Yvette's Whispers of Faith

Beauty by Yvette van Niekerk This struck me from Blaise Pascal “The serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world next to the power of God.” How I strive to be a beautiful person, then it struck me that I am attractive but the beauty I am looking for is something that comes from within. It’s not the beauty of the outer person, it’s the beauty that shines through your personality. How on earth will I become that beauty? This is living a Holy life, sanctifying myself. I would love to be that special Christian, someone soaked in the Word, cleansed by the Word and the Holy Spirit living and working through me. Are you saying I should lighten up and be a little relaxed, I don’t have to be serious all the time and I can laugh at myself. That sounds so bizarre, who does that? I like things a specific way, don’t joke around and do what needs to be done. C.S. Lewis “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing … it is i...

Daily Bread by Yvette van Niekerk In Matthew 4 verse 4 it is written “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. Feeding my soul every day has become my priority, I have made time each morning to come and sit in the presence of God. I play gospel music and listen to the song playing, and then I turn my attention to God’s Word. I read my Bible and ask the Holy Spirit. “Holy Spirit what do you want me to learn today?” I have been doing this for some time now and I do not always know what I am hearing or what I should pay attention to, but there are times when I hear the Spirit pointing me in a specific direction. This morning I read the last chapter of the Gospel of John. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and when Mary saw the Lord Jesus, she thought He was the gardener. This has stayed with me the whole day. What does this mean to me? A gardener is someone that works with plants and in the ground. I believe God is working in my li...

Hopefully, I will be able to relax and enjoy my life going forward. I realize God has been supplying according to all my needs. I see how He has kept His hand over my life and I am so grateful to the LORD for the opportunity to relax and enjoy the peace I feel today. What happened? About two weeks ago, I woke up from a dream - in my dream “I took out my office cell phone from my handbag, and it was all scrunched up. I placed my hand over it to straighten the cell phone and it broke into two parts. I tried to fix it but it was broken.” I like to go and see the meaning of dreams and to my surprise, it said it’s a broken relationship. I broke down because I am trying to renew and fix my relationships with my family and friends, but this week was a week from hell. I resigned from my job and it was with immediate effect. I could not think of any reason to continue with the company. I felt so overwhelmed and upset I resigned immediately. I am still thinking of the way things went but hon...

How are you today? It sure has been a while... I have been busy and I am only now starting to find my feet again. I started a new job. It's a time-sensitive job and keeps me busy from 08:00 to 17:00 Mondays to Fridays and Saturdays 08:00 to 14:00. I do enjoy the work, it makes me think and I have to be checking stuff. With all of this going on it dawned on me I just cannot make it through the day. I needed to get back on my knees asking the Lord to help me through my day. I started having panic attacks. It took me a while to come to a point in my life where I realised that I cannot face the day if the Lord has not been called into it. Yes, I know the Lord. I cannot get started if I don’t spend time in the presence of God. I now make a point of getting up each morning and going into my study, opening my Bible and reading. I feel like I am in the new beginnings, I am trying to change my perspective on life and still, I feel like nothing is truly changing. Tonight my husband made ...

by Yvette van Niekerk Ezekiel 18: 31 MSG “Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel?” When we are unable to confess our wrongs and sins, our countenance changes. We have darkness over our faces, and it may seem we are sad. Then we experience condemnation. We fail to repent and ask for forgiveness of my sin, our countenance changes. Psalm 34: 5 MSG “They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.” Confession is good for my soul. I need to repent of things I may have said or done. I do not want to build a wall between myself and God. I am honest when I confess anything I did and I receive God's forgiveness. I want a direct line to God and I can only achieve it by confessing my sins. Repentance: means "turning away and deciding not to do it again." I am saying "Yes, I did this, I am sorry and won't do this again." Ezekiel 20: 43 "Then you w...

by Yvette van Niekerk I am sure you will enjoy this simple recipe, it’s nothing special a really basic recipe but it sure make my cakes pop, I use this on my cakes and also my cupcakes. I use a good quality vanilla extract to make my buttercream taste delicious. So something to keep in mind room temperature is important when making my buttercream. Now lets get started: Vanilla Buttercream Icing This is a rich flavoured vanilla buttercream that is so easy to make which tastes like you made something delicious. Prep Time: 20 minutes Servings: 3 cups Ingredients: 1 cup of Wooden spoon margarine or unsalted butter, room temperature. 3 ½ cups of icing sugar (powdered sugar), sifted. 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp whole milk of heavy whipping cream, room temperature ¼ tsp salt, to taste Method: With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium high until its creamy and light for approximately 6 minutes. With the mixer on low, add your sifted i...

by Yvette van Niekerk I have had such a fiasco with filling and stacking cakes. I thought I would share some of my own experiences with you today. My cakes have bulged out between layers and are straight up oozing off the sides. An expensive lesson especially when I am baking for my clients. What was my problem? I realised this after a lot of tears and frustration. That many times I didn’t put enough icing on and the cake was cumber covered. I also came to the realisation that I didn’t build a wall on my cake when placing a filling inside of the cake. I soon realised the essential part of building your cake. Starts with the basics, your icing needs to be thick enough so that your foundation is sturdy. I have baked cakes and on delivery, my cakes started pulling to the left and going lopsided. Now I have been baking for over a decade and it has been an experience. There are two kinds of fillings and a trick to stacking a cake. One: is the stable filling which is straightforward b...