Yvette's Stellar Stories

Friday 10 August 2018

Praising You Lord!

Psalm 139:14 Amplified Bible (AMP)

^{14 “}I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”

As a young adult I suffered from bulimia, someone constantly told me that I was a “fat cow.” I used to look at myself in the mirror and see this fat person. I was constantly trying to maintain a weight of 57 kg, as I couldn’t drop to 50 kg. Never mind what I tried. I remember constantly shaking and my hands were not steady. I went to see a doctor and he was concerned that I may have diabetes.

Today I have put on some weight and I have stopped doing this to myself. I remarried and my husband feels that I have toothpicks for legs. I don’t see that but I try and maintain my body weight. I am constantly feeling fat and worried that I just don’t look good enough. The fact is I had been denying myself all the good foods and hurt myself in the process.

Today I will praise my Lord, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.” I will not listen to the voice of Satan any more. God loves me, He created me perfectly. I am loved and I love God.

Today I am fighting back with Hebrews 4 verse 12 “for the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to 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.”

Prayer

O Lord, I will praise You, I worship You and give You thanks. Lord, You are my everything. I love and adore You, I will stand on Your Word for my life, I will not allow the devil to take me for a ride any longer. I am wonderfully and fearfully made in Your image. I love You Jesus Amen

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God’s want my all!

Isaiah 1:19 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁹
“If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the best of the land;"

I go to church on a regular basis, I pray and I constantly read God’s Word. I want to do more and yet, I feel that I fail dismally. In Mark 12 verse 30 God reminds us to give Him all of ourselves. Our hearts, mind, soul and strength everything. Are we succeeding in this?

My one friend spoke to me a while back and she said “Yvette, stop seeking all the blessings in your life. Start seeking God diligently, with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength and see how God blesses you. In the meantime I have been seeking God, I am sure I fail each and every time but I am still trying to get there. I believe that I am unable to do this if I don’t have God’s Holy Spirit within me. I will never be able to truly be a good person, only God is good.

Giving God my all, I have suffered everything in my God’s hands. My job, my relationships and my very own life. I know God is still working on areas in my life. I am a work in progress but I believe God’s Word. I am standing on His Word each day. He loves me, I believe that.

Reading Genesis 22 verse 17 to 18 “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars … your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” I am still learning to fully give my life into God’s hands.

Prayer

Lord, humbly I come before You asking for forgiveness of sin. I surrender my relationships into Your hands today. Help me and place a guard over my mouth. I need You to guide and protect me. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

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Seeking God’s Praises!

John 12:43 Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁴³for they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God.”

Oh dear, I am just like many other people, I am constantly looking for the praises and approval of my friends and family. You know “well done” or “what a good job.” The sad story here is that I should be seeking God’s approval and not that of people.

How will I receive God’s praises and approval for my own life? By seeking God diligently and obeying His instruction. By doing what I know is good and that will be pleasing to God. I know that I need to draw near to Him each and every day. I do this all the time. I want to be pleasing to God.

Something I realise is that I should stop fighting with people who irritate me, I am learning to control my temper but it is a long process. I find that people bait me and before I realise it I am angry at them. I pray each and every day God place a guard over my lips so that I will watch myself. I also believe my attitude needs work and I bring this to God each and every day.

Prayer

Lord, humbly I pray for wisdom. I am someone that wants to be praised, it seems to be my carnal self-pushing for this praise. Today I humbly pray Lord, help me to stay obedient to You, let me draw near and grow spiritually. I pray place a guard over my mouth and thoughts. I love and adore You, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen

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I don’t see anything! God please send a little sign!

1 Kings 18:43-44 New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴³Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. ⁴⁴Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”

God is always up to something. This reminds me of my own life. At the beginning of the year, I believed that I was awarded a full year contract. The end of July 2018 I was informed that my contract expired. I almost fainted. This wasn’t something I was prepared for. I have so many commitments and I need my salary. I planned according to my contract. What I didn’t realise is that God was busy working in the background. I thought about it and believed that God would open the right door, He is always up to something.

My contract was extended another 6 months thank You, Lord. You provide according to my needs. I was prepared for the blessings. I believe because I have been persistent in my prayers and I believed that God will bless me. My prayers were answered and God has blessed my life with another 6 months. God formed a small cloud in my life and I can breathe.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Lord my God, I want to say thank You, for the open door You have made for me. I believe that nothing is impossible for You, I want to bring my hopes and plans to You today. I believe You are in control. Amen

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Talk About the Miracles in Your life.

Deuteronomy 4:9 (AMP)

⁹“Only pay attention and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your grandchildren [impressing these things on their mind and penetrating their heart with these truths]—“

God wants us to keep on telling our children and our children's children of all the wonders and miracles that have taken place in our own lives. By testifying about the good things God has done for us, it teaches our children to trust in God. By telling our children about God's miracles in our lives lifts the expectation in our children's hearts.

