I walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5: 7

How are you today? It sure has been a while... I have been busy and I am only now starting to find my feet again. I started a new job. It's a time-sensitive job and keeps me busy from 08:00 to 17:00 Mondays to Fridays and Saturdays 08:00 to 14:00. I do enjoy the work, it makes me think and I have to be checking stuff. With all of this going on it dawned on me I just cannot make it through the day. I needed to get back on my knees asking the Lord to help me through my day. I started having panic attacks. It took me a while to come to a point in my life where I realised that I cannot face the day if the Lord has not been called into it. Yes, I know the Lord. I cannot get started if I don’t spend time in the presence of God. I now make a point of getting up each morning and going into my study, opening my Bible and reading. I feel like I am in the new beginnings, I am trying to change my perspective on life and still, I feel like nothing is truly changing. Tonight my husband made a statement. “Don’t you think you are changing?” Me? I am hard-headed and stubborn and difficult at the best of times. I am living by faith at the moment. I am working hard to draw near to the Lord, my God. I feel that I have let God down at a stage in my life when I needed Him the most. I didn’t turn to Him. I tried to deal with my insecurities and my selfishness and anger problems. I wanted to do it on my own. I made such a mess of things I cannot believe I am still allowed to come into His presence. I don’t know if I am changing, I cry a lot, I repent daily and I pray all the time. I have come to a place in my life where I know I need to trust in God. I have no way of getting through my day. I have to get back on my knees and pray. Confessing God’s Word is key to changing my life. In these past couple of months I have come to realise that when I confess God’s Word over my life, I feel better and I can take the day by the horns. Without courage I cannot get through my day and God’s Word is my courage, my strength and my way forward. I commit everything I do into God’s hands and I know He is helping me. Prayer Father God, Great and Mighty are You LORD. I confess that I am nothing without You, I cannot get through my day. As I close my eyes tonight I want to pray that Your Holy Spirit will be with me and when I wake up tomorrow morning Your Holy Spirit will be with me. I commit everything I do into Your hands and I trust in You to be with me every step of the way. I know I am nothing if I don’t have You. Holy Spirit please keep me safe. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I live by faith and not by sight and I know You are renewing my mind. Ame

How can I clear the slate?

by Yvette van Niekerk

Ezekiel 18: 31 MSG “Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel?” When we are unable to confess our wrongs and sins, our countenance changes. We have darkness over our faces, and it may seem we are sad. Then we experience condemnation. We fail to repent and ask for forgiveness of my sin, our countenance changes. Psalm 34: 5 MSG “They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.” Confession is good for my soul. I need to repent of things I may have said or done. I do not want to build a wall between myself and God. I am honest when I confess anything I did and I receive God's forgiveness. I want a direct line to God and I can only achieve it by confessing my sins. Repentance: means "turning away and deciding not to do it again." I am saying "Yes, I did this, I am sorry and won't do this again." Ezekiel 20: 43 "Then you will look back at all your sins and loathe yourselves because of the evil you have done." Yes, it's true I struggle with self-loathing when I know I have been doing something wrong. I cannot move past it and it makes me feel miserable and I am frustrated. My self-esteem is down the drain, condemnation trails behind me. Life looks bleak and miserable. I seem to be going down the road of destruction in my life and only when I confess my sins, there is a relief. I realize that I cannot do this on my own, I have and always ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything I should be confessing. God is faithful and He does show me my iniquities, giving me a chance to confess and repent. The experience is my heart feels lighter, freedom and joy come to me. God knows the secrets of my heart Psalm 44 verses 21. Prayer Father, Lord as King David prayed, "Wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation." Psalm 51. Please show me anything I am hiding and help me to see it and confess it to you, so that I may repent and receive Your forgiveness. Psalm 31 says "blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered." Please help me to always confess my sinfulness so that I am able to say "see if there are any wicked ways in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Please forgive me, in the name of Jesus Christ. Father God today I want to be obedient and accept the gift that You have given me. I am trading my tired and worn-out life for a new one today with Jesus Christ. Today I surrender all my faulty plans for Your perfect plan. Lord, please help me to abide in you so that you can abide in me. Father today I am embracing the new life available to me. I don’t know how things will work but I beg You hear my call. I accept the Lord Jesus Christ to renew my life today. Amen

#self-centered me

by Yvette van Niekerk

Matthew 23: 11 - 12 MSG "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty."

As a mother, wife and grandmother I think that I have no choice in the matter of serving my family. To tell you the truth serving others does not come naturally to me. Why? I feel that I am a self-centered kind of person. I like things to go my way. I do feel ashamed about my self-centered ways and I am really working hard not to be so self-centered at time.

I wonder whether you struggle with being #self-centered? If you ask me, I believe we are selfish by nature. Looking at the two little kids I am looking after, I can tell you, the oldest is very #self-centered.

When reading my Bible, it is clear according to the Lord Jesus, life isnt all about me, and still everyting in this world revolves around "me" telling the "me" I need this and that.

The minute I get consumed by my own desires, my own needs and everything all about me, I forget about the Lord.

The Lord Jesus said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16 verse 24. Think about this the Lord wants it to be His way. When I think of food I should be focusing on what the Lord Jesus said: "My food ... is to be the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." John 4 verse 34. I wish I was that kind of person who would think that "my food is to be a servant of God. I want to please Him. My food is to complete the work the Lord God sent me to do. I want to do the will of my Father and to finish His work." I am praying for this kind of divine direction in my own life, letting the self-centered person behind.

What's the message here? I believe we are to serve others, not try and get everything out of everyone. Fill others with what we have and turn to God to help us fulfil His purpose in our lives.

