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About life in general, and life with God specifically.

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Those girls are not your competition

written by Gerdina

I recently came upon this quote that read, “Those girls are not your competition. Remember, the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Stand with those girls and fight evil with good.” Does this sound all too familiar to you?

Paul tells us in Romans, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 (NIV)

Euodia and Syntyche

Hearing this quote reminded me of the two women from the Bible in Philippians Chapter 4. Their names were Euodia and Syntyche and they were from the church in Philippi. In Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, he called upon Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony and reconcile their differences.

Paul states, “Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner [Syzygus], to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.” Philippians 4:2-3 (NLT)

Never again do we come across the names of Euodia and Syntyce in the Bible. However, the quick mention of these two women, in these two verses, speaks volumes. All of Scripture is God-breathed and the Lord has much to show us through this situation.

Losing sight of the most improtant thing

Paul doesn’t describe what actually took place between Euodia and Syntche. But the reason behind their fall out, their broken relationship, and their continued quarrelling doesn’t really matter much when you get down to it. The point is that they allowed sin to crack the door open and Satan was given the opportunity to creep in. In turn, this created chaos and division between the two women. Often anger, bitterness, and resentment can quickly rear its ugly head in a circumstance such as this, and take root in the heart if conflict remains unresolved. Euodia and Syntche, once fellow warriors in the proclamation of the gospel, lost sight of the most important thing – JESUS and telling others the Good News! It’s very possible that they began looking at themselves and at each other. This often creates strife and causes individuals to fight against one another and relationships are sadly destroyed or terribly broken. Soon they forgot that they are on the same side, part of the same team, and aiming for the same goal.

Lysa Terkeurst describes this very nicely when she said, “In God’s economy, people do not stand on opposing sides of the conflict scale. People stand on one side and Satan stands on the other. When we dump into another person’s lives, we are not leveling the conflict scale. We are just weighing down on the side of the scale. Satan loves it when we do his work for him by dumping on each other. The secret to healthy conflict resolution is not a-you-against-me-stance but realizing it’s all of us against Satan. He is the real enemy.”

Scripture is clear when stating, “For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:12-13 (MEV)

A wonderful gift from God

Let us not give Satan the opportunity and the great pleasure of observing us tearing each other down. We really need one another. A church body, a congregation, is a wonderful gift from God as Paul describes it so beautifully in the letter to the Corinthians.

Paul states, “The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part into the exuberance. You are Christ’s body, that’s who you are! You must never forget this.” 1 Corinthians 12:25-31 (MSG)

Don’t fall for the enemy’s lies

So let’s be sure to edify one another and continually build each other up. By using our gifts and talents that we have received from God, we can join forces, come together, and use them to honor and glorify His precious and holy name – this is our purpose – to glorify Him in everything. We must ensure that we don’t lose sight of this through the cunning and deceptive tactics of Satan. We must always be on guard and must always be aware of his wicked ways. Know the Truth so you don’t fall for the enemy’s lies. Do not forget that we are a unity in Him – Our lord, our Redeemer, our King, our Savior Jesus Christ.

In closing, I want to share with you from Philippians 2: 1-4, “Is there any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any compassion and mercy, then fulfill my joy and be like-minded, having the same love, being in unity with one mind. Let nothing be done out of strife or conceit, but in humility let each other esteem the other better than himself. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

AMEN!

February 14, 2019 Comments

Bible Faith God Identity Jesus Life Lifestyle

Your burning bush

written by Hanna

Hey! Guess what?

You can’t do it.

Whatever that “it” is for you. Be it a degree, a career, motherhood, a skill, a relationship, a leadership position, moving across the world; whatever it is: you are inadequate. If it is outside of the calling of God, you are inadequate. If you are pursuing things aside from God, then it’s rooted in selfish ambition and pride.

Then why?

Then why does He call us to do really terrifying, scary things? Why does God give us big tasks when we are inadequate?

