It Stop's with me, NOW!

by Yvette van Niekerk

Feelings of embarrassment cover me as I need to deal with some personal issues I am facing at the moment. I have allowed resentment to turn into bitterness in my life. Red light! I need to deal with this bitterness before I grow old and become obsessed with unforgiveness. I am wrestling with the fact I have allowed myself to fall into this trap. I needed to identify my problem and I realised that I took offence to the next level - bitterness. I remember reading that the root of bitterness becomes a destructive force in a person’s life. This is a type of cancer "spiritually." I am afraid of this kind of cancer and I want to stop it by all means possible. This insidious root of bitterness is hiding in my life. Why? Wow because I didn't forgive and let it go. I held onto it and thought I'll get you back, and then? This little dragon started to grow and come to the surface bit by bit. My personality started to change and I became more angry and frustrated. I am not joking when I tell you it is a destructive force that needs to stop right now. Looking at my life, you can see me as one of those big ocean liners, it cannot turn on a dim, it needs space and time. So turning it around is a process. Apostle Paul; wrote we should watch out and not allow this evil spirit to become attached to our lives. Which will corrupt us. Hebrews 12: 15 "Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” At the moment I am doing whatever it takes to make the right choice. I have decided to deal with the root of bitterness and I want to change my life before I turn into an old hag. So let's see how I am going to deal with the poisonous root of bitterness that has flared up in my life. Confess my sin of unforgiveness to the LORD, Isaiah 1: 18 "Come now, let us reason together, saith the LORD; thought your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Forgive the person or persons and stop the resentment. I know and trust the LORD and believe that when I confess my sin that I will be forgiven. Prayer Father God, I confess that I have feelings of bitterness in my heart today. I also confess that I am angry and hurt. I have allowed this sin of unforgiveness to stay alive in me. I am asking You, Father God, forgive me. I forgive the people that have offended me and hurt me. You know them and I set them free in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Praying for myself?

It’s much easier to pray for someone else than it is to pray for myself. God knows all my needs and that He can do things for me even if I don’t ask for it. To my mind I have many, and complicated things going on in my life and I am not sure how to tell the Lord. 2 Corinthians 4: 7 We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Right now my life feels it is out of control. Pressured and I am not able to get to everything. I am tired and burned out. When I start cleaning my house I will not sit down until I have done everything that is necessary. Im sure you have everything together, me on the other hand, that I am stuck and that I cannot move forward. I also feel like for every three steps I take forward I seem to move six backwards. Right now I doubt I can every move into the full purpose and destiny God has for me. I feel that I have not been faithful or even tried to get to my purpose. I am struggling with feelings of emptiness, frustration, and unfulfillment. I want to ask the Lord to forgive me, it seems I am stuck in a rut and not able to make any progress. Prayer Father God, I long to be in Your presence. I want to find my fulfilment in You. It’s my hearts desire to walk closely with You every day. Please help me increase in faith and knowledge in Your Word. Today I want to put all my hopes and dreams into Your hands. Lord I believe that all my hopes and needs will be met by You alone Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Make my heart right with You, Lord Jesus.

by Yvette van Niekerk

It's so easy to get caught up in all kinds of things in this world. I can create work and stay busy all day long. I have the ability to stay on my feet from the morning till the evening. I am not perfect and I can be very mean towards people. So when you look at my profile picture, remember one main thing, I am not perfect. I need the Lord Jesus Christ more than you know. It's very hard being completely honest about myself, but I need to keep myself accountable. I also know that I cannot make anything happen in my life. I am not God. Only God can make things happen. I don't know if you have experienced God's love and His perfecting you, I am still on the road to perfection. This week I want to examine my life and be honest about the wrong thinking, the wrong living I find myself pursuing. I am trusting the Holy Spirit in cleansing my heart, spirit and mind. I read a prayer and it says "Please Lord, I need You to show me what does not need to be in my heart, mind, spirit and soul. I am asking for direction and I want to be right with You. Please convict me of wrong habits, thinking and judging people. Today I am praying please by Your grace tear down my arrogance, pride, fear, and insecurities, help me see the truth about who I am." Acts 3: 19 Repent therefor and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. I am trusting God to work through the Holy Spirit today, to make me see what I've become. To give me a change of heart and cleanse me so that I am able to come into His presence again. Proverbs 28: 13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. I am confessing to the Lord Jesus Christ I am sinful and I want to confess my thoughts and action and I am asking Him to show me where I am still falling short. Psalm 32: 5 I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. I repent of many things this morning and I am forgiven. Please Lord have mercy upon me today, O God, according to Your Lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my sins today. Please wash me thoroughly from in iniquity, and cleanse me from my sins. Please create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Please Lord don't throw me away but draw me near through Your Holy Spirit. Make me clean and right before You today, In the Holy Name of Jesus Christ Amen

I choose to take my thoughts captive.

