The Marriage Covenant

Ephesians 5: 25; 33 (NASB)

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,” 

“Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”

1 Peter 3: 7 

“You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.”

Marriage is a covenant before God with two people. We started our relationship before we got married. So when you get married I think you would have been in a relationship for a long time. You get to know each other and after a lot of chatting you get to the point where you decide that marriage is the next step.

I see that husbands need to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Wives need to love their own husband and it is also recorded that they should respect their husbands. On this point, I have to say that we need to respect each other. Without respect, our lives will fall apart. Love drives us and makes us do all kinds of things, but love and respect are important we cannot go without the two.

We are weaker than our husbands and they need to be there for us, they are our support system. When facing problems we need them in our lives. I can be so selfish at times and I forget that I need to share with my husband. I realized that God has sent the Holy Spirit to help me. I need to be sensitive to the needs of my husband.

My husband constantly reminds me, be the change you want to see. He loves peace and quiet but he doesn’t always win in that respect. Too many different personalities.

Prayer

Heavenly Father please keep me safe and sound, help me to be sensitive to my husband’s needs, help me not to disrespect him and always consider his needs above my own. Bless our home and bless him today. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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#showing mercy

Matthew 5: 7 (NIV)

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Do you know that by showing mercy to the people around you, God will show mercy to you? I realised that God’s mercy is new every day. We are so fortunate to know this and live it every day.

As I grow older I realise that without God I am nothing, I need to trust in the Lord with all my heart. Every day God shows me mercy. I am able to go to work, speak to my family and friends.

The law of giving, I believe when you sow you will reap, it really doesn’t matter what you sow, you will reap it. If you sow heartache you will reap heartache, if you sow money you will reap money. If you sow love you will reap love. If you so mercy you will so mercy.

Are there people you can trust in? People that come and assist you every day, with whatever you need.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your mercies are new every day, that I am able to enjoy it every day. Lord, I am grateful for Your loving kindness. Thank You that we can also learn to show mercy in our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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#Monday #Prayer

As Christians, I believe it is imperative that we stay in constant communication with the Lord. It should be the last thing on our minds in the evening before we go to bed and the first thing when we wake up in the morning.

This morning I awake around 3.00 am in the morning, I just couldn’t sleep, my mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts and then I started praying. I ask the Lord to clean my spirit and my soul. I ask God to make my heart pure so that I am acceptable in His presence. I want to change my habits and I want to draw near to God. It is my heart’s desire to become more like the Lord Jesus.

I prayed for my friends and my family, each person I called before the Lord because I believe God is in control and nothing is impossible with Him. I asked God for a surprise and He gave me an excellent surprise today.

God is awesome and greatly to be praised. We must worship and praise God each and every day. Lord God is our source of survival always.

Prayer

As I come into Your presence today Abba Father, I want to bring You praise and worship at Your feel, You are awesome. Lord, You are wonderful, You have always had my best interests at heart. I dedicate my friends and family into Your hands today. I pray for supernatural favour with You as well as with people. Lord, I realized that I cannot make anything happen I, therefore, pray that Your hand rests on my projects and Daily Devotional Ebenezer. Let Your will be done Lord as it is in heave let it also be so here on earth in my own life and that of my friends and family. In the Holy Name of Jesus Christ Amen.

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God’s Plan will be accomplished.

1 John 5: 14-15 (AMP)

This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.”

I have come to realise that whatever God's plans are they will come to fulfilment. A characteristic of perseverance isn't something I enjoyed learning. It struck me that when I started something I had to carry it through even though I didn't want to.

Today I realized that I had been placed in this position for a reason. God's plan is being accomplished and I am in God's will for my life. In this position, I am receiving the blessings meant for this position.

My future isn't clear to me and I am hoping to continue working next year. So when I talk about my job I say next year this time I will still be employed. I believe that God's arm isn't too short to assist me going forward.

I love God and I am doing everything I know possible to draw near to Him. I know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. He is making a path straight for me and I am walking in a straight path.

My God is awesome and powerful and able to do more than I can even dream of.

Prayer

O Lord my God, I know that Your plans are being accomplished even now as I speak to You. You have a purpose and a future for me, I believe that You will give me what I need and when I need it. I love You LORD and will worship and praise Your Holy Name. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen

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The Spirit helps you die.

