wonderful presence

Today I had an amazing encounter with Jesus at church. I have been feeling stressed and a little out of it as we have relocated to Melbourne (which you can read about on my other blog http://4maze.wordpress.com )
There is nothing better than being in His presence and this morning we sang a song that had lyrics that said,
“In His presence, all fear is gone
In His presence
In His presence, is where I belong,
In His presence.”
I truly felt the presence of God wrapping us up in love and grace in this season. At one point in the meeting I clearly sensed a huge angel standing in front of the children and I in a protective manner. Then I began to notice gold and silver dust on my hands. My 13 year old son shifted over to me and held out his hands – they too were covered and it was such a sign and a wonder to him.
I felt God tell me today that He was going to provide miraculously for us this week and as I thanked Him I felt all fear disappear. True to His word, before I had even left church, someone had handed me an envelope that contained a blessing that would indeed provide for us this week.
I want to encourage you that God knows our very needs and is so passionate about us, that He provides in the most amazing and unusual ways. Truly He is a wonderful God.

Thankful

I can’t believe that 2009 is almost over and that we are heading into 2010. There is so much that I am thankful for that has happened this year.
My precious Jesus has kept us as a family and revealed His grace to us like never before and for that alone I will always be thankful. There have been times this year where I have thought I can’t go on anymore and the desire to make radical and rash changes has been uppermost in my mind, then He has come to me and showed me His love, grace and to be patient.
He has restored my worth and value – not by my function or role, but by giving me reveletion of being His daughter and loved just because I am…
I am thankful that we have had secure jobs in a difficult economy worlwide. I am in awe of His provision to us as a family.
I am thankful for my beautiful family who stick together through thick and thin.
I am grateful for the people who have inspired me this year – friends who have shown me what it is to really love others and make a difference in this world.
I am grateful to my family and friends who have supported us through the tough times, never judging us but extending love unconditionally.
I am thankful that He is leading us into a new and fresh season – a relocation and change that is both exciting but daunting too.
Mostly I am so thankful that He rescued me from religion and showed me the kingdom and its power through an encounter that leaves me wanting more of Him. I look forward to 2010.

Stepping out

Ever since I have felt God pouring out His glory on us as a family, I have had greater boldness to step out in awkward situations at work. Although I don’t know whether the colleague I gave the handkerchief to (see previous post) just thought I was some religious nut or believed and used the cloth I am not sure, but it has increased my faith and I am still believing that her husband will be radically healed. Another colleague’s father has been in hospital after a stroke and I have been able to encourage her and assure her that I am praying for him. Each day I have been declaring healing for these men and thanking God for it.
I realise that when we are kingdom minded and not just church focussed that there are a million opportunities each day to be a blessing in the world. This may sound obvious, but really I got so caught up in building the church that I forgot why we are actually here.

God’s kingdom is invading the earth in ever increasing glory and it is the most exciting wonderful thing ever!!

What an amazing week…

What a feast we have had this week – first with Jason Westerfield on Sunday, followed by Jeff Jansen. I feel totally energized and filled with the Spirit after all this. Yesterday I was worshipping at my keyboard after work. I was just playing a few songs when the presence of God filled the room and I began shaking as I was playing. Eventually I stopped playing and just pressed the replay button of my music I had been recording. I was so touched by God that I couldn’t stop shaking. Eventually I had to lie down and worship because the presence was so strong and tangible. Hubby came home to find me lying on the carpet, drunk in the Spirit and full of the joy of the Lord.

During the evening meeting at Jeff Jansen, God gave me a picture during worship of an eagle flying. It was in great detail – I could see its strong wings as it soared and then I could see its face as though it were focused on something. Its eyes were sharp and ready. I was so encouraged because Jeff mentioned the eagle a couple of times after I had this picture and how God wants us to rise up on wings of eagles.
We ended the meeting with a fire tunnel where the fire of God baptised us as we passed through. People were falling as they entered under the power of God. Again I could hardly stand and I felt as though electrical power was surging through me.

Whoever thinks church is boring and tedious clearly has not experienced the power and love of God. Being in His presence and experiencing Him is vital to keep our passion alive!!!!

