Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Healing old wounds


Romans 5: 10 (NIV) “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

My old wounds are almost healed, I actually am dealing with past sins, and past hurts and I have spoken to the Lord God and I have repented from my sinful nature and I even have spoken to the people involved with some of the past transgressions in my life.  I am looking forward to a new life with the Lord Jesus Christ.  I have put these sins behind me and striving towards a better life with the Lord Jesus Christ.

There was a time in my life where I completely discard all sense of propriety and just didn’t care anymore.  I must have lost my mind on the way but the truth be told that is exactly what I did.

The whole fiasco was bringing me down and even making me feel less of a Christian than I may be able to confess. 

Then on some strange and miraculous way, the Lord God still holds me in His hands.  He reminds me everytime I feel down that He loves me and that He cares about me.  That He called me by my name and that I belong to Him.  That He sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth to died on a cross for me, a sinful woman. 

I am drawing closer to the Lord each day and it is my heart's desire to ask for His forgiveness in my life and I ask that the blood of Jesus Christ will heal my broken heart, heal my sorrowful soul and heal my mind.  Drawing me closer and closer and that I will not fall by the wayside and be left behind.

Prayer

Humbly Jehovah Elohim I come before You praying for forgiveness of sin.  Asking that You will draw me closer to You showing me the way forward.  I bring my brokenness before You and ask to heal me and guide me in Jesus Name.  Amen


Dealing with the Issue today.


Luke 6: 45 (NIV) “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks.”

You and I both know people are fickle and we all seem to carry around something that we just won't let go of.  The sad part in the story is that the longer you hold onto the destructive thought the more ingrained it becomes in your being. 

You will be talking about all kind of interesting things and something will trigger off a feeling or hurt and before you know it, you will be poured over the pain and disappointment you felt and still feel. 

Because your mind has a hard drive like your PC and you store up all the information and emotions in the hard drive.  Then on a day someone will click on the pause button and bam the hard drive is released and the information is running again.  You will be talking about the hardship you had to endure and the pain you feel and you will be reminding yourself and the other person of all the unfairness you are going through.  It’s time to clean that hard drive.  You need an antivirus to come and clean up the mess you are struggling to let go of.  The antivirus that you need is at your fingertips.  The Lord Jesus Christ.

The minute you pray and ask the Lord Jesus Christ for help, He will help you.  The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will clean you and help you with the reformatting of your hard drive.  Your heart.

You will then be able to speak to people openly and freely about the Lord Jesus and you will let go of past hurts and pains.  It will be pouring out of your mouth how great and awesome is the Lord Jesus.

Prayer


Please Lord Jesus, I still am struggling to let go of past hurts and pain in my own life.  I am asking You humbly please help me reformat my heart and clean it up so that I am able to have a pure and clean heart before You.  I declare that You blood is cleaning my life this very minute, I accept that You are my Lord and my Saviour.  Amen

Struggling to let go of angry thoughts?


Ephesians 4: 26 – 27 NIV “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

I believe every one of us has to deal with “anger” in our own lives.  When watching the television it is clear we are living in an angry world.  There are violence and abuse against woman and children.  You see people are constantly angry about all kinds of things.  People want free education, they want everything handed to them, they believe that it is their right.  We are living in a time where people are constantly wanting more and more and are not willing to put anything towards whatever they want.  People take offense and are easily hurt and angry when you make a comment on something you have noticed.  Anger flares up and the person is holding on to it and you said something unbeknown to hurt or offend this person. 

So who are you blaming for the angry feelings you are harboring right now?  I am sure you probably have a couple of people in mind.  By not taking responsibility we then turn around and blame that person and this person and before long we are angry at the world.  When I feel angry and cannot get my way, do I know how to wheeled my words, these words come out as a weapon and I am able to cut people down to size. The wrong move, because now I am so in control and will not budge.  This is not working to spread the good news of God.  I am breaking people down.  Read Proverbs chapter 18 verse 14 “a man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” (NIV)  Is it your desire to break the person's, heart?  Look what Proverbs chapter 15 verse 4 says “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”  We are reminded through Solomon in Proverbs chapter 26 verse 22 “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.”  Is it your goal to destroy the person with your words, making sure that when they die they will still hold onto your words?

What am I learning?  Being angry is all good and yes, I can get angry but the question is what am I doing with this angriness?  I have come to a point in my life where I need to assess what is the common denominator?  I need to identify why I feel angry.  Who or what is making me angry?  How do I deal with this emotion?  Then my answer is going to the Lord God in humble prayer, asking the Lord to help me deal with these feelings of anger.  Getting rid of it before it changes into something are worse, and that is bitterness.

