Yvette's Whispers of Faith

by Yvette van Niekerk Isaiah 6: 1 - 2 AMP Isaiah's Vision 6 "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple. Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood; each one had six wings: with two wings, he covered his face, with two wings he covers his feet, and with two wings he flew." These celestial beings are mentioned only in Isaiah according to my Nave's Topical Bible. Seraphim are writing in the plural, so that means more than one. We don't know how many there are. Let's see what is said in the scripture above: Two wings hiding its face, so as not to look onto the God of heaven. Two wings are covering its feet, recognizing subservience of the Almighty. Then another two wings for flying, it must be to do God's business. The seraphim keep on praising God, by saying "And one called out to another, saying, ...

by Yvette van Niekerk It is so easy to fall into self-pity mode, and once you are there, it is going to take a miracle to get you out. We need to start taking affirmative action in our lives; spiritually, we can draw near to the Lord. The whole world in turmoil, feeling desperate and isolated. Come, let us take up the Armor of God be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. We were reading from Ephesian 6, verse 10 to 20. We know that the battle we are fighting is against the evil of this world. We also know we need to stand firm on God's Word. I strap on the belt of truth around my waist, and I ask the Lord to help me keep on speaking the truth and placing the breastplate of righteousness over my chest. Lord, I am the righteousness of God in Christ, no weapons formed against me shall prosper. My feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Help me to carry this Word out to a broken world. As I pick up my shield of faith today, extinguishing al...

By Yvette van Niekerk – from Daily Devotional Ebenezer June 18 Matthew 26: 36 (AMP)   36 "Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray." The word "Gethsemane" means crushed olives. What is the result of crushed olives? It forms oil that heals and nourishes and can illuminate. There were really trying times in my life as a young woman and the tears would spill over my face constantly. I would be crying for help and praying for an answer which seemed to never come. I found that the people in my own life couldn't comprehend or understand the pain I was facing, and they could only look at me without any help. I found that in my most crushing time I could only wait on the Lord God, no one could help me. I felt the full weight of God's will in my life. When you are in your Gethsemane, don't give up, keep on praying and wait on the Lord God. It isn't ...

by Yvette van Niekerk I'm in my late fifties, and I started the renewing of my mind a couple of years ago. But, last year was one of my worse years ever. The devil knows that I am trying to live a holy life; I am trying to become more like the Lord Jesus. The list goes on, and the thing is I started to feel condemned and guilty about a lot of decisions I took when I was younger. I was constantly feeling upset and worried about the things I did wrong. I finally broke down, told my husband and my daughter. My daughter asked me to think about the situation that made me feel so badly and analyze it, was it all I could do at the time? Did I have another option? Could I have changed my circumstance then? I honestly couldn't do much at the time, and I was very reactive too. So NO, I couldn't change the way I acted. I also realized Satan was telling me I was a total failure, that it didn't matter. I wasn't good enough, and God doesn't love me, I won'...

by Yvette van Niekerk My word, I almost fainted when I read that middle age runs from thirty-five to fifty-eight years old. That puts two of my children and my husband and me in that category. Wow! I was just wondering how it is going with people in general at this stage. I do know some people are facing job losses and getting worried about aging. With this isolation, it must genuinely be challenging to be home with everyone. Looking back over my decisions, in general, I feel okay, I sometimes think I am remorseful over some stuff, but I cannot change anything now. Proverbs 10: 7 "The memory of the righteous [person] is a [source of] blessing, but the name of the wicked will [be forgotten and] rot [like a corpse]." I actually am working at being a good person and trying to help where I can. My dad passed away many years ago, but I do remember him saying that he would rather speak to us kids each weekend. He wanted to keep in touch so he could console us if...

I don't know if you feel the same way I do, but this Lockdown feels like such a restriction that I feel it's hard to imagine waiting one more second for it to be lifted. I know we need to wait and be patent trusting that God is faithful and knows what to do. The Government is doing what is necessary for my own protection, even though I feel it's too hard. Acts 16: 25 – 26 AMP "But about midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened." Both the apostles Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to the Lord, praising Him. We see the two apostles are placed in the inner prison by their jailer, and their feet were placed in stocks. They weren't going anywhere soon. Still, in this time, they ...

by Yvette van Niekerk In participating in Holy Communion, Christians are reminded of the suffering the Lord Jesus Christ had gone through. The breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood. Indicating the love the Lord Jesus felt for us as sinners. Matthew 26: 26 - 30 AMP The Lord's Supper Instituted "Now as they were eating Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; for this is My Blood of the [new and better] covenant, which [ratifies the agreement and] is being poured out for many [as a substitutionary atonement] for the forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." See a...

William Arthur Ward wrote, "God wants us to be victors, not victims ~ to overcome, not to be overwhelmed." 1 John 3: 1 AMP Children of God Love One Another "See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." Well, I am not as busy as I used to be in the past. I have some time at hand and had been watching the movie on Gideon, the man God called to save Israel a long time ago. Now he wasn't a leader at the time an Angel of the Lord appeared to him. Gideon seemed to be very fearful, timid, doubtful, and not capable. The reason he acted this way was because of the constant attacks from the Midianites in those days. The enemies’ onslaught was relentless, and it seemed never-ending. One day the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon while he was threshing whea...

"Providence is the care God takes of all existing things.  John of Damascus With this Lock-down in South Africa, I am not sure how I feel about people stealing from the poor. I saw a notice on Facebook that showing one person in a position of authority makes decisions for the underprivileged. Race discrimination is enormous and shameful.   But then I realized that this person does not believe in God or Jesus Christ. This person is probably corrupt and is self-centered. Psalm 145: 16 AMP   "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing." The Lord Jesus said that God takes care of the birds in the sky and the flowers in the fields, He also takes care of us. Then why are there so many people struggling? I think that it is because there aren't people in authority that genuinely serves the Living God. They do not seek God's righteousness or His kingdom. I believe God is supplying me according to my needs. I can be sure H...

Judges 13: 8 TLB "Then Manoah prayed, 'O Lord, please let the man from God come back to us again and give us more instructions about the child you are going to give us." I read this prayer was written by General Douglas MacArthur, a World War II hero. "Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know You ... Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenges. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail. Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep;...