Hebrew “Pardes” – Garden

Genesis 3: 8 (NOG) “In the cool of the evening, the man and his wife heard Yahweh Elohim walking around in the garden.  So they hid from Yahweh Elohim among the trees in the garden.”

Picture yourself walking in the Garden of Eden, Pardes.  There is a slight breeze and the afternoon sun is shining over the garden.  While you are walking in the garden you can hear someone calling your name.  Do you recognize the person calling you? 

I read that someone suggested while you are reading the bible you are entering into the Garden of Eden, God’s Pardes.

The interesting part of the Garden is that we now are able to learn more about our Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Think about it, each time you read something in your Bible it comes to live within your spirit.  The Holy Spirit that is living inside of you is guiding you and teaching you.  The words are starting to make sense and you are starting to see how the Word of God is working in each of His children's lives.

I am still on my journey, I do not believe that I have arrived as yet, but it sure is my heart's desire to draw closer to God.  I want to recognize His voice when He calls my name, don’t you?

Every revelation or insight I receive from walking through Pardes is something helping me to grow spiritually.  Today, I want to encourage you to keep on reading God’s Word, you will grow and mature into a beautiful Christian.

Prayer

Elohim, the Lord, thank You, for today, that we may come into Your garden, pardes.  As we open our Bibles, Holy Spirit touches our lives and teach us how to use the word.  Guide us and be your guide each and every day.  In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen

#Midbar - #Desert #Experience

Hosea 13: 5 AMP “I knew and regarded you and cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.”

I believe each one of us is going through a season, some people are enjoying summer and others are in fall.  But what about the people that are going through a desert experience – Midbar?  Do you know that the word “midbar” means “the place of the word.”

Awesome wouldn’t you agree, that means that in our desert experiences we are closer to God.  I remember when I had been facing really trying times in my own life, that I was the closest to God.  It seems that I also grew spiritually and that I was able to understand what God wanted from me.

I want to encourage you today that should you find yourself in the desert and maybe you feel all alone.  Stop for one minute and meditate on these words:  “For the mountains may be removed and hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,”  Says the LORD who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54: 10AMP

Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, thank You, Lord for today, that we may draw near to You in our desert experiences, knowing that we are in the place of the word.  We pray please Lord help us face each day, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen

Before I ...

Proverbs 3: 6 (HCSB) “think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.”

Before I do anything these days I feel it is of great importance to sit down and take a moment and come before the Lord my God.  I want to do something and I need to know whether what I am planning on doing will be in my interest and whether I am in God’s perfect will.

You now the Lord Jesus would pray about everything we see that in Luke chapter 5 verse 6 NIV “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”  As you think about what it is you want to do today, even the food you want to eat.  Bring it before the Lord, asking Him to guide you.

We have become so good at making our own decisions and we also are so sure of ourselves that we don’t realize that this might be our last day here on earth.  My thinking these days are Deo volente (Latin) for God willing.  Each time I want to do something I pray about it doesn’t matter how small or insignificant it is I am asking God to guide me.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Lord, please be our guide and show us the way that You have prepared for us.  Give us the necessary wisdom and insight to identify what we should be doing.  Help us to never lose sight of the fact that You are our CEO in life.  We need Your input in our lives in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour we pray.  Amen

#Thank #You

To one and all, Thank You, you are awesome, I am so happy you are there for me.  God bless you!

You Need #Jesus

You Need Jesus

Do you know God loves you?  He desires to have a living relationship with you and wants to give you salvation, a purpose, and the eternal life.  You must realize the importances of making the right decision that no one else can do only you can take that decision, don’t delay, take it today!

1)     We all have a past
Romans chapter 3 verse 23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

2)  A price to pay for Sin
Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  When you work you earn wages (a salary) but remember the wages of sin is death.  What does this mean?  If you die, you are separated from God forever and that means it is over, but here is some good news.

3)  Jesus Christ paid for our Sin
Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says: “But God commendeth His love towards us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We know even though we are sinners, Christ loves us so much that He died in our place to pay for our sin.

