First Born

Romans 8: 29 ICB “God knew them before he made the world.  And God chose them to be like his son.  Then Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers.”

Now for the changing and renewing of your mind, God has called you and now you are studying God’s word.  The Bible and today we are looking at the International Children's Bible version which is self-explanatory.  I do believe we all have all kinds of hangups.  So just after your rebirth, you will hear someone saying something like you are just like your mother or our family has been suffering from heart disease for many generations.  True, but didn’t you just change your life around?  Didn’t you just accept the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth into your own life? 

Yes, both you and I have been born into a sinful world, and we are sinners until we make that decision to become born again.  The minute you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you became born again. 

A renewing process is going to take place, you are going to have a hunger and thirst to read the Bible.  You will want to spend time with other believers and learn more about Jesus.  In the beginning, the Lord will answer many of your prayers so that You can see and get to know His voice.  A still soft voice.

Like the little sheep, you are looking around to see where your shepherd is, and you want to follow Him.

I want to encourage you today, keep on reading God’s word the Bible and keep on meditating on the word.  Write the scripture down and think about what it's saying to you.  Keep a journal and write down your prayers and answers you received.  Sometimes you loose yourself and need to remind yourself how far you have come.  See how God is leading and guiding you.  Do not stop keep moving forward each day, bit by bit.

Prayer

Thank You, Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, today we realize that You are God’s first born, we honor and worship You.  Lord, it is our heart's desire to become more and more like You.  We love You, we enjoy learning about You, please Lord we need the Holy Spirit in our own lives.  We call on You, send Your Spirit to help us.  Amen

Do you love Jesus?

John 14: 23 – 24 AMP Jesus answered:  “If anyone [really] loves Me, he will keep My word (teaching); and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling place with him.  One who does not [really] love Me does not keep My words.  And the word (teaching) which you hear is not Mine, but is the Father’s who sent me.”

Where do you find yourself right now on your journey?  Are you in a serious relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth?  Can you honestly say that you spend as much time in The Bible as you want?  Do you make the time to study God’s Word and meditate on the scriptures night and day?

You see Jesus is speaking to you and me today He is saying “Yvette, do you really love Me?  Are you keeping my word (teaching)?”  I am doing the best I can I believe that I spend a lot of time reading Gods word and I study it as best I can.  I believe God is making his dwelling place with me.

Can you say the same?  Are you open to receiving the Lord God into your life?  Do you want to have a truly wonderful relationship with God?  We can only experience this by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior.  After this, we will receive the Holy Spirit and the LORD will come and take up residence in our lives.

Prayer

O Lord Jesus, I believe You died for me and that Your lifeblood paid for my sins.  Please, Lord Jesus, forgive me for my sins.  I want You to be my Lord.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for dying for me, forgiving my sin and also for the gift of eternal life.  Today I turn away from my sin and I accept and acknowledge You as my Lord and Saviour.  Please, Lord Jesus, guide me in Your ways.  Amen

When God was my friend

Job1: 20-21 AMP “The Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God].  He said, “Naked (without possessions) I came [into this world] from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.””

Job woke up one morning and his entire life changed.  He said in Job Chapter 7 Verse 11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord].”

Can you imagine waking up one morning and all you care about has been taken away from you?  Do you think you would be able to cope?  Even now in my own difficulty, I cannot even contemplate what Job went through.  I feel terrible at times and I feel like God has abandoned me but in all honesty, I realize that God is with me always.  Yes, life seems difficult and so unfair towards me.  I can hardly think what tomorrow will be like.  I believe without a doubt that God knows best.  I don’t understand why I am facing these trails and I cannot understand what good can come of it.  I seem that everywhere I turn it's dark and I am abandoned. 

Worrying about the situation cannot change it and will not make it go away.  The only way to deal with issues is to face it and move on.

God brought me to it God will bring me through it, I will come out a better person.  I am struggling to deal with it but He knows best.  People may frown upon me, I believe God is in my corner, I don’t always hear His voice and He hasn’t confirmed anything to me, but I believe in this difficult time I will sing praises and worship Him.  Job did it and he came out a victor.

