God.  They could have walked and talked with God every day, but was expelled because of their sins.  This impacted all of us till today.  We were created to walk and talk to God, and will be searching for that until we give our hearts to God and have peacefull communion with Him.

BUT HOW CAN I BE SAVED?

There is NO deed you can do on this earth to be saved.  No human plan will work.  You can only be saved through Jesus Christ, His grace and His mercy.

God send His Son Jesus to earth so that He could die on the cross for our sins.  God could have saved Him from the cross, but "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that we could be saved."  

By dying on the cross, and giving His blood and His life for us, Jesus became the "Middleman"  (mediator) between us and God.  God now sees each one of us through Jesus!  

JESUS IS MY MEDIATOR!!

WHAT CAN I DO TO BE SAVED?

Salvation has been provided by Jesus.  You and I must now just accept it. (A sinner's prayer is included near the end of this article.) These small steps are all that is needed to be saved:

1. Realize that you have sinned and that you are going to hell.
2. Talk to God and confess your sins.  
3. Invite God into your heart, mind, soul, body and whole being.
4. Confess that Jesus is Lord.  With this you give Christ full rule over your life!
5. You must confess and believe that God has raised Jesus from the death.  When you realize this you will understand that the penalty for your sin has been paid by Jesus and that you no longer live a life of sin.
6. But... and this is a big but... if you have confessed your sins, you must also walk away from them and sin no more!! 

Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

If you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Do you believe you are a sinner and right now you are going to hell without God?  Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and rose again?  Please pray this sinners prayer:

SINNERS PRAYER

Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit 

I have sinned against You!  I am sorry that I have sinned  and I bring every sin that I ever did before You.  Please forgive all my sins and help me not to sin anymore!  I believe that Jesus died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead, is alive and hears my prayer. 

Jesus, I invite You into my life. Please wash me with Your blood and cleanse me. Please lead me by Your Holy Spirit every day and help me to obey You and to do Your will.  I ask this in the Name of Jesus.

Amen

Congratulations!!!!  You have now become a child of God!!!  And do you know what God just did for you???

He removed your sins from you as far as the east is from the west!!!!!!  He never think of your sins anymore!!!!  You have been forgiven and set free!  This is a new beginning for you!!!

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

1. Spend time with God each day.  It can be in the morning or the evening, but get a specific time to pray and study the Bible.   
2. Pray before you start to read the Bible and ask God to teach You from His Word.  Start to read the Bible from the New Testament. (I think it is just a little more practical!  It will give you the do's and dont's!)  When you have finished to read the New Testament, start to read the Old Testament. Take only one chapter or a few verses every day, but read them with intense focus.
3. Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.  This is just to help you to commit to serving God.
4. Find a good Bible based church where you can worship God.  The communion with other followers of Christ is of great help!
5. Get good Christian music and listen to it daily.  It will strengthen your spirit!
6. Please remember that the devil would try to stop you in your tracts.  He will come to you with whole lies, half truths, etc.  Do not let him get you off your path. 

Touched by Jesus!!!!!

 Please keep reminding yourself of the following:

• My sins have been removed from me as far as the east is from the west!!  
• God has forgotten about my sin.  So should I!!
• It does not matter to God what my past was.  He cares about my future and where I am going with my future!!
• I am now a SON / DAUGHTER of God through Jesus!!
• Almighty God knows me by my name!!!!
• My name has been engraved in the palm of God's hand!
• I HAVE BEEN CREATED TO THE IMAGE OF GOD!
• He has made me just a little lower that the angels!
• He knew me before I was knitted together in my mother's womb!!
• I can do all things through Christ Jesus that strengthens me!!!

(You can print this out and keep it where you can read it every day)

May your journey with God be an adventure!  May He bless you with His Presence, His love and His mercy!!!

Ps.  Here is a few more articles that might be helpful to you:

CONFESS SINS:  https://babsgeldenhuys.blogspot.com/2017/09/confess-my-sins.html

HOW DO I PRAY?  https://babsgeldenhuys.blogspot.com/2017/09/how-do-i-pray.html

PS.  If you would like to receive more prayers or articles about handling emotional trauma, please fill in your e-mail adress at the bottom of this article (follow by e mail).   Articles about emotional trauma will start in 2018... or maybe earlier. 😃 You can opt out at any time!!  

#WHAT IS REVIVAL?

Revival is something we all want.  We know that a revival can change all things in our hearts, minds and souls.   But what is revival,  what can prevent it and how do we get revival?

What is revival?

Revival, according to Webster's dictionary is the act of bringing something back to life - a rebirth!  In Afrikaans:  herlewing of wedergeboorte.

According to Adrian Rogers it is when God shows up!!  Isaiah 64:1  Oh, that You (Almighty God) would rend the heavens, that You would come down, that the mountains might shake at Your Presence!  

God came down when Jesus was baptized.  His Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost and baptized the disciples with amazing powers and gifts.  And... we are also waiting for Jesus to come down a second time!

We all want revival in the church, in our country and in every town. BUT... and this is a big but... our country does not  have to be changed for us to have revival.  You can have personal revival!!  You can have revival in your family, at your work and even be a one person revival!!!!  When God "comes down", mountains will melt, sinners will shake and the righteous will rejoice.

WHAT PREVENTS REVIVAL?