4)  Believe it
Romans chapter 10 verse 9 says: “that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Do you want to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ today?  Please come and pray this prayer with me today:

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that You died on the cross for me and that Your blood paid for all my sins.  Lord, please forgive me I have sinned.  I want to ask You to be my Lord and my Saviour.  Lord thank You for dying in my place and for forgiving me of my sin and giving me the gift of eternal life.  I am turning away from my sin and I acknowledge You as my Lord and Saviour.  Please, Lord, lead me and guide me in Your ways.  Amen

P.S. I want to encourage you that if you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today, please go and find a church that teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Attend regular church services.  If you want to know more please feel free to write to me yvettevanniekerk.com go to my web page and drop me a line.  God bless you.

Enjoying Life Now!

Romans 15: 13 KJ21 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

As you embark on your daily journey and you think about what it is you're doing today I want to encourage you to live your life purposefully.  Do whatever you are doing with intent. 

You and I both know that our hope is in God who fills us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. 

We also know and realize that all things work together for good of those who love God.  Today is Father’s Day and you are spending time with your family and loved ones.  It is great to enjoy their company and to sit down to a great meal with the family.

I just love being around my family, enjoying the chatter and laughter and bantering.  You know when your son’s continue to make jokes and tease their sister.  The grandchildren running around the yard, playing with the puppy. 

The warm sunlight shining through the window and the sun rays spilling over the clean floor giving off a shine of brilliant sunlight.

Prayer

Lord thank you for the opportunity of living our best lives now.  Teach us to enjoy each and every minute of our lives, help us to live our lives to the fullest with family and friends.  Drawing near to You, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

How do you know you are hearing from God?

GOD’s Word Translation Colossians 3: 15 “Also, let Christ’s peace control you.  God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body.  Be thankful.”

Many people I have met want to know ‘how do I know its God speaking to me.”  I believe that the word of God is my guide, and we read here in Colossians chapter 3 verse 15 that “Christ’s peace controls me.”

You may be facing a difficult situation and need some kind of answer, you actually need to speak to God, and how can you do that?  In humble prayer, this is our connection to God. 

If you are unhappy and feel frustrated and uncomfortable you know without a doubt that there is something wrong.  You are not happy with what you are experiencing, there is no peace.  Then you aren't in God’s good and perfect will.  Sometimes we fall into His permissive will for our lives but we are far from His perfect will.

The apostle Paul reminds each of us that in Romans chapter 13 verse 8 (GW) “Pay your debts as they come due.  However, one debt you can never finish paying is the debt of love that you owe each other.  The one who loves another person has fulfilled Moses’ Teaching.”

Come into agreement with the people around you, love them and try and understand them with mercy in your heart. 

Prayer

Lord You know my circumstances, times, when I feel frustrated and uncomfortable and unhappy, is because I am not in Your will.  Today, please help me to learn how to stay in Your perfect will.  I am listening and reading Your word and I accept that You have given me peace and are steering me into another direction for my own life.  Guide me, help me and show me the way forward, in Jesus Christ's name.  Amen

The #Messiah

Mark 14: 61 TLB “To this Jesus made no reply.  Then the high priest asked him. “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?””

So the high priest asked Jesus “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”  To which Jesus answered:  “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Here it is clear that Jesus is claiming His Deity.  By expressing that He was the Son of God.  Jesus is also accepting His Messiahship and Deity.

Further confirmation of Jesus’s Messiahship is found in John chapter 4 verse 25 and 26 “The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) is coming.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”  Confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah.

The Jewish leaders were hoping to entrap Jesus but think about this God knows our thoughts and minds, so Jesus never falls into their trap.  They wanted to pin a charge of blasphemy on Jesus.

Now when Jesus answered “I am” it was explicit, unambiguous declaration that Jesus was the Messiah the “Son of Man.”

Prayer

Thank you, LORD God, that YOU, sent YOUR only begotten Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth to come and save us in this broken world.  Thank You for all the confirmations we have readily available to us, proving that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is Your Son.  Amen

Mercy "me"

James 2: 13 PHILLIPS “Anyway, you should speak and act as men who will be judged by the law of freedom.  The man who makes no allowances for others will find none made for him.  I am still true that “mercy smiles in the face of judgment.”

