YOUR NEXT MOVE

    The Christian is always in battle. From the time we accept Christ as our Saviour we become a target. Every step is a fight. But the word of God says we have the victory. We fight for self, for our ministry work in Christ, for our family, other Christians, church community, neighbours, country, other nations.  

In our personal life there are so many needs and situations we can find to pray about. The biggest problem of course is to be disciplined enough and faithful enough to pray. Every time I think I have control of it something happens to break up my plan of action.

I have struggled with this very often. It is difficult to stick to a scheduled time. Sometimes it is my unwillingness to spend the time in prayer. Sometimes it is my guilt for something I did and I cannot face God. Then God gave me a dream. 

In that dream I saw ordinary people in line formations like an army ready to advance. All in rows close to each other. The leader who was my pastor was standing outside but close to them. Before they could take a step forward a scripture is read.

By using God's word we can find the root cause of every problem and stay focussed on God's will. 

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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. Hebrews 4:12

We can be more precise in our fight and strategise. For example, before a meeting;

Lord your word says, you will not keep a good thing from us. I pray that you will give me favour in this meeting that I have success. It will not take me away from the time I spend with you because I will give this victory to you in Jesus name. It will position me to do more for you or to tell more people about your son Jesus. I thank you for this. Let your will be done in this in Jesus name. 

Our life should revolve around our prayer life. But we do the opposite. We string our prayer life around depending on our timing. It is better to live a life of prayer than to have a prayer life. If we can practise this, we can learn to stay in the presence of God.

Keep working on it. Never give up the presence of God. I am now using a schedule of pray points for each day of the week. I leave time open for anything else that comes up and I use praise and worship to help me to keep my mind focussed on Christ. During the day I am able to listen to a message from any of my favourite preachers or teachers.

But if The Lord draws my attention to a situation I pay attention. Sometimes I am reading an article and I have a burden for something in my heart. I drop what I am doing and I spend time in prayer on the situation. Your heart must be fervent and you must seek the righteousness of God in your prayer so you can be righteous; 

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

I pray that you can have the strength to go before God. I pray that you can feel His presence in your life every day. I pray that you can speak to God about everything in Jesus name.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.

THE DISTRACTORS

As I grew up I understood that every family has a black sheep. My uncle was supposed to be the one. To my young eyes, he was always quarrelling about something. Later I learnt that one of those reasons was because he was feeling left behind and misunderstood. But he was not the only one. There was always an upset in my family. You know what they say, every family has it problems.

I remember having to talk to my aunt about my other aunt. I was at the age of 12 years trying to negotiate peace. If she did this... would you talk to her? Then I will take the response over to the other. I would go back and forth until it was all worked out. I joked with my friends that I could negotiate peace in the Middle East with the type of training I got at home.

I grew up with my grandmother and all my uncles and aunts. My cousins meant the same to me as my brothers and sister. I could hardly recover from one argument in the family when another started. Then I would have to reorganise my play life, my whole social interaction based on who is talking to whom. Having a Muslim father, I was not allowed to play with friends outside of school. 

There was not a three month period in which everything went okay. When I became saved I was very upset about this. I prayed and asked God about that. He showed me the answer in a dream. I will not tell you the dream but I will tell you what it meant. It is like a demonic spirit sent to cause confusion.

Ever heard of a monster that was so bad, everyone was afraid at the mention of the name? That is how it operated. It is based on reputation and fear. The whole family was constantly distracted by the fear of the next upset. The whole family was focused on the black sheep but the person who was supposed to be the black sheep was not really the problem. The problem is what created the black sheep.

The distraction is keep the family from living a fulfilling life. To keep them in bondage and despair. The family did not have time for healing and forgiveness. It was too much. The family would be more aware of the mood of the black sheep they would not hear God. Pretty soon a whole mess of things would spiral out of control and the family breaks up.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

God wants us to have abundant life. He paid the price for us to have that opportunity. Abundant life like sheep in the pasture in the safety of the shepherd watching over them.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." John 10:11

Jesus had just healed the blind man in John 9. Sometimes we are caught up with the pain and hurts that we cannot enjoy life. We become blinded. The thief is the strongman or demonic spirit that keeps you enjoying your life the way Jesus wants you to. In full appreciation of the power of God to create and build a relationship with you.  

The devil steals your joy, your time and energy. It remains like an open wound and then your hope dies. Your dreams are destroyed.  But Jesus wants to give you peace.  