I believe we have to attend two important appointments in our lives. The first appointment is unknown, death. We do not know when our number is up and we are called home. The second appointment is unknown, judgement day.

2 Timothy 4: 16 – 17 (ESV)

“At my first defence no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.”

Paul was going to through a tough time and it was clear that he was distressed. The thing that stood out for me is in his hour of need all his friends deserted him. He was left standing alone; he didn’t have any support when he needed it the most. Paul also said he received strength from the Lord. His strength carried him through that he actually said it will to the advantage of the Gentiles. 

When I die it is my hope that my family will be there with me, supporting and encouraging me on my way home. I also want the very same for all of my family and friends. If we have to die alone it would be terrible. But I draw strength from the message that the Spirit that is within me will be with me when I die. I believe the Holy Spirit will help me enter the next dimension.

Prayer

Lord we cannot do this on our own. Please help us when our time comes to die. We cannot go through this on our own, Holy Spirit we will need Your help. Amen

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5 Reasons for feeling depressed.

In this blog, I am referring to people who work hard and at some stage in their lives become tired and feel depressed. I am not referring to clinically depressed people in this blog, if you are facing clinical depression, please consult with your doctor.

Psalm 42: 6 (AMP)

“O my God, my soul is in despair within me [the burden more than I can bear]; therefore I will [fervently] remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of [mount] Hermon, from Mount Mizar.”

In our lives, I believe everybody struggles with a form of depression. One of the reasons I suffer from feeling depressed is when I am tired. I have too much on my plate and struggle to fall asleep. In the morning I get out of bed feeling miserable and not able to function normally. Tiredness is one of the culprits for depression. Psalm 62: 1

You know they say God convicts us and the devil condemns us. I believe sin is another culprit and when we sin we struggle with guilt feelings which turn into depression. The best way to deal with this is to repent of your sin. Ask God to forgive you and move on with your life. Romans 3: 23

I know why I felt so depressed the past couple of weeks. I allowed myself the comfort of comparing my life to my family and friends lives. I think they are doing very well and life is a breeze.

Forgiving someone who hurts us is imperative. The problem I found is it took months and years before I actually could forgive them. The symptom of unforgiveness is feelings of guilt and being so depressed. Shake these feelings off and forgive them, it will set you free. Matthew 6:14-15

Another culprit which contributes to depression is, speaking negatively.  Once people start it seems they are like dogs fighting over a bone. I sat in a Hair Salon a couple of weeks ago and I listened to the conversations. It was about husbands that were so useless. The sad part was the husband was just standing outside the door, I feel sure he heard the person. Stop it! Your husbands are the way you made them, constantly telling them they are useless. Lift them up and you will feel better too.

Prayer

Lord if we are struggling with depression and it is because we have caused it ourselves, please forgive us. Lord give us the necessary wisdom and understanding to stop complaining, whining and carrying on like a couple of fools. Place a guard over our mouths and help us to think before we speak. Lord forgive us when we fail to act accordingly. In the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

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Live Chat - Friday February 16, 2018 (10 a.m to 11 a.m PST)

http://kellanpublishing.com/chat-schedule

Hi I would like to invite you to come and join me on Live Chat. Friday evening South African time 20h00 and PST 10 am. I believe we will have a ball, to join the chat all you need to do is click on the time slot (Sign me Up) and you will be added to Slack. Our "whats up" on Kellan Publishing group. This chat could bring $50 dollar to your pocket if you stay the duration of the chat.

I am looking forward to seeing you on Slack. 

Thank you

Cheers Yvette

Do you allow Satan to make you feel insecure?

What is your answer to my question? Are there parts of your life which Satan is using to make you feel insecure?

John 15: 16 (AMP)

"You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you."

The part that Satan uses against me is my very low self-esteem.  My constant fight is against weight gain and what I think people think of me. A total lie because people don't even know me, let along look at me.

Once you fall into this trap of insecurity, Satan has a load of other tricks up his sleeve to make your life more difficult. You start believing that you aren't good enough. You starve yourself because people tell you are fat.