I choose to take my thoughts captive. Today I was busy working on a cake for my client, and I started thinking what a terrible person I have become. All the while I was singing a song to the Lord. "How great is my God." Boom I get bombarded with negative thoughts. Today I am reminded to take my thoughts captive. It said in Philippians 2 verse 5 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Not realizing that the devil was trying to keep me from praising God, I stop and thought "wow what have I become?" Mark 7 verses 21 to 22 says: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." I better take a hold of my thought life, I am not bad, in fact, I try and act decent most of the time. It struck me that God is not the author of confusion but of peace. If this is true why am I feeling so lousy about who I am? Then I realised I need to stop allowing negative thoughts to plague me and tell the devil to leave me alone. I have the mind of Christ. I won't listen to him anymore. I have decided not to live with mental oppression any longer. I am sick and tired of being pushed around. I will not harden my heart towards God, but I am embracing Him today. If I am pursuing clarity and knowledge I will study God's Word. Make God's Word my purpose going forward. Isaiah 26: 3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Prayer Father God, I need wisdom and understanding it seems I have accepted lies instead of Your truths in my life. Please forgive me. Please, Lord, help me to discern when You are speaking to me. I do not want to be deceived by the enemy. Today reminded me that Your Word is "a discern of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrewes 4 verse 12. Reveal any wrong thinking in me today through Your Word, Lord Jesus. Amen

Learning how to take control of my mind.

Learning how to take control of my mind.

Today is Wednesday and my goodness, I sure am struggling with my negative thoughts. I am angry and despondent right now. Today my husband has gone away to a little town called "Driekies Dorp" and he passed through "Ermelo". So I'm supposed to bake a birthday cake for one of my clients. It struck me once again I struggle with negative thoughts, my husband tends to ignore me when he doesn't get his way. This frustrates me. This morning I felt so paralyzed by the thought of his acting out again. I felt tremendous loneliness and sadness as he drove off to work. Depression was lurking and waiting for me as I walked into my house. I didn't phone my mom or anyone I sat down. Then I decided I needed to get out of the house and do something before these thoughts consume me today. I have decided that I will fast tomorrow and find out what I can change in my life. I need a breakthrough and only God knows my thoughts and my emotions. I am trusting God to help me deal with the heaviness that is chasing me and making me feel so misrable. Romans 12: 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformd by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable an perfect will of God. Prayer Heavenly Father, today I need to pray for wisdom, insight and understanding. I draw a circle of Jesus Christs blood around each member in my family today. O LORD, its tough and I know that You are able. Lord I know that You are a Mighty God. Lord I know that You will deliver us today from the working of the evil one. Lord Jesus, my eyes are on You. I draw my family into this circle of Your protection, Your superanatural favor with You as well as with men. Please Lord remove any evil person from their lives and replace it with a good and righteous person. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Hold on to Hope

Hold on to Hope

You know people in your life is going to disappoint you and fail you. There are people who will be spreading slanders words about you and stabbing you in the back. The sad part is, it's people in your inner circle, family and a best friend. I now know the only way forward in my own life never mind the people who try to trip me up, is the Lord Jesus Christ. I will hold on to the hope of Jesus. He will not let me down, He is faithful, He is reliable and He will be my shield and my covering. Even when there is injustice around me, I know people have turned against me. I can still hope that God is coming through for me. Romans 8: 36 CSB "As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Prayer O Lord God, You know my heart and You know my fears, my worries and my pain. I don't know how to deal with the emotional problems I am facing. I come to You now asking to help me, lift me up and let me have peace of mind. You know what people say behind my back, their knives are sharpened and they are stabbing me every now and then. I pray to forgive them, I do, please help me to ignore their spite and slander in the name of Jesus Christ my only hope. The hope I am holding onto, Jesus Christ. amen

How do you like yourself?

How do you like yourself? This is a hard question for me, there are times when I don't like myself and other times I do. I am frustrated with my hair. I had it cut into a picksie style and now I'm sorry I did my hair needs attention every single day. Blow dry and curling otherwise I look like a boy. In reading today's scripture I must tell you that the one thing I picked up is love your neighbour as yourself. Ahhh, I'm not a very kind person to myself, how can I be kind to other people? Actually, I am, I do treat people around me. I don't like to cause people unnecessary discomfort or stress. Romans 13:9-10 Jubilee Bible 2000 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not murder, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet, and if there is any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Charity works no evil to a neighbour; therefore, charity is the fulfillment of the law. I realised that God sees me and knows me and I am very loved by God. Living my life to the fullest and trying to be patient, loving and kind to everyone around me. It's a hard task my husband said to me Your name and You are exactly what Your name means. My name is from French origin "Yvette" and it meanse yew, archer. My husband reconks archer is my passion. I am a true warrior, always ready to defend and protect. Live is never boaring around me. I still find my peace in God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is living inside of me. Yew tree is a coniferous tree. It has red berrylike fruits, and most parts of which ary poisonous. I read that the Yews according to folklore, parts of the tree are poisonous. The tree can live to a great age. And then I see it, longbows and cabinets, these items come from the timber of this tree. Prayer Oh Lord, You know and understand me, my name has some complications. I see that I am a warrior and there's the thing. I charge in and sort matter out. Please, Lord, I need You to show me that I am loved, I need to love people as myself. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Good gifts.