The sad part is we become self-sufficient. We get distracted and forget what God has done for us. We can teach our children to take up the shield of faith, in Ephesians 6: 16. Teaching my children that God is faithful and always ready to assist and help me.

My shield of faith gets stronger and so does the children's faith shield.

Prayer

Lord God, I want to say thank You, for helping me in my hour of need. My children were witnesses to what You have done for us. Bless my children and my grandchildren. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

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Wednesday 8 August 2018

Remaining in The Vine!

John 15:4-5 (AMP)

⁴Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. ⁵I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

I am sure you already know I am very self-determined and I feel I am capable of doing everything. Actually, it's a lie. Truth be told, I fail all the time. Why? I believe because I want to do things in my own strength. I must remain in the vine!

It struck me today that there are issues in my life. I do not have the power, I keep on failing.

Today, I have decided to call on God and ask Him to help me. I am in worship and praise mode right now. Because I need to set my heart straight with God. Once I feel that I have come into a spirit of humility and acceptance before Jesus Christ my Saviour I want to state my case.

The issue I am facing is driving me crazy. Satan is working very hard to keep me from reaching my destination.

Jesus reminds me to come to Him when I feel weary and heavily burned. Today I want to leave my burdens at the feet of Jesus, I am taking His yoke on my shoulders.

Prayer

Abba Father, here I lay my burdens down because my worth is in Your love. Casting every care on You. I have carried them enough. I am not alone Lord, I worship YOU. Please help me with this issue I am facing. I need Your Help. In the name of Jesus Christ my Redeemer and my saviour. Amen

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#Consequences

Numbers 14:18 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁸‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’

The meaning of Consequences: “a result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant” I know of people who are just too forgiving and they do not implement consequences at all. I believe they want to avoid bad vibes at home and hate confrontations. Sure I know we need to follow God’s example of being slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression. One one hand it makes good sense, but what about the bad attitudes and the back chatting. The “not now, I will do it later” actions. Is this the right way to deal with kids actions?

I don’t know as I child I never used these words and when instructed I would do whatever it was immediately or else there would be consequences. I believe that when I was given an instruction the kids should obey and do their chores. I see it is allowed to stay over and in fact not be done. This results in someone else picking up the slack or the job not done. Do we want our kids to be good for nothing lazy kids? I don’t know why someone would want that for their kids.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You, Lord for always being kind and slow to anger with us as people, thank You also for forgiveness of sins and our wickedness. Thank You, Lord, for clearing the guilty and giving us another chance. Help us to keep Your Word, guide each one of us today in the raising of our children. Teach us the right way so that we may honour You going forward. In the Holy Name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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Tuesday 7 August 2018

Lead me and Guide me

Jeremiah 29:11-12 (AMP)

^11 “For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you.”

Good morning Lord, this morning I humbly come into Your presence and sincerely ask You to please guide and lead me through this day. I cannot do this on my own. When I reflect over my life I realise that only You can guide me.

Lord I want to ask You for a new spirit, I am asking You Lord to create in me a clean heart, and a pure spirit please remove this heart of stone and help me to live my live as You have planned it for me.

Lord I know that You have peace and well-being for my life, help me to embrace this today and I thank You Lord for my future hope. I am preparing myself to receive this in the name of Jesus Christ. I place my hope and I pray Lord give me the wisdom I need for today. Lead me and take me by my right hand. I cannot do anything without You. Lord send Your Holy Spirit and help me rise up, help me come out of hiding and stand and face today.

Lord bless each person who reads my blog, give them their hearts desires and bless them with supernatural favour. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

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Setting Good Boundaries for Children

Leviticus 18:4-5 (NIV)

^4 “You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. ⁵Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.”

Reading Leviticus makes me see how much God cared for the Israelites. He set strict boundaries in place for the priest as well as how to care for their skin. It seems extreme but when I read how the other national carried on, it made good sense to keep God’s laws and decrees.

As a parent, we set boundaries for our own children. I like my children to have a bath before bedtime, it relaxes them. I also want them to go to bed at 20h00 each evening. School work is hectic and they need to be well rested and alert for the next day's tasks. If they go out on the weekend I want them to come home at a reasonable time. This ensures we have a mutual time if something happens I will go and look for them.

When it comes to food I want them to eat healthy foods and we do fight about vegetable but its essential to their diets. Studying is one of the other things that need to be done and they have to abide by the rules. We want them to attain the best results so that they can go to the college or a University.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your laws and decrees I am guilty of not always being faithful or obeying Your decrees. I humbly pray to forgive me in Jesus Christ Name. Thank You that You love me enough to help me see my mistakes and let me fix them in time. I love and adore You, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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