First off, it is to purge us of insecurities. I’ve been reading through Exodus and I’ve been hung up on the part with the burning bush. Where God meets Moses with something so common (a bush) but makes it entirely uncommon (it burns without being consumed). And you know what has caught my eye and convicted my core? Moses’ answers to God’s instruction and miracles:

“Who am I to appear before Pharoah? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” (3:11)

“What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” (4:1)

“But Moses pleaded again, ‘O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled. (4:10; emphasis added).

“But Moses again pleaded, ‘Lord, please! Send anyone else.’ (4:13)

After reading Moses responses, I thought, “Wow. Here was Yahweh speaking directly to Moses through a constantly burning bush and he still doubts FOUR TIMES.” Then I was convicted because I know the Lord has instructed me to do scary things and I’ve doubted far more than four times–but He was still patient and gracious.

We are our worst critic

Isn’t easy to get stuck in our own head? We really are our worst critic. We often receive insults as truth before we receive encouragement. We allow the devil’s voice of doubt to reign before the Truth of God. That was even present in the garden, when Satan slithered at Eve, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit?” (Gen. 3:1). Doubt was at the root of the first sin.

But I Can

We let insecurities fog our calling and our dreams–but God wants to shine through that. He says, “Yes, you are merely human, but I can make a path for you. If you let Me, I will direct your steps!” We can only go so far on our own. In our salvation, going on our own meant the Law and animal sacrifice–but Jesus overshadowed all our inadequacies with his Power and has given us that same Power, The Holy Spirit.

“We are confident in all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of the new covenant.” (2 Cor. 3:4-6).

I’ve got you

The second reason God calls us to do scary things is to display HIS adequacy through our inadequacy. It brings us to a place of humility where we say, “Woah. There’s no way I could have done that. That was God.” From the gift of initial salvation to living out our salvation through pursuing Jesus into scary, impossible but God-glorifying things, God lifts us up in His glory. He silents those insecurities and whispers “I’ve got you, so you’ve got this.”

And you know what? Moses successfully led the Israelites out of Egypt, under the exact circumstances God had promised. Now, the Israelites were stuck in the wilderness for a long time afterward, but that’s another story for another time.

What are you going to do with your burning bush?

So, dear heart, what are you going to do with your burning bush? Are you going to listen to insecurities, doubts and smother the bush? Or will you let it’s flame, His flame, spark your heart into action and passion?

It’s up to you. The Lord is only awaiting your YES.

Leave a little sparkle wherever you go

written by Gerdina

The other day I read this quote and it really touched and moved me. The quote read, “Jesus seemed to enjoy the company of the broken more than the debates of the religious”. Well, this is what I’m wanting to discuss today.

God’s love letter

Scripture, the Word, is God’s love letter to all of creation. From Genesis to Revelation the Word of God is revealing Himself to us. It is apparent that all of Scripture is referring to Jesus in His entirety. There was and is no one who knew and understood the Word of God as well as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus understood the Word with such astounding insight. The Word was God and Jesus was God in the flesh. (John 1:1-2)

Gathering knowledge

So, we may be asking ourselves, “What did Jesus do with all this knowledge”? Did He gather all this knowledge to obtain more and more “information” and just fill His mind with facts and history? Or was He trying to impress others and have discussions and debates that showed everyone just how much knowledge He did have? Absolutely not! Jesus allowed the knowledge that God bestowed to Him to deeply penetrate His heart. He cherished the Word. He meditated and prayed. He loved the Word of God and to do the will of God was His only desire. In fact, Jesus used the Word to defeat Satan’s temptations in the desert. Jesus properly used the Word as a defense; a defense that only speaks Truth. It is written that the Word was His sword. Jesus also used the Word when the Pharisees tried to lure Him into a trap.