December 2

Good gifts. Luke 11: 13 (NIV) 13 "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." It's my hearts desire, that you may receive the Holy Spirit when you seek Him with all your heart. In receiving the Holy Spirit into your own life, you now have the opportunity of magnifying the Lord. In what way, by making the Lord Jesus manifested in our lives. How? We must become obedient, and we must stay loyal to the Lord Jesus. In Psalm 34 verse 3, we reminded to magnify the Lord and exalt His name together. You will receive good gifts from the Lord when you ask Him. As you focused on these words today, may the Holy Spirit touch your heart and soul. With praises and worship we are able to draw near to the Lord. One of the gifts I would love to have is a gift of prophetic messages. So that I may encourage other people on my way. In 1 Corinthians 14 verses 3, Paul says there are three things a prophetic word must have: "But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation, and comfort to men." Once you hear a prophetic the best way to discern that it is a good word. It should have the following: did it edify, encourage, or comforted you today. Holy Spirit it is my hearts desire to receive the good gifts from the LORD. I know it cannot be done without You Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit I know You want to work through me, here I am please use me to be someone who encourages and blesses. Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1` Corinthians 14: 1 Prayer O Lord, as we come to You today, we pray to ask that You will give us the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, thank You for using us to bring words of encouragement and comfort to others through prophecy. Thank You that all children of God can speak or receive a prophetic word. Speak through me today. In Jesus' name, Amen

Spirit filled life

December 1 A Spirit-Filled Life. John 14:18 (NLV) Jesus Tells of His Death

18 “I will not leave you without help as children without parents. I will come to you.” We need a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. The best way to know Him is through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father God and the Lord Jesus, and forms part of the Godhead. When we know the Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit is with us and He is our helper. In difficult times the Holy Spirit is with us and is our comforter. A spiritfilled life is what we all are striving for. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot function as mature christians. In studying the Word of God each day, we was our souls with the Word. It cleanse us and gives the Holy Spirit the ability to speak to us. Stay connected by ready and studying the Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you today. Prayer Thank You, Father God, for the Word that is available to us each day. Thank You, God that we can come to You in prayer. We want to pray for our own lives and the lives of our family and friends. Lord, without the Holy Spirit we cannot get through the day. Holy Spirit, You are welcome in our lives today. Thank You, for the knowledge that You still hear our prayers. Give us wisdom and insight and unerstanding. Guidance for our plans and thoughts today we pray in Jesus Christs name. Amen

I am confirmed, anointed and sealed in Christ.

November 22 I am confirmed, anointed and sealed in Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:21 (ISV) 21 "Now the one who makes us—and you as well—secure in union with the Messiah and has anointed us is God."

God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can build a strong relationship with the Lord Jesus. We are now able to spend time with Him. To be anointed means we apart from others, the Holy Spirit covers us and helps us with our work going forward. We equipped to spread the Good News. God also sealed each one of us with His Holy Spirit, a mark and God set the Holy Spirit inside of each one of us. Bearing the mark (Holy Spirit) in our own lives proves that God is with us. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, pray and ask the Lord to anoint you with His Spirit. Speak to Your Pastor or Minister. Prayer Our Father; in heaven, hallowed be your name. Please help me bring my prayers in alinement with Your Word today. Thank You, Father, for Your loving kindness and Your mercy new every day. Praise and honour to You, Lord for You know and understand me. Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In Jesus Name, Amen.

I'm free from charges of condemnation.

November 21 I'm free from charges of condemnation.

Romans 8:33-34 (TLB) 33 "Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has forgiven us and given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For he is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honour next to God, pleading for us there in heaven." Lord God, thank You that we are free from any charges of condemnation against us. You have chosen us for Your own. We want to take this time in worshipping You and praising Your Name. You have given us the assurance we are free in Jesus Holy Name. If you have feelings of condemnation, shake them off, it's not coming from God or the Lord Jesus. Meditate on the scripture today. Psalm 143: 10 (NRSV) "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path." I am waiting expectantly to be taught by God. Isaiah 58:9 (NRSV) "Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; youy shall cr5 for help, and he will say, Here I am . . . The LORD will guid you continually." Prayer Abba Father, Lord, please teach us and help us to stay focused on Your word. In humble prayer, we ask to remind us of our standing with You in our hour of need. Lord, by myself, I can do nothing; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is , for I seek not to please myself but Him. In Jesus Name, Amen.