Prayer

Heavenly Father we fall on our faces to the ground and we bring you honor and worship You.  You alone are our God and we praise Your Holy Name, we honor and praise You.  Lord, we follow the example of Job and bring You praise, we came into this world without anything and we will leave this world without anything.  Thank You, that we may speak openly to You, in Jesus Name.  Amen

Spread your covering over me.

Ruth 3: 9 (NLV) “He said: “Who are you?” She answered:  “I am Ruth, your woman servant.  Spread your covering over me.  For you are of our family.”

Ruth followed her mother-in-law's instructions and waited for Boaz to eat and drink and be merry.  After he laid down she went quietly and opened his feet and lie down.  At midnight Boaz woke up and found her lying there and then he asked her who are you.

God love’s as very much but I know that He will not come and push His will onto anyone of us.  If we were to submit the same way that Ruth submitted to Boaz the Lord’s will place His covering over our lives.

When you think about where you find yourself right now, doesn’t it make sense to turn and come into the presence of the Most High God?  Would it be so difficult to actually submit to God who is omnipresent and who cares deeply for each one of us?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, in humbleness we come into Your presence today, Lord we submit our lives fully into Your hands.  Lord, we want to ask You for Your covering over our lives.  Each day without You Lord is dreadful.  We pray for this covering in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Do you trust God, and do you obey Him immediately?

Ruth 3: 5 MSG “Ruth said, “If you say so, I’ll do it, just as you’ve told me.”

When you read this chapter in Ruth you will see that Noami is instructing her daughter-in-law to wash and put perfume on.  Then she needed to go to Boaz where he would be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.  She was to wait until he had eaten and finished drinking and take note of where he played down.  Ruth should then and uncover his feet and lie down.  Noami said that Boaz will tell her what to do.

Wow, this was huge, she had to fully trust that Naomi was sure she knew what she was talking about and then follow her mother-in-law's instruction to the “T.”

Here is the thing, when we get instructions from God, do we have the nerve to actually follow those instructions to the “T?”  You know that little voice which reminds you of something.  You can hear it, but do you listen?

To not obey the Lord God is something terrible and I promise you it will haunt you for a long, long time.  I know because I wasn’t always prepared to listen and the consequence thereof is huge.

While you are assessing your own life and thinking about things you should be doing for the Lord, I do want to encourage you to trust God, completely and to obey Him immediately.  Don’t wait, do it now!

Prayer

Humbly Lord God, I come before You today guilty as charged for not always listening to You.  I realize that I make such huge mistakes and basically it’s by my own choice.  I think about the times You have spoken to me in an audible voice, I ignored You and did what I wanted to.  Please forgive me, in Jesus Christ’s Name, help me to act immediately when You instruct me.  You know best, thank You, Lord.  Amen

#Righteousness

Romans 1: 17 NIV “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.””

How do you understand “Righteousness?”  I think this is being “holy before God” or “in right standing with God.”  How do we receive our “righteousness?”  I believe that the only way we are able to receive our “righteousness” is through faith.  Without faith nothing is possible.  You have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  I like The Message, it says: “Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.”

In other words, without Christ Jesus, we are unable to come into a relationship with the “Living God.”  It must be your desire to be right with God and to live as for God.  I believe that it is the only way to live in any case.

For myself, it is my heart's desire to get to know God and the Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  I want to live a full and abundant like.  I don’t think that it would be possible to live my life any other way. 

Without being made right with the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no way you are able to get into heaven.  Absolutely not.  Because “I am the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.”

Prayer

Father God we embrace the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth and we want to live our lives righteous before You.  We know that You want us to be holy because You are Holy.  We also know that You loved us so much that we are able to be called Your children through the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  We love You and worship You.  Amen

Come and join me tonight at 18h00 CAT (Central African Time) and listen to my choice of #Gospel #music

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I do want to invite you to come and join me tonight on Rainbow Gospel Radio, with Gospel Encore by me Yvette van Niekerk.  I am sure you will love my choice of music which will get your feet tapping and you singing along.

God bless you