Fighting for our Hearts' desires

Sometimes it’s so easy to back down and hide away from all your troubles. We think that God wants us to just accept this fate and have faith that He will change things. And yes, He will overcome all our troubles, but I am starting to realise that there is more to it than just acceptance.  He seeks your heart and wants to give us all that we desire. So what if God doesn't just want us to be passive and to just try and cope with everything that is happening in our lives? Maybe He wants us to shout out and ask Him for advice. He wants us to pray to be recovered. Right NOW! Not to just wait and learn to cope with the misfortunes that come our way, but to first ask Him if we should FIGHT BACK and listen to His reply! God wants you to turn to him to find strength. 

I heard a sermon at church by Ps. Charles Niemand about King David in 1 Samuel 30.

David and his men arrived back to their camp site to find everything completely destroyed by the Amalekites. Not only did they burn down all their houses and steal all their possessions, but they took away their wives and children with them. The bible says that David and the men were so distraught that “they wept until they could weep no more.”  After this, the men started to become bitter and David saw that he would be in danger. But instead of accepting his fate and giving in to his grief, David found strength in the Lord his God. 

Then he asked God whether or not he should go after the band of raiders and whether he would catch them. And the Lord answered and told him YES he would catch them and that he would recover everything that was taken from him. So he went out and it was exactly as the Lord had said.

I feel that this message is so important in my life right now because for far too long I have been trying to cope with everything myself, and all that I have wanted from God was peace and understanding. I have been trying so hard to change myself to be better adapted to handle all these things but I still feel as if I keep coming short of that. And this then leads to me feeling inadequate and as if I am not good enough.

But I've finally realised that it is time to seek STRENGTH from the Lord, and to be RECOVERED! In this very moment I want to be different. And not on a physical level, but deep down in my spirit, I want to be renewed and I want to FIGHT for God’s will to be done, and to achieve all the desires that God has placed in my heart. 

God can only do so much for us. He gave us the the power of choice and the right to have our own opinions. So now we have to believe that with Him we are greater than without Him, and that He is equipping us to better handle the obstacles in our path, and to unite His nations for His glory. 

Praise be to God, forever and ever!

Having faith gives us a future

The message in church on Sunday was about faith. Below is just a few notes and my understanding.

Pastor Phil Dooley of Hillsong Church Cape Town.

"You may not know what the future holds, but you know who holds your future."


Faith is so powerful.

Hebrews 11v1:
To have faith, is to be sure of the things we hope for and to be certain of the things we cannot see.

Faith is trusting in God. It is not just striving, but pressing forward and trusting God that as I live for Him, He will provide. God is big enough to handle what is going on in our lives. He will come to meet you. Always. God believes in each one of us.

As long as you welcome Jesus with an open heart, then He can use you.

Faith is seeing something that is not there YET.
Faith is believing something that has not happened YET.
Faith is thanking God for something that hasn't happened YET.
"YET" is a faith word. It says that it is still possible.

To build faith, you have to go back to the word of God.

Hebrews 11v6
"It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who comes to Him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek Him."
To grow your faith:

1. Speak in faith

Sometimes God places things on your heart that you may not understand, but have faith and follow that instinct. That inner voice that guides you when you are quiet enough to hear it. Share His word at every chance that you get.

2. See faith

Start to see what God has planned for your future.

If you keep seeing only the obstacles, the things blocking your way, you won't be able to see the everything that God has planned for your future. Imagine it. Dreams it. And believe that it will come true.

3. Thank God in faith

Before it has even happened. Thank God now and believe that it is still coming. Trust that God has perfect timing. And our timing is usually a little off course. So thank Him now, for God has a grand plan. And He can make all things possible.

***

Throughout the message pastor Phil shared a few stories with us and they were truly magnificent to hear. Its always so inspirational and moving to hear and see how God is working in different people's lives. Nothing is too small or too big for Him. And the Lord loves us all equally. It always amazes me to see how different everyone around me in church is. This is one of the things I love most, God doesn't judge us on who we are. Because He made us all individually, each and every one of us is different.

Jeremiah 1v5
" I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."

No matter where you are, and no matter who you are, He will find you.

Free weekend!!!

After every module, we get a weekend off. This means, no guilty feelings about the huge amount of studying that we still have to do. It is free of all stress and we can just enjoy doing whatever we like, granted that you don’t keep worrying about how badly the last test went…  

Usually I don’t have a problem putting tests behind me once I finish… I mean, there is no point worrying about things that you can’t change, right? I just have to wait and see if I have high enough marks to write the exam…..

There is truly no way to escape stress around here! BUT, on the bright side, I’m just really happy to finally have that module over and done with.  I just want to get this whole year over with as quickly as possible! And it won’t be long before final exams are here. I have 2 more modules left. They are shorter than the previous ones, though it doesn’t mean that they will be any less work…

Big Sigh…..

But, I have been having a nice weekend. Nothing exciting has happened, but it’s been good and restful.

I donated blood on Friday, a couple of hours after the test. It wasn’t really the best idea, given that I was tired and I felt a little weak afterwards. But I wanted to donate this time. The blood drive service doesn’t come around very often, and previously my Iron levels had been a little too low to be able to donate.  But this time, everything was good to go. I’ve done it many times before, but for some reason, this time; I was thinking about the blood flowing out of my tiny veins that will one day be of use to someone that needs it.

Saturday, I went to church in the morning. There was this Sisterhood service, for woman and children of all ages. It was wonderful to be there and the message was truly powerful. The church was almost bursting at its seams because it was so full! And there was hardly any place to sit! It was honestly amazing to see so many women gathered there with a few guys serving and welcoming us all in as we queued up outside.

Just the people queued up outside, waiting to find space inside the church!

All in all, it has been a good weekend. I hope that everyone, or anyone, out there reading this has had a good weekend too. Feel free to send me an email or comment anytime on anything. 

Happy Sunday! J