Prayer


Abba Father, O Lord God I believe that You know and understand my heart.  You know what I am facing each and every day.  You see how I act and see what I think.  Because I am drawing near to You today this is what I need.  Lord show me how to deal with the anger I have built up within my heart.  Help me to understand what is making me angry and help me to let go of it.  I love You Lord and I bring these destroying emotions into Your presence asking You Lord help me.  In the Holy Name of Jesus Christ Amen

Saturday, 3 June 2017

Book Review: A Talent for Trouble - Jen Turano

Book Review:         A Talent for Trouble
Author:                 Jen Turano
Personal Quality Rating:         4
Reviewed by:         Yvette van Niekerk


Summary:

After reading a Most Peculiar Circumstance I now have the privilege of continuing the read.  Keeping in mind the story is still in the 1800’s and this is a Historical Romance Novel.  Miss Felicia Murdock is so upset and feels that her life has come to a still stand because of the love of her life.  Reverend Michael Frazer has taken another bride.  She believes at the age of 25 she is doomed to becoming a spinster. Then the lives of Miss Felicia Murdock and Mr. Grayson Sumner become intertwined and what an explosion.

This story is hilarious and once you start reading you actually don’t want to stop.  The quips in the book are fantastic and I laughed so much at all the funny circumstances Felicia gets involved in.  Her horse is named Thor but don’t be fooled by this strong name. 

The story takes on an interesting twist and the plot thickens.  Loads of dangerous circumstances come into play.  Felicia has a tendency to attract all kinds of trouble, she helps elderly gentlemen and then finds herself in a pub.  With so much going on she attracts, even more, attention and Grayston comes to her rescue.  A fight erupts and her beautiful dress and hair are covered in alcohol.

After all of this Agatha is looking for a story and she gets Felicia to dress like a man while Zane is being dressed as a lady.  Their aim is to investigate the opium den and see what the Chinese men are up to.  Mr. Blackheart is Felicia’s bodyguard and she evades him.  While they are at the opium den Grayston also arrives, the plot thickens and to make matters worse the police arrive and arrests are being made.  Luckily Theodore is on the scenes and helps his friends.

Social / Historical

When reading the story you are moving into a love story with a lot of drama, but as I think about the story I think that the author wanted to convey her concern around the opium den.  The drugs that have made its way into the America’s.  The drama around the lives that were destroyed and the guilt that the person felt because of the drugs. 

The constant worry for protection and safety.  How the this impacted a specific person's life and how they wanted to stay out of the limelight to prevent being exposed.  But the love and affection that came through the story were awesome and it reminded me once again that good will always prevail.

Writing Style

The author wrote this book both evocation as well as common place.  The narrative is based on a number of peoples lives and how they intertwine.  Allowing the author the opportunity to continue a next story telling.  The story is really well thought out and there is a lot of intrigues as well as adventure and loads of laughter. 

The ending is truly beautiful and you actually sit in awe as to the playing out of events.  Some big surprises also in the last couple of chapters which brings the twist into the tail, so to speak. 

My Thoughts

A must read, I really enjoyed this story as I did the previous one and looking forward to the next one.  There is a lot of drama around friends, the fashion in those days are truly interesting but the thing I enjoyed most it the chivalry and the good manners that were displayed.  I would have loved to live in those days. 

The way the author expresses herself goes beyond and above and I truly feel like I am one of the characters in the book.

I enjoyed the book from the first page to the last page, I would say it was an excellent read, it is definitely a book that I would read again.  I think you cannot get bored with these books.


 Great job!

Tuesday, 23 May 2017

What is the one thing you would most like to change about your life?



Genesis 32:31 (MEV)
31 As he crossed over Peniel, the sun rose over him, and he was limping on his thigh.

I believe it would be my attitude.  You do not know me and I actually do not want to explain myself to you.  Truth be told I really have to work hard on how I view people.  I do not know if my past has anything to do with my attitude but I am someone that is unscathed.  I never give up and I will fight tooth and nail for what I believe in.

Looking at Jacob, even though he is the “deceiver” he was intentional about his own life.  The one thing that Jacob wanted to change was his “position” in his family.  So what did he do?  He went all the way taking Esau’s “birthright,” and to top it off he even received a blessing from his father that was meant for Esau.

We see God and Jacob are wrestling and Jacob still is pushing forward, he knows what he wants and holds onto God. “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32: 26


I also want God’s attention right now in my own life, I want to be transformed.  What is your take?

Monday, 22 May 2017

Grateful#


Psalm 7 verse 17 (TLB)
“Oh, how grateful and thankful I am to the Lord because he is so good.  I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who is above all lords.”


Sometimes we forget to say thank you, I believe we fall into the habit of just expecting things to come our way.  It is expected that people will treat you fairly and have good manners but if you don’t act in a similar fashion I am sure you are going to get a slap somewhere along the line.

Saying thank you and please should be always in our mouths, we should never forget to use them when speaking to people, family, and friends.  Let’s look at this scenario:  Picture this, you are in a restaurant and the waitrons is standing in front of you waiting for your order.  You are in a bad mood.  You order “Bacon and Cheeze with fried onions.”  She heard Cheeze and fried onions.  She brings your order after about 20 minutes, you are fuming because it took so long and when she places the plate in front of you.  You blow a gasket.  “This is not what I order!  Are you a retard?” You shout at her.  She starts to cry and you shout even louder.