OUR SINS

Our sins is standing in the way of revival!  We have become so busy that we nearly do not spend time alone with God, so we sin a lot.  Stress and fear has got us to a place where we fight for survival every day of our lives.  And this is where the problems begin.  Because we want to get somewhere in life, we start to sin.  Maybe at first just one curse word.  You feel a little bit guilty about this, but push that "small voice" under the carpet.  Then you curse a little bit more and before you know it, you are cursing like a sailor.  You don't even hear that "little voice" - the Holy Spirit - talking to you anymore!  One sin leads to another sin and before long, your whole life is engulfed with sin.  You are a Christian, not a child of God.  What is the difference you ask?  A Christian is only a name given to people who believe God exists.  A child of God is a person who is committed to God, who have a specific time for prayer and a specific time for Bible study.  It is a person that really wants to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, wants to be cleansed and is looking forward to meeting God when they die.  Are you a Christian or a child of God?

HOW DO WE GET REVIVAL?

CONFESS YOUR SINS

Honesty and openness is of the utmost importance before God.  It is most important that you do not withheld anything from God.  God knows everything already, but it is important for YOU to bring everything to the light.  That which is in the light, can never go back to darkness!!!  Adrian Rogers puts it this way:  "But God cannot put away our sin by forgiving unless we put it away by forsaking it."  

Please repent and confess your sin!  There is a freedom you get in your whole being when confessing sin that is soooo wonderful!

I have expanded more about confessing sin  on my blog.  See the article at this link: https://babsgeldenhuys.blogspot.com/2017/09/confess-my-sins.html.  

PRAY TOGETHER FOR REVIVAL

Pray by yourself but also gather other people around you to pray for revival.   You can get the church involved.  You can even send a prayer on social media everyday about revival.  Don't wait for someone else to start a prayer group.  Start one yourself!! You must yearn, burn and long for revival in your heart, mind, soul and body. You must pray and pray until God opens the heavens and come down to earth to meet you with revival!

ALLOW GOD TO USE YOU

You must become the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth.  Ask God to use you everyday, to become His instrument here on earth.  Ask Him to guide and lead you to where He want you to minister His Word to someone.  Just a little bit of a warning:  don't get angry if you get away a little bit later than usual to run an errand.  In God's plan you will be at the right spot, at the right place to be used by Him!!  But... you must also look for the opportunities that God is placing on your path everyday.  Listen to that small voice that is telling you to greet someone, to just smile at someone or just make a little bit of small talk.  Sometimes this is the way a conversation starts and this conversation can be life changing to someone else! When you allow God to use you, you are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime!!!!  

God is waiting for your prayer, your confession, your plead for revival.  You don't have to persuade God to send revival.  He wants to give revival!  You only have to permit Him to send revival!

Be blessed!

HOW DO I THANK GOD?

It seems so easy to thank God.  But... sometimes it is very hard to start to thank God and to know how to thank Him!  And sometimes you are caught up so deep in trauma, stress and depression that you do not even know where to start.  Well, I have been there and got to such a place that I wanted to thank God but did not even know where to start.  So, here is a very easy method to get you off your feet. 

WHERE DO I START?

The best way to start, especially if you are going through a lot of trauma or cannot think straight, is to start writing/typing your prayer.  This will help your mind to focus on what you are doing.  You can either write in a journal or type on a computer. If you are Afrikaans, try to write in English.  This will help you to concentrate even more.  But… if you are not a writer, just use the headings and pray whatever you feel like.

START LIKE THIS

On a clean page write one of the following headings.  Underneath the heading you write, in small sentences what you want to say.  Here is an example:

1.     WITH MY HAND IN YOURS... (Imagine that Jesus is standing next to you and that He is holding your hand)

I  I can do all things!!!

I  Nothing is impossible for me

I  I look forward to the day ahead, because You are already there!

I  I feel Your calmness, Your Presence, Your peace ...

I  (Keep on writing until you feel you have said enough.  
Then go to the next heading.)

2.    WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES... (Imagine looking into the eyes of Jesus and seeing His love for you!)

I I love no one else here on earth more than I love You my King

I  I know You look right through me, that You see all my sins, all my mistakes, everything I’m hiding, yet... You still love me sooooo much!!!!!

I  I can see that You love me so very much!!! ...

I  (Again keep on writing until you are satisfied.  Then go to the next heading.)

3.    YOU ARE THE ONE....

I  That has created heaven, earth and the whole cosmos

I  That deserves all honour, glory and praise

I  That I love with my whole being

I  that I want to serve for the rest of my life!  Please help me where I am weak! ...

4.     YOU ARE...

I  Wonderful

I  Master

I  Creator of heaven, earth and the whole universe

I  Worthy to be praised

I  Master and King most high!

I  Elohim – the One to whom all power belongs!!! ...

5.     THANK YOU FOR...

I  Food

I  Clothes

I  Our house and vehicles

I  A work

I  My spouse and kids....

6.    THANK YOU FOR YOUR...

I  Kindness

I  Goodness

I  Grace

I  Love

I  Mercy...

7.    THANK YOU THAT YOU...

I  Never give up on me

I  Love me so much that You say no sometimes, because You know what is best for me

I  Listen to every prayer I pray

I  Are only a whisper away.  That is soooooo near my King!!! ...

8.    THANK YOU BECAUSE YOU...

I  know me so well, yet You still care for me

I  Have died on the cross for our sins Jesus

I  Are such a wonderful God, the greatest Friend ever and Comforter that always cares!

I  Care so much for us as human beings! ...

9.     I DECLARE...

I  That I love You Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit

I  That me and my house WILL serve You

I  That You are the only living God in the whole universe!!!  Halleluja!!!!!

You do not have to pray through all 9 headings if your time is limited.  Sometimes you will pray more in one heading than in others.  There is no right or wrong way .  The main thing is to get praying and thanking God!! 

May the Creator of heaven, earth and the universe teach and guide you further in your thanksgiving!  Be blessed in the Name of Jesus!

Ps.  Please fill in your name and e-mail address at the top of the page to receive articles as they are published.  You can opt out at any time.  In 2018 more articles for emotional health and support will be published.