I decided to stop this for once and for all, I will not accept this manipulation any longer. God created me and called me by my name, I am His. [Isaiah 43: 1] I am fearfully and wonderfully made [Psalm 139: 14] and God's thoughts towards me outnumber the grains of sand [Psalm 139: 17 - 18].

Keep in mind that God works for my good through all circumstances [Romans 8: 28].  Confess this: "I am God's workmanship [Ephesians 2: 10].

Yes, I struggled with this problem for a very long time, and every now and again Satan pops in reminding me that he believes I am useless junk. Sometimes, I forget and nurse the thought until I realize who I am in Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, today I want to put on the whole armour of God and never take it off in Jesus Christ’s Name. I stand against the schemes of the devil. I realize that my battle isn’t against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the cosmic power over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. I fasten the belt of truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for my feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances taking up the shield of faith, with which I can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and placing the helmet of salvation over my head, with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I stand up against you in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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Check your Words.

Proverbs 18: 21 (KJV)

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

I feel strongly about checking my words. I seem to fall into the same trap each time. I just babble and forget that I am supposed to be a pillar of encouragement. Och!

You may ask, "is there a way to protect oneself?" Yes, taking up the full armour of God. I believe we are in a battle with the spiritual world and not with humans.

Let us put on the full armour of God today. We know that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Come in agreement with me, I stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around my waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with my feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. I take up the shield of faith, with which I can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Taking the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. [Ephesians 6: 10-18 NIV] The Armour of God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Lord please place a guard in front of my mouth, help me check my words. Lord today I put on the whole armour of God and I plead the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ over my own life. I pray for Your protection and I pray that You will help me. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus Christ. Amen

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As long as we seek God, God will help us.

2 Chronicles 26: 15

"And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong."

As I read the scripture and see all the great and marvellous things the Kings undertook when God was on their side, I stand in awe.

I enjoy reading about the great things King Uzziah of Judah accomplished. We see this young man was crowned King at a tender age of 16. I also noticed that he sought God's counsel and God helped him.

King Uzziah like any other person in the world made mistakes; he reigned fifty-two years.

My question today is are you seeking God's counsel, are there things in your life that you should bring to God? I believe if we humble ourselves before God and ask Him to help us in our lives; we too will experience God’s favour. With God’s help, we are able to change our lives going forward.

The contraption that King Uzziah had built was used for the protection of the nation and it was a very good design. It made him very famous and well know.

Prayer

Lord God, let me never forget that You are my creator and that when I need help, You are always ready to assist me. I am dedicating my day into Your hands and I pray that whatever I put my hands too, please make it good and successful. I am asking this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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2 Invaluable Reasons for Risk-Taking

Matthew 25: 21 (NIV) “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

Risk-taking is something successful people do on a daily basis. I only learned that much later in my own life. I was one of the people who actually “played it safe.” I would look at a situation and realize it may have some risks. I wouldn’t risk something I couldn’t predict the outcome of.

The first thing I realized is that no matter what we do, we are going to give an account of what we did here on earth whether we believe it or not. I was challenged to write my book after many years, in fact, 18 years to be precise. My husband is my best motivator. I must tell you it took me a long time to get it done but I managed to do it.

The first invaluable reason for risk-taking is learning from your own mistakes. I wrote my first book and I am planning on writing another. I have learned there are a number of things that need to take place for the book to be published and I also am learning there are much more to come. Here I see the two guys in Matthew 25 the one received 2 talents and made another 2 talents and then the guy with the 5 talents made another 5 talents. We see that the master said “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

The second invaluable reason for risk-taking is learning that you won’t get it right the first time. You need to persevere and hang in there. I believe the third guy in Matthew 25 slipped up here, he received 1 talent and because he was afraid of his master he felt it was better to burier the talent. Big mistake on his part, he missed out on the opportunity to better himself. So from my own point of view, we need risk-taking to help us grow and move forward.

In closing let me tell you that yes life comes at us with all kinds of interesting things but we are to make sure we try anyway. What you and I don’t realize is that at the end of the day we are going to give an account of what we had done with all our talents. You won't miss this appointment with God whether you believe in Him or not. You know that you are going to die, and you are going to see God on judgment day.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Lord thank You for all the talents and gifts You have entrusted to me. Please let me do my best and never disappoint You. I humbly pray in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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