Showing mercy towards one another is probably one of the major factors in today life.  I have come to realize that many people are judgmental and have no consideration or mercy for their fellow man or woman.  Something happened a couple of days ago and it made me realize people don’t have mercy. 

Look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 7 TLB “Happy are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”  It is clear that the Lord God wants each one of us to be kind and merciful.  We should strive to be kinder to each other and show mercy before we start judging people.  We all know that the world we are living in is broken and God expect us to be merciful towards each other.

What a mighty God we serve, our God is so rich in mercy, and His love for us extended far beyond what we could every realize.  Yes, we were dead and doomed to our spiritual death of our sins that God gave us back our lives through the Lord Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead – only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved. (Ephesians 2: 4-5)

Prayer

Abba Father, LORD GOD, thank You for this lesson we are able to learn, open our hearts, souls, and minds to receive Your word on Mercy today.  Help us to extend mercy toward family, friend and whoever we meet.  In the precious name of the Lord JESUS Christ, Amen

A Discerner of the thoughts

Hebrews 4: 12 KJV “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Our God is great, wouldn’t you agree?  He sure is, we get to start a new day each day and this means we can improve on what we did yesterday.  If you feel that you didn’t do your best yesterday at least you have a chance to go and make things right today.

The same applies to our thought life.  Taking my thoughts captive can be really difficult at times but when I wake up in the morning I remind myself that I am working on the renewing of my mind.  I know that God’s word is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.  This allows me to bring my thinking sort of under control.  The minute I catch myself wondering or speaking negatively, I stop and say no.  Start over.

Sometimes we slip up and we do and say things we didn’t want to but it came out.  Confess your mistakes, pray and ask the Lord to forgive you, turn from it and start over.  I believe that my mind is still under construction and I know that it has to be checked each and every day.  Without the Holy Spirit in my life, it would be a disaster, I will not be able to make the day.

Prayer

Lord thank You for being patient with me today, knowing that it is my desire to renew my thought life and my thinking.  I bring to You my negative and bad words asking that You would cut away the negativity I carry around with me and help me to replace it with your peace, love, and kindness.  In the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Amen.

How effective are your prayers?

Nehemiah 1: 6-9 MSG “I said, GOD, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands:  Look at me, listen to me.  Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel.  And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you.  “We’ve treated you like dirt:  We haven't done what you told us, have followed your commands, and have respected the decision you gave to Moses your servant.  All the same, remember the warning you posted to your servant Moses “If you betray me, I’ll scatter you to the four winds, but if you come back to me and do what I tell you, I’ll gather up all these scattered peoples from wherever they ended up and put them back in the place I chose to mark with my Name.”

Today I want the Lord GOD to hear my prayers, so I believe that I need to identify who God really is, confess my sins and remind God of His promises to me and specifically pray for the problems I am facing.

Nehemiah was a captive and he knew who God really was, so he went and wrote a prayer for the nation Israel.

As you focus on your problems and circumstances today, do you know who God really is, or do you just know of Him?  We need to be able to identify who God is so that we are able to speak directly to Him, through the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Think about Who God is.  God is a good, good Father, God is Wonderful, God is omnipresent, God is our Counselor, God is faithful, God is love and God is merciful.  Then think of your own sins, where did you sin knowingly and even unknowingly.  Confessing your sins as well as your family and countries sins.  Now, remind God of His promise “if we repent, you give it back to us.” Did God forget His promises?  Absolutely not, but we need to remember the promises because we want God to act. Now pray specifically for your problem and wait for the answer.  Being specific makes it easier to identify the answer.

Prayer

Father God, Abba Father, we humbly come into Your presence today, yes Lord we want to come and bring praises to Your Holy Name.  For You O LORD, God is a good, good Father.  You are a Wonderful and Mercyful God.  We are so grateful that You are our Counselor.  We worship at Your feet in adoration.  Humbly, LORD, we confess that we have sinned against You.  Lord, myself, my family and my country are guilty of sinning against YOU.  We were unfaithful and have not obeyed your commandments.  Ignoring You and doing as we please