Transformation of heart

Throughout Scripture, we repeatedly see there were many men with tremendous knowledge of the Word of God. However, many of these men did not allow the Word to penetrate deep into their heart and soul and it was obvious that there was no sincere heart transformation. Oh sure, things looked good on the outside and they knew exactly how to tell others to live and what they should and should not do. But, for themselves, the Word just did not apply. This is what Jesus had to say when referring to these men in Matthew 23:2-5 (NLT).

2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.[a] 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

No matter the cost

Jesus did not have to broadcast how much knowledge He had or do things just to draw attention Himself. No, He willingly, key word here…. “willingly” lived out the Word of God; no matter what it cost Him. Even, when it meant death on a cross. Everything He did was to bring glory to our Heavenly Father. Jesus was not against having vast knowledge, but He did something far greater; something we all must be willing to do. Like Jesus, we must allow that knowledge to pierce deeply into our hearts and transform us from the inside out. Jesus lived out the Word of God and everything He did was in accordance with what He taught from that Word. Jesus is our living example of a humble and lowly servant.

He welcomed all

During Jesus’ ministry, He was always acceptant of the people that others did not want anything to do with. He welcomed all to follow Him…. no matter their background. For example prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans, and the broken-hearted. Some may wonder why did He do this? Why did He not sit down with all those great theologians and well-known leaders? Jesus came for the broken, “ordinary” people and what some would call the outcasts. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came to rescue and reconcile us all back with God, so we could live with Him.

The Pharisee and the tax collector

I think the parable about the prayer of the Pharisee and the tax collector gives us the answer.

Luke 18: 9-13 9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer[b]: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

We can see here that the Pharisee thought he was a good man; good enough. He apparently saw himself as much better than all the other people around him. He exalted himself and “self” was on the throne of his heart. He believed and trusted his own righteousness. However, the tax collector saw his wretched condition before a Holy God and was undone. He was pleading for Gods mercy on his life and realized that he was in great need of God’s grace and forgiveness. The tax collector showed true Godly sorrow for his sinful life and repented whole-heartedly. Have you confessed your sins and repented to the Lord? He’s waiting for you to come to Him and lay it all down at the cross. Turn from sin and turn to God.

Romans 3: 23-24 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Let your light shine

Let us, therefore, honor the Lord with our lives as a living sacrifice. Let’s devote time each day to spend with Him, engaging with Him in His Word and in prayer. Allow His love and mercy to sink deep in our hearts and pass on that love and mercy to others. Let us not only read His Word but really live it out. Allow the light and love of Jesus to shine through you in such a dark and fallen world. Reach out to the “outcast” and lost souls. They are all around us, seeking and grasping for worldly things that can’t satisfy. Let your light shine! Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb of God.

Connect to His channel with love

written by Willemien

Time flies

First of all I want to wish you a blessed, healthy and fruitful new year! I can’t believe 2018 is already over, time flies…. not only when you’re having fun, but I think time flies when you get older. I can’t remember when I was a teenager that I ever thought “time flies, another week or month has passed”. I guess that turning point came when I started working and I got more routine in my weeks and more to do on my schedule, that time started to fly.

“I can’t believe it is already 2019!

I just came home from a visit to my in-laws and my mother in law said the same, “I can’t believe it is already 2019! I remember that it was turning 2000, the millennium year, what a panic did that cause and now it is already 19 years later” Even I remember when it became the year 2000, I’m really getting older, it is a fact….

A fresh start

We are standing at the beginning of a new year, do you have specific plans for this year? Special events coming up? Things to look forward to? A new year often gives us the feeling of a new start, a time of starting over or making a fresh start. A lot of people make new years resolutions. Maybe you yourself also have some.

Resolutions

When it comes to God and my personal relationship with Him, I often make new resolutions. I want to spend more time in prayer, read more in His Word, I want to have more quality time with Him etc. The thing is, this is a yearly returning (sometimes weekly returning) resolution. Maybe this is recognizable for you? Where does this resolution comes from?