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

I pray you have peace in your heart. I pray that you have peace in your family in Jesus name.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.

AS BÊNÇÃOS

 

Esta é uma parte da escritura que foi examinada por milhões de pessoas ao longo dos anos. Há muito significado para as três principais religiões do mundo. Deus envia Abrão, que mais tarde se torna Abraão, para outro país. No caminho, Ele mostra a terra que diz que dará aos seus descendentes.

Abrão passou pela terra até o lugar de Siquém, até o terebinto de Moré. E os cananeus estavam então na terra. Então o Senhor apareceu a Abrão e disse: “Aos seus descendentes darei esta terra”. E ali ele construiu um altar ao Senhor, que havia aparecido a ele. Gênesis 12: 6-7

Esta é a terra onde os cananeus habitavam. Isso significa que essa terra foi prometida aos judeus pelo próprio Deus. Mas antes de mostrar isso a Abrão, Ele lhe disse que todas as famílias da terra seriam abençoadas por meio dele;

Eu farei de você uma grande nação; Eu vou te abençoar

E torne seu nome grande; E você será uma bênção.

Abençoarei aqueles que te abençoarem, e amaldiçoarei aquele que te amaldiçoar; E em você todas as famílias da terra serão abençoadas. ” Gênesis 12: 2-4

Mais tarde, Isaac, por sua vez, abençoou seus dois filhos Jacó e Esaú. Pela linhagem de Abraão, as nações da terra serão abençoadas. Eu quero ver a bênção de Esaú.

Então Isaac seu pai respondeu e disse-lhe:

“Eis que vossa habitação será da gordura da terra,

E do orvalho do céu lá de cima.

Por sua espada você viverá,

E você deve servir a seu irmão;

E acontecerá, quando você ficar inquieto,

Que você deve quebrar o jugo do seu pescoço. Gênesis 27: 39-40

Muitos acreditam que Esaú recebeu a bênção errada. Ele recebeu a bênção do primogênito. O primogênito é quem deve cuidar dos negócios da família. Ele está encarregado de manter a família. Eu sei disso, sou o primeiro filho do meu pai. Há muita responsabilidade que recai naturalmente sobre o primogênito. Sua bênção é, então, um reflexo disso. Jacó recebeu a bênção destinada a ele;

E o Senhor disse a ela:

“Duas nações estão em seu ventre,

Dois povos serão separados de seu corpo;

Um povo deve ser mais forte do que o outro,

E o mais velho deve servir o mais jovem. ” Gênesis 25: 23-24

Desde o início, Deus disse que os mais velhos servirão aos mais jovens. Lembre-se de que Deus tudo vê e tudo sabe. A bênção destinada a Esaú foi dada a Esaú. Mesmo que Jacó não pudesse aceitar isso e Isaac fosse uma parte inocente disso. 

Muitas vezes na minha vida, na verdade toda a minha vida, eu senti que tinha que lutar por tudo o que tenho. Cada passo do caminho era uma luta para baixo. Nada na minha vida foi fácil. Eu nem tinha família orando por mim quando nasci. O ponto claro é que eu me senti como Jacob.

Como primogênito, senti uma grande responsabilidade em cuidar de meus irmãos. Como um solitário ou o único cristão em minha família, havia também uma responsabilidade espiritual. Senti que estava servindo à minha família. Eu não desistiria, mas em algum momento o peso fica pesado. Eu tinha 45 anos quando pude viajar para o exterior por mais de quatro semanas.  

Percebi que poderia deixar para lá e confiar em Deus. Senti que precisava começar a me concentrar mais em mim. Conforme a bênção vai, se você quiser se livrar do jugo, então você pode. Isso é reforçado em Lucas 4:18;

“O Espírito do Senhor está sobre mim, porque me ungiu para pregar o evangelho aos pobres; Ele me enviou para curar os contritos de coração, para proclamar a liberdade aos cativos e a recuperação da vista aos cegos, para pôr em liberdade os oprimidos;

Ao responder ao seu chamado em Cristo, você é libertado. Se você quiser tirar o jugo da sua vida, peça a Deus que o unja para cumprir Seu propósito para você. Não deixe ninguém determinar seu propósito. Vamos aprender com o próprio Jesus;

como Deus ungiu Jesus de Nazaré com o Espírito Santo e com poder, que andava fazendo o bem e curando todos os oprimidos do diabo, pois Deus era com ele. Atos 10:38

Jesus foi ungido com poder para fazer obras para Deus. Para trazer salvação, libertação e cura para outros. Ao cumprir seu propósito, você está ajudando outros a quebrar os jugos sobre eles em nome de Jesus. Todas as famílias da terra podem ser abençoadas, assim como Deus disse a Abraão.