Prayer

O Lord, Father God, today help me to become the servant You need me to be. I am so self-centered and not concerned about others needs. I need divine direction in my own life, show me the way forward. Teach me to be a godly person, help me to listen and understand. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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Let God carry your burdens.

by Yvette van Niekerk

Psalm 55: 22 MSG "Pile your troubles on GOD's shoulders - he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people topple into ruin. But you, God, will throw the others into a muddy bog; Cut the lifespan of assassins and traitors in half. And I trust in you."

During this time of the coronavirus, I must tell you I had thought this is a total hoax, it seems like everything is so sort of cover-up. Anyway, it doesn't help I start believing all kinds of conspiracy theories, that's not true. So this thing has been weighing me down for some time. I am sick when I have to go into a shop and buy some stuff, and the masks make me feel nauseous.

I think the best way forward is to bring this problem to the Lord, and I don't think I can handle this on my own. I believe God understands me and give me the strength to carry on. God is here for you and me. So let us bring our burned to the Lord. I believe God finds great pleasure in assisting each one of us, and He cares for all of us. So let us cast our burdens onto the Lord.

Prayer

Abba Father, Lord Jesus thank You for Your supernatural grace and strength which carries me through today. Lord, I am casting all my burdens onto You, I want to come into Your rest and peace for my life. In Jesus name Amen.

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Fasting do you see any blessings?

by Yvette van Niekerk

Matthew 5 verse 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

Something that comes to mind every time I fast, that it's challenging in the beginning. As time goes by, it becomes easier. I was thinking of what hunger causes me to miss? I feel that when I am hungry, I get a little irritated, but it goes away after a while, especially when I get busy and meditate on God’s word. And I believe when food is a source of comfort, it really can be a challenge to get through the day. I have realized that I love my food these days. I miss eating pizza's, and I miss eating eggs and bacon, that is something I love. I also miss my sweeties but not that much I wouldn't say I am craving anything specifically right now.

So is there any blessings that I feel grateful for today? In fasting, I am focusing on other things, not to think about the food that I might eat. I make supper for my family, and they can eat whatever it doesn't worry me.

I do find I have other challenges that I am dealing with. I am a little tender and get emotional, but it seems to pass as well.

Things I am grateful is my husband and all my children and grandchildren: my mom and oom Frik and my brother and his family and my sister and her family.

Prayer

Lord God, the Father, thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins. I am grateful to spend this time in Your presence. Thank You, Lord, for sending me a comforter, the Holy Spirit, I feel refreshed and look forward to an awesome day. I love You, Lord, I am drawing closer to You and asking that You will reveal Your will for my life. In the name of Jesus Christ. amen

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If you don't change your thinking, you won't change your life.

by Yvette van Niekerk

Negative thoughts were part of my life for a very long time. I also suffered from condemnation, and life seemed uphill all the time. So when it comes to renewing of my mind, I feel strongly about the Holy Spirit, who is my guide and is always there for me. I don't feel abandoned and lost anymore. I am washing my soul with the Word of God, by reading a chapter or two a day in my bible, which I feel is cleansing my mind.

I have decided to follow Jesus, and I put my trust in Him. I believe God is renewing my mind through His Word.

Philippians 4 verse 8 GNT "In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good, and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable."

I stopped breaking myself down, I know I am imperfect, and I have problems, but I do believe God is working on me each day, I am a work in progress.

I challenge you today, to write scripture down, and put it next to your bed. When you wake up in the morning, take the page, read the words and meditate on it. Let the Word of God fill your mind, become renewed in Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Lord according to Philippians 4 verse 8 to 9 I want to fill my mind and meditate on your Word, I want to focus on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what You Lord are teaching me, what I hear and see and realize. I believe Your Word that You Lord, who makes everything work together, will work me into Your most excellent harmonies. In Jesus Christs Name, Amen.

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Romans 12 - a thought for the day

There was a time in my life when I believed that I would be looking after more children, perhaps I would adopt a couple of children to fill my house.  Life sure changes and I am looking after two young children.  The funny thing is I don’t have the same patience and understanding I may have had when I was a younger mom, I also get irritated by the way the children act and behave.  Nevertheless, they are two sweet young kids, growing up in a house with a step mom must be difficult for them too.  I have strict laws and I keep them to it, I don’t let anyone get away with stuff that don’t suit me.  So at the present time life is hard for them.

Currently I am focusing my life on Romans 12, Paul writes and tells the Christians to keep their minds focused on God.  We need to keep our daily lives focused on God, you know your day-to-day living, your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life.  Bringing this before the Lord and asking Him to sanctify it for you.  We are asked not to become so well-adjusted to our culture that we actually fit into it without even thinking.  Paul say we should fix our thoughts on the Lord so that we may change from within.  All of these things are there to change our lives so that we may become mature people in God.

We live in pure grace as Paul puts it and we must not misinterpret ourselves as people who are bringing the goodness to God.  No, God bring it all to us.  Now we can only accurately understand ourselves by what God is and by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for Him.

Wow if I had to take my own life I feel that I would be falling short all the time, my temper and my temper tantrums keep me so busy I don’t think I can be a nice person.  But when you look at me through God’s eyes you wouldn’t see me as I see myself, no you would be looking at me through God’s eyes.  He loves me because He sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins.  So that I may be saved.  How awesome is that.

So here’s some food for thought ‘Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.  Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.  Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.’  Romans 12: 9 – 10 The Message.

Work hard and don’t burn out, keep yourselves fuelled and aflame.  Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant.  Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder.  Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.  

Bless you for reading my Blog today, may God bless you as you think about it.  Take courage and good cheer.  Live your life to the fullest and be all you can be as God wants you to be.