I see that you are in a bad mood, you got mad for the order to be delivered and then she brought you the cheese and fried onions and no bacon.

She’s in trouble with the chef and could lose her job and you just don’t care, no one ever listens anyway.  No thank you for the service will be given and no thank you tip will be given either.
This happens on a daily basis when we allow our circumstance to be dictated by our moods, we should shake it off.  Start with a smile and always be friendly, kind and say thank you or please.
Can you be grateful?  Are you able to show it?


You are a blessing, thank you for reading my blogs.

Friday, 19 May 2017

Stay tuned ...



A Prophesy over my life:



Something that has been laying heavily on my heart and I want to share this with you, Yvette.  God said regardless of all the beatings and hurt that you endured, this only made you stronger.  The Lord said that “Yvette, you are precious to Him, all the pain you endured He saw it.  God is going to change all of that.  God said to remind you that He has already started the change can you see it?  Be reminded that you are precious to the Lord God and His love is going to be over your life.  Where people disregarded you and looked down on you, even your enemies are going to stand in amazement as they perceive God’s hand over your life.  God also is reminding you not to think “what is the use of all the things I am doing.”  He will reward you and not people.  The same spirit that was in Acts is going to come upon you and you are going to surprise many people.  Even when you cannot understand it yourself.”

“ … and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”




Deuteronomy 28:8 (AMP)
8 “The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses and in all that you undertake, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, be reminded that God has placed you there and that He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God has given you today.  Stop looking at your circumstances and see the blessings God has for you.  Look forward to a new day, look forward to a prosperous and wonderful future.  Remind yourself that God is doing something for you right now where you are.

Today I confess and believe that the land that I find myself in, is being blessed because of me being here.  God is blessing me and whatever I do will be a success.  My life matters to Him and He cares deeply about me and you.  Be courageous and know you are precious and worthy of God’s love.  He called you by your name, He knows where you stay and is keeping a watchful eye over you.  Jesus is the answer to everything in my life, I plead the blood of Jesus Christ over each one of you today, this land is being blessed and overflowing with blessings because my God is here.  Amen

Thursday, 18 May 2017

Books being released on 21 May, don't miss it!

Live to Tell – Livian Grey
Available at Kellanpublishing.com click on authors and look for Livian Grey.

While on tour promoting his latest book, writer Stephen Brooks encounters Jacinta Collins, a young woman from his past who has an idea for his next project: an exposé on her recently deceased father. Jacinta reveals her father was a member of a cult named The Brotherhood of Karden, who were involved in the disappearances of several children.

Refusing initially, Stephen eventually decides to help Jacinta with her personal investigation into her father, and this leaves him open to threats from Renata Williams, a twisted woman with a dark and disturbing history. Desperate to protect his wife and daughter, but burdened with the guilt of knowing Jacinta’s secrets, Stephen must now decide how involved he wants to become in bringing Renata to justice, and if the chance to write another best seller is worth risking his daughter’s innocence, and his life.


Right of Human – Alan R Graham
Available at Kellanpublishing.com click on authors and look for Alan R Graham.

Alexandra is an AI code analyst who has been developing an android named Coggi for over ten years. Though they have never met, Xandra loves Coggi dearly, regarding her as her own little sister. Coggi considers herself human, has no idea of Xandra's existence, until the awful day comes when she must be told the truth.

A threat is exposed after technicians on board an orbiting space station where Xandra works discover the android personnel of their research facility on the planet's surface below has all malfunctioned. Someone has hacked the facility's network and is trying to gain access to the higher tiers. Galactic terrorism! The Orbiter crew has only one recourse: To set a trap for the hacker, using one of the androids as bait.

Coggi was chosen because of her intuitive nature, her curiosity often gets her into trouble. Yet, of all the androids, she has the best chance of surviving the truth. Xandra must confront her, is now faced with a horrendous challenge: To save humanity or instead destroy her own sister while trying.
  
Daily Devotional Ebenezer by Yvette van Niekerk
Available at Kellanpublishing.com click on authors and look for Yvette van Niekerk.

Each time you reach for this Daily Devotional, it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will remove the veil from your eyes.  Each day you are reading, I pray that your wisdom and insight will increase and that a hunger and thirst will develop within you to dig deeper and grow spiritually.

The reason I named this Daily Devotional ‘Ebenezer’ was based on 1 Samuel 7 verse 12.  This reminds me of how many times God has come to my rescue, so many times.  I have prayed and interceded for so many people and have seen how the Lord rescues them.  Then one day I prayed asking Lord, ‘what about me’?  At the time I had completed half of my book and I wasn’t sure what to name it, then suddenly one morning in my quiet time I saw these words “Thus far has the LORD helped us.” 

I knew the LORD was speaking to me and in my heart, I must complete my work.  Be inspired and go for your dreams.


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