Rezo para que as bênçãos de Deus transbordem em sua vida hoje. Oro para que você peça a Deus para tirar o jugo de você e você seja capaz de cumprir seu propósito em nome de Jesus.

Se você não aceitou Jesus como seu Senhor e Salvador, você pode fazer esta oração;

Querido Pai Celestial,

Peço que perdoe meus pecados por conhecimento ou ignorância. Por favor me perdoe. Aceito Jesus como meu Salvador. Peço que Jesus entre em minha vida para ser uma testemunha Dele. Por favor, mude minha vida e me transforme na pessoa que você quer que eu seja, em nome de Jesus eu oro. Obrigada.

 

THE BLESSINGS

    This is a portion of scripture that has been scrutinised by millions of people over the years. There is so much significance for three major religions in the world. God sends Abram who later becomes Abraham into another country. On the way there He shows him land that He says He will give to his descendants. 

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  Genesis 12:6-7 

This is the land where the Canaanites dwelt. That means that the Jews were promised this land by God Himself. But before He shows Abram this He tells him that all the families of the earth will be blessed through him;

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you

And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 

I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:2-4

Later on Isaac in turn blessed his two sons Jacob and Esau. From Abraham's lineage the nations of the earth will be blessed. I want to look at Esau's blessing.

Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

“Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,

And of the dew of heaven from above.

By your sword you shall live,

And you shall serve your brother;

And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,

That you shall break his yoke from your neck. Genesis 27:39-40

There are many who believe that Esau was given the wrong blessing. He was given the blessing of the first born. The first born is the one that has to handle the family affairs. He is in charge of keeping the family. I know about this, I am the first born to my father. There is a lot of responsibility that naturally falls on the first born. His blessing is then reflective of this. Jacob got the blessing that was intended for him;

And the Lord said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23-24

From the start God said that the older will serve the younger. Keep in mind that God is all seeing and all knowing. The blessing that was meant for Esau was given to Esau. Even though Jacob could not accept this and Isaac was an innocent party to it.  

Often in my life, actually all of my life, I felt like I had to fight for everything that I have. Every step of the way was a fight down. Nothing in my life came easy. I did not even have family praying for me when I was born. The point of course is that I felt like Jacob.

As I am the first born I felt a huge responsibility to take care of my siblings. As the solitaire or the only Christian in my family there was a spiritual responsibility too. I felt like I was serving my family. I would not give that up but at some point the weight gets to be heavy. I was at the age of 45 years when I was able to let go and travel overseas for more than four weeks.  

I had a realisation that I could let go and trust God. I felt that I needed to start focusing more on myself. As the blessing goes, if you want to throw off the yoke then you can. This is re-inforced in Luke 4:18;

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

By answering your calling in Christ you are freed. If you want to take the yoke of your life ask God to anoint you to fulfil His purpose for you. Do not let anyone else determine your purpose. Let us learn from Jesus Himself;

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38

Jesus was anointed with power to do works for God. To bring salvation and deliverance and healing to others. In fulfilling your purpose you are helping others to break the yokes upon them in Jesus name. All the families of the earth can be blessed just as God told Abraham.

I pray the blessings of God overflow in your life today. I pray that you ask God to take the yoke of from you and you are able to fulfil your purpose in Jesus name.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.

 

POWER TO CREATE

In 2017 I read a book The Fourth Dimension by Pastor Paul Yonggi Cho. It impacted my life a lot. I did not like reading books about the Bible. I preferred to read the Bible. The fact that I am a slow reader does not help either. 

There is a passage that I found very hard to understand. 

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? John 10:34

I am sure there is only one God. I could not be a God. Little or otherwise. As I read I understood that I have the power to create in me. That power came from God's breath in me;

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

Unfortunately it took the church a long time to understand that we have  the power of God through the breath He gave us. People struggle with this. But there are many unsaved who have already come to understand this. They use this power to do works that look like miracles. They access the power of God but do not give Him the credit.