Miracles

Yesterday was an amazing day – so much happened that I believe God was at work in an incredible way. At work I had a half hour free because the child I work with had to go for a doctor’s appointment. As a result I ended up chatting to his teacher and she opened up and shared with me how her husband is so ill. After asking a few questions she told me he has a tumour and that there is no more the doctors can do for him. I told her that I would pray for him as I believe that God can do amazing things.

As I was driving home from work I felt a burden to pray for them. I knew that I was going to be going to a Jeff Jansen meeting that evening and I really had a sense that he was going to pray for miracles. I felt God impress upon me very strongly to take a cloth or handkerchief to the meeting to let Jeff pray over it.
In my hurry to get to the meeting and in organising the kids I forgot to take anything so I asked the church secretary to organise something for me when I got to church.

The meeting began and the worship was sweet and beautiful. Eventually Jeff began to say that God was going to do miracles and he felt it was going to be cancers and tumours especially that God would heal. Well I was over the moon. He began to minister and an opportunity for the hanky never came up. Just when I thought it was all winding down he said that God had told him that afternoon that he was going to do unusual miracles.
He read Acts 19:11 which says, “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.”

I felt ecstatic. Jeff had phoned the secretary just before he arrived at the venue to minister and asked her to organise a whole heap of cloths to pray over. He prayed for the anointing to be in the cloth and then invited everyone to get a cloth. As I was near the back I thought I would not get a cloth, but I was determined to have one. I was like a mad woman at a clothes sale and I almost leaped over chairs to get to the front. It was incredible to me how God spoke to me about this and then spoke to Jeff Jansen the same thing.

Today I went in to work and told this teacher everything that had happened and I encouraged her to really believe that God had used the circumstances to bring a miracle to them. She was more than happy to take the cloth home to her husband and I am believing that very soon there will be an amazing testimony of God’s healing power reported here on this blog.

God is so good – He knows who we need to touch and what is good for them and us. I feel that all the circumstances that unfolded yesterday were orchestrated by God to bring glory to Him. God is good all the time!!

Glory!!!

What a morning in church!! We started our morning meeting as usual at 9:30am and we finally left church at 2pm when hunger got the best of us and our kids could not wait any longer. Jason Westerfield ministered and truly the kingdom of heaven invaded us. I found it so refreshing to have ministry that was so fresh, full of the Spirit and supernatural at the same time with not one ounce of religion at all. Those who are religious in heart and spirit would have struggled or been offended, but oh the liberty and freedom and even more so the fruit, would have to speak volumes.
The time has come for the church to stop limiting our awesome creator to our little minds and parameters of thinking.
People need to look at the fruit – people were healed, touched, full of joy – now that sounds just like the kingdom of heaven invading earth don’t you think?
E13 has been finding church really tedious the last few months – in fact he wouldn’t even come if we didn’t insist. A month and a half ago we had a friend lay hands on him in one of the meetings and God’s power and glory came and God spoke directly to him. Today he chose to enter in and seek God and he stayed right through the meeting pressing in for more of God. This really excites me because our youth recognise that there should be power, signs and wonders for those who follow Jesus. I am very expectant for God to touch our next generation powerfully.

The Hand of God through Us

I have been inspired by two great ladies I know. They both have a passion for others and especially those who live in poverty. One of them is in the process of getting ready to relocate to India with her family (All 8 of them!!)to be a blessing and to make a difference, and the other has been storing donated medical supplies in her garage, ready to be shipped to Zimbabwe. These are ordinary women who homeschool their children and keep their homes, but they have extraordinary hearts and have attempted extraordinary things for God.

Each of us can make a difference right now where we are. I have discovered that it is very easy to become complacent to the poor when you are not confronted with it. When we lived in South Africa, poverty was obvious to us – people who lived in makeshift houses of corrugated iron and cardboard and suffered diseases that could be  treated. The church has ample opportunity to work and make a difference. But in First World Countries where we have life so comfortable and poverty is not right there in your face, it is easy to forget and carry on with our church agendas as though nothing is wrong.

