Monday 7 August 2017

8 Characteristics of Believers Who Don’t Give Up in the Battle


Living for Christ is hard—sometimes so hard that we’re tempted to wonder if it’s worth the sacrifice. It is, of course, but difficulties sometimes cloud that truth. Based on my years of studying spiritual warfare, here are characteristics of believers who don’t give up in the battle:
  1. They’re solidly connected to a local church. That is, they don’t just attend a church; they participate in it. They’re involved in a small group, and they serve in some capacity. They’re living for something other than themselves.
  2. They have a devotional life, even if it’s not perfect. They might be struggling with consistency, but they’re working at it. They make time to read the Bible and pray.
  3. They have somebody to walk with them. They don’t fight the battle alone, because they have a Christian brother or sister who stands with them. They share their burdens and their struggles—which always lightens the load a bit.
  4. They choose to believe what the Bible says. Even when they may not “feel” like it’s true, they make the choice to trust Bible truths like “I will not leave you or forsake you” (Heb. 13:5) and “greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
  5. They rehearse God’s care in the past. It’s easy to forget yesterday’s blessings when today’s hard, but those who don’t give up fight hard to avoid that error. They continually remind themselves, “God has never let me down in the past. He won’t now, either.”
  6. They trust that when they are weak, God is their strength (2 Cor. 12:10). They may not like the battle, but they learn from the apostle Paul’s prior experience. Weakness doesn’t bother them, for they know God’s power is most evident when they are weakest.
  7. They understand the witness of faithfulness in the battle. They recognize that somebody’s always watching them—and that their witness is most potent when life is hard and their faith is stretched. Their faithfulness in the valley catches the attention of the watching world.
  8. They cry out to God. There’s no pretense in their praying. They sugarcoat none of their words, and they follow no formula in their prayers. They know God’s big enough to handle their questions and their pain. He is, you know…
 
 

Friday 4 August 2017

to believe or not to believe

Know this...


....to believe is a decision


[to forgive is an instruction, not an emotion - you decide to be obedient and forgive. Dealing with the bitterness, the pain and rejection is a journey on its own.

Same with having faith... God said He gave us enough faith... its up to you whether you believe it or not...]

hoe lyk jou getuienis

Hoe goed, hoe mooi is dit as broers eensgesind saam woon! Dit is soos reukolie wat van die kop af in die baard afloop, die baard van Aäron, af tot by die soom van sy klere. Psalm 133:1-2 NAV
 
Die Skrif gebruik die beelde van die Heilige Gees om die seën en salwing op sulke verhoudings te beskryf: dis soos die wydingsolie wat oor Aäron uitgegiet is, om hom vir die Here af te sonder, soos die dou van Hermonberg wat op Sion val. So ‘n salwing – en die eenheid en vrede wat daaruit spruit – is egter ook ‘n gevolg van ons eie Geesvervuldheid: ons liefde, geduld, vriendelikheid, vergifnis, ons begrip.
 
 **As die olie van die Heilige Gees ons gedagtes verander het, vloei dit af oor ons hart en verander ons gevoelens; dit gaan sit in ons klere en word deel van ons gedrag en benat dan die grond om ons as ons getuienis**
 
Dis my en jou taak om só onder die Heilige Gees se invloed te wees! Dan sal ons verhoudings ook mooi wees…
Here, vul my met U Gees! Seën ons met U eenheid en vrede, met U liefde. Amen.