As a Christian we have power given to us and we have authority. Authority comes from Jesus; 

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthian 3:16

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:6

Authority through Christ sets us apart. Because we are saved, God dwells in us. He gives us permission to use the name of Jesus to ask anything; 

You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will remain--so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. John 15:16

The fruit we bear are the works we do in Jesus name. It is to give credit to Him. We glorify His name. 

When we have a meeting to attend we pray. We have power to control that meeting. Before you enter the room, ask God to enter the room in front of you. Ask Him to take control of the meeting. Ask that His will be done and state your case to Him. Command the atmosphere and how the meeting should go in Jesus name.

Be careful that you do not manipulate. That is different. You are speaking to God and using authority in Christ. See it the way He would see it or want it. Keep this as your context. 

I pray that you learn to use the power and authority you have in Jesus name. I pray you learn to see things the way God sees it in Jesus name.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.

  

 

DELIVERANCE

In my country there is something called a spirit of heaviness. Not to be mixed up with a suicide spirit. Nor a spirit of depression. What it does, is roams and while a person sleeps it lies down on them pressing them down. The victim feels like it is impossible to move or cry out for help. Immobilised and helpless. 

The solution is simple. Identify when it is coming. It usually has an atmosphere of fear around it. I became very sensitive to its presence after falling victim to it a number of times. As I learnt more about the victory I have in Christ, I learnt to ignore it. 

Not give it power over me. Often times I would feel it by my windows looking in at me. That is when I would turn my back to it and close my eyes and pray. I am not saying ignore it, I am saying deal with it. But not in fear. We should fear nothing and no one but God.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

Life throws many tough situations at us. Sometimes, we face things we did not think we would have to. Many times we deal with situations we do not understand. We may not know the cause of the situation. 

I have learnt that it is best to get to the root of the problem. I have learnt that to deal with something I have to stop it from happening again. Be honest and call it by the name. You do not have to be politically correct in prayer. Here are some steps that may help:

• Keep asking why until you reach the root of the problem
• Pray and call it by name, call out the root problem by name. Rebuke it in Jesus name
• Ask God to give you wisdom and understanding in dealing with it
• Observe the environment that allowed it to happen e.g. I would feel the fear in the atmosphere when the spirit was near
• Do not be fearful, instead lay it at God's feet, believe that God is bigger. Expect to see God handle it.
• Cut off everything that the problem feeds on to get bigger, do not allow it to grow or escalate

Every time you see the symptoms starting to come together for the situation to re-occur stop it. It will try to come back like a reoccurring nightmare. Do not give it room. We learn from the parables.

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished.

Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. Matthew 12:43-45

It will leave and come back. You have to recognise it when it is coming. Trust God and rebuke it again in Jesus name. Every time it tries to come back cut it off. Most importantly when you clean it out of your life, fill the space with Jesus.

I pray you put Jesus in every part of your life. I pray you have courage to face your enemies in Jesus name. 

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.

  

 

USE THE POWER IN YOU

    Sometimes we are so used to a situation that we accept it. We forget that we have the power of God in us. I had a conversation with someone, lets call her Ayana. Ayana was mature and knew The Lord for many years.  While speaking to Ayana I felt like I hit a stonewall. She was saying the things that I would expect a young rebellious person to say; 

I am going to enjoy my life, 

God is not the way we preach about Him, 

God would want me to live and enjoy my life.

It should have been easy for me an ex-sunday school teacher to handle. But I could not get over the feeling I had during the conversation. The devil was speaking boldly to me through my friend. 

He was daring me to say something about it. Calling me out to do something. And I felt choked. But I recognised that Ayana had allowed the cares of the world to replace Jesus the King in her heart. I knew that it was like the parable of the sower;

and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Mark 4:19

I reached out to my friend Zee. I explained how I felt when I spoke to Ayana. Zee is married and has been serving God for many years in active ministry. She told me that she felt the same way when she spoke to someone in particular. Her advice was to deal with it directly;

• Recognise it was the demonic spirit speaking through the person. Not the person speaking.
• Tell it to get out in Jesus name, Out, in Jesus name

You would be surprised how calmly the person accepts the command and the conversation comes back to normal. It is not strange to hear a Christian say, I rebuke that in Jesus name. Even in normal conversation. Deliver the person you are speaking to by simply working it into the conversation.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

I pray that you have opportunity and strength to exercise the power of God in you. I pray that your relationship with God is an adventure of discovery of Him in Jesus name.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.