And this leads to feeling guilty

Resolutions are things we want to approve, do more or less, want to be better at, things we weren’t satisfied about when we look at the past year. What makes a lot of us unsatisfied about our relationship with God? We never think it was enough. There are days we pray 5 minutes, there are days we pray 10 minutes, but sometimes there is a day that we don’t take the time to pray at all, or read in His word. And this leads to feeling guilty. So we want to do better. W

Love is our motivation

Well, let me tell you something. God is happy with every moment we spend with Him, He is not angry about the moments that we don’t. Guilt should not be leading us to spend more time with God, but our love for Him should do that. It’s a good thing to want to spend more time in His word or in prayer, but we have to check our motivation to do so. It should not be out of guilt or shame or fear, but out of knowing that God is our loving Father and He loves it when we seek Him and bet to know Him better.

Connect to His channel with love

When you want to listen to a certain radio station you have to find the right channel. When you are on the wrong frequency, you won’t hear a thing, you have to finetune to hear the result you were looking for. Well, the frequency God is using is love. You get connected to His channel through love. He loves you and He promise us in His Word that He will be with us, always.

He is there with you

Love, we are all familiar with it, we use it daily in our relationships with our family and friends. My husband and I enjoyed the past week. We were both free from work and had some great quality time. Watching a movie together on the couch, playing a game, shopping, enjoying a meal together or sometimes just being together is enough. But it isn’t always like that, there are also times when we are both busy and we rarely speak to each other. I finish a work task while he puts the kids to bed, he goes to a meeting while I prepare a meal etc. But we are aware of the love we have for each other.

God is only a prayer away

It is the same with God. When you are at the soccer field cheering for your kids, Jesus is next to you cheering along. When you are busy at work, He is there with you. God is never more than a prayer away. He loves it when you take quality time with Him, but He also loves it to be involved in all you do. Not every moment we spend with God will be wonderful and amazing and feels like we are in heaven. There are also times that it will be a quick prayer while we drive our car, a thought we share with Him while preparing the meal.

Remember God is happy with every moment we spend with Him, but guilt
or fear should not be leading to us spending more time with God. Our love for Him should do that.

Blessed to the point of breaking

written by Hanna

“And when He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word, I will let down the nets.”-Luke 5:4-5

Hard labor

Do you ever feel like you’re digging a perpetual hole? Toiling, sweating, giving everything and never being satisfied? Maybe it’s with your work. Maybe it’s in a relationship. Maybe it’s in your finances. Or maybe it’s a God-dream that you’re trying to make happen because He promised it to you?

“We toiled all night and took nothing…”

I can imagine you know exactly how that feels. To work so hard (sometimes even through the night) only to see you wasted time and didn’t get anywhere. It’s aggravating, isn’t? I like to imagine how Simon felt (or at least how I would have felt if I were him) in the moment when Jesus told him to go back out and fish. Maybe he was thinking, “Alright holy-rabbi-teacher-carpenter-dude who probably knows nothing about fishing. We’ll give it another try—but you’ll see!”

A glimpse of His glory

Yet in that moment, Simon Peter was granted the humbling experience of seeing God follow through in His seemingly illogical yet good instructions. He not only heard, but experienced that Jesus’ words are always true.

Luke continues,
“And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking…But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees…” (v. 6, 8)

Jesus didn’t have to bless Simon Peter to the point of breaking—but He did. Jesus desired his devotion, and proved His faithfulness before He required Simon Peter’s. He showed Peter a glimpse of His glory, and Peter wholeheartedly chose to follow Him. He wholeheartedly responded to Jesus’ instructions to GO. First, to do the smaller thing (catching fish) and then to do the bigger at—following Christ and catching men.