I don’t see how we can usher the kingdom in fully, if we don’t address injustice to many people and poverty. Jesus did not travel around looking for people to save. He travelled and ministered to their needs, powerfully and supernaturally and with miracles, signs and wonders and as a result of being touched by Him, they followed Him. We spend so much time trying to get visitors to our church to get them saved, when we should be getting out to where people are desperate and we should be displaying his miraculous power and provision.

Here are some photos of a trip to India that is happening as we speak where our friends  have reached out into communities and God has done miraculous things. They are seeing club feet healed, cataracts disappear, tumours shrivel, lame walk and so much more and as a result of God’s fantastic grace and love, many have been saved.This burns in my heart and is something I want to be part of.

Celebration

The other day I saw this video at a friend’s house. I absolutely loved it because it looked like so much fun. A wedding should be a celebration of all that is dreamed of and  of things that are to come. It is a moment in one’s life where it is making a covenant with the love of your life, and although this is very serious, it is the most joyful event that takes place.

We are Christ’s bride, and I hope that our wedding feast will be just as much fun as this wedding. I can imagine Jesus being excited about us, just as this groom was, and don’t you love how she dances down the aisle to him and how he meets her half way? Really a great wedding and reminds me of the joy in his kingdom. Enjoy the video.

Exciting Times

I haven’t posted for a while as I have been having a really relaxing holiday and truth be told I have been very busy with other things. We are looking forward to some phenomenal ministry coming to our church in the next few weeks, and I am very expectant. In the next week we have Jason Westerfield preaching, followed by three days of Jeff Jansen ministering. I think we are in for a treat and a glory invasion like never before.

Hubby and I are enjoying God’s favour and presence in our lives. We are still having diamond dust and gold dust on our hands throughout our day and even our children are getting gold on them. Our little guy A3 was covered a little while ago when we were worshipping. He wasn’t even participating but he was running around playing while we sang. His hands, shirt and neck were covered in gold – how cool is that!!! Friends of ours are having similar experiences in their home and she had a little chuckle when she heard A3 and her 4 year old asking each other whether they had any gold today and they were checking out their hands. How gorgeous is that when our tots are expectant for signs, wonders and miracles.

I think more and more in this journey I am realising that worship and intimacy with Him is a key to unlocking the kingdom and for the glory to break in. We are living in exciting times and it seems to me that God’s glory is breaking  into His church all over the world.

Make a Difference

Yesterday morning we were woken up with a txt message from a friend telling us that New Zealand was on a tsunami warning alert after a big earthquake near Samoa. We listened to the news but didn’t get too much information other than to stay away from the beaches and keep to high ground. Fortunately it was low tide in New Zealand and so when water came in it caused only a little damage to some boats and nothing else.

Watching the news over the last day has shown us how these beautiful islands have been ravaged and how precious lives have been affected and lost. God has been stirring hubby and my heart for awhile now about being relevant to a desperate world out there.

We have led and established churches from scratch and what we built has lasted and is doing well, but we have felt that as people representing God on this earth, we need to see His kingdom come through our lives in greater measure.

Jesus did not come primarily to save people, but to set captives free, to bind up the broken hearted and to heal people. He never placed their worth and importance in whether they were  believers, but he touched every person and they followed him as a result. This is what we are being challenged in. The church  (and I am generalising here I know) needs to get its head out of the sand and begin impacting the world around it. So many organisations have had to develop because the church is not touching and reaching out as it should.

I love it when I hear of churches sending supplies to poor nations, supporting orphanages or  providing help to the abused and so on. Every church should have some area they are helping the needy and desperate.

This is where we are being challenged as a family – God is stirring our hearts for those that are desperate, but as yet we are not sure where to work and where doors are to open for us. We plan to try and make a trip to India in the near future to support and co-labour with friends who work into an orphanage there. I would love to help by showing love for those who need it and praying for others to be healed. So please pray for us that God will show us where to go and what to do, and may we start with the little things right here at home in the meantime.

For now we pray for every family in Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga and Sumatra who have been devastated by tsunami’s and earthquakes. May God send people across their paths who love and genuinly care for them.