Seasons in life

There’s something terrifying and beautiful about “go” seasons; times in life when Jesus moves things quickly and things start to fall into place. I’m currently in a season of waiting for God to say “GO.” I know this because I’ve felt resistance when I’ve tried to make moves on my own. And I’ll admit, this is very different and difficult for me. I’ve always been someone who pushed open doors and just let God close the ones He didn’t want open. But now He’s saying, “Hanna, be patient, I’m going to open up this door Myself this time.”

His timing

Sometimes in life, there is resistance from the devil but you push forward because you’ve heard God’s instruction to do so. But other times, we try to go our own way and feel resistance because God hadn’t yet said to do so—and we toil for nothing. Anything done outside of the purpose of God’s Kingdom and eternity is pointles because anything outside of God’s Kingdom and eternity will fade away. He gives important tasks to be done in His timing and instruction.

A humbling experience

After that humbling experience, Simon Peter saw that Jesus was one to be trusted. So he dropped everything immediately and followed Christ. They didn’t take the fish with them. They didn’t try and say, “Lord, let us sell these fish you’ve blessed us with so we can use that money on our travels with you.” No. The Lord said go, so they immediately let go of everything and pursued Jesus. And that last part? That’s the key. Whether you’re in a season of movement and excitement or you’re in one full of waiting, rooting and asking questions; you still pursue Jesus. You drop everything—the blessing, the doubt, the excitement, the frustration—and pursue Jesus. Because we can find discontentment in any and every season of life if we aren’t passionately loving Him.

See the blessings in all seasons

Seasons of full nets or empty nets shouldn’t determine our mood and choices either—only Jesus should. I know I’m convicted of not letting Christ’s love dictate my emotions, choices, dreams and life-purpose. But when we surrender, worship, obey and love, He blesses us to the point of breaking. With His love in our hearts and His perspective in our minds, we can see that blessing in all seasons.

So let’s focus our eyes on Jesus—and see the blessing in every season given to us. Let’s wait, pray, love each other and chase the dreams God’s placed in our hearts. And let’s encourage other women to do the same.

Listening stillness in a busy season

written by Carla

In this week before Christmas, I would like to tell a tale of two women; both were called Mary and both of them knew Jesus well. Mary his mother and Mary from Bethany. They had a different life and probably also a different personality, but apart from their name they had at least one thing in common: they were attentive!

December 24, 2018 Comments

Bible Faith Jesus Life Lifestyle Love Relationships Trust

As a bride longing for her groom

written by Gerdina

We, as resurrected born-again Christians (the church), are often referred to as the Bride of Christ. All who have obtained salvation by grace through faith are His Bride. And one day the Lord, the Bridegroom, will come for His people, His Bride, and make all things new. The wedding ceremony will take place and the official union will be accomplished. (Revelation 19:7-9 and 21:1-2). Hallelujah!

December 19, 2018 Comments

Family Identity Parenting

Raising our children to worship God

written by Cecilia

A couple of months ago, my husband and I found out that we are expecting a baby! God has already been teaching us a lot about parenthood and our role in a child’s life. As many of you may know, during the first trimester of pregnancy a woman can feel completely tired because of all the changes in her body and all the energy that is going to the growth of her child. So that’s how I felt during the first three months: exhausted. The only thing I wanted to do was to rest and to sleep.

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December 13, 2018 Comments

God Lifestyle Love Relationships

Free to make our own choices

written by Willemien

Lately I am realising how free we are in the choices we make and it amazes me. Sometimes when I drive my car, my mind takes a trip of its own and when I refocus I’m glad I didn’t miss my exit. But what if I did… I could decide to drive as far as I could, I could decide in an instant to change my plans and drive to the other side of the country, I could decide I would want to go bungee jumping and just do that.

December 12, 2018 Comments

Faith Fellowship Jesus Relationships

The gift of Presence

written by Hanna

I was having coffee with a friend a couple years ago, when she said something that really rocked my world… She said, “One of the biggest revelations God has given me is realizing that presence is the greatest gift you can ever give anyone.”

December 6, 2018 Comments