Job 10:12

Human beings are made up of body, soul and spirit. Whereas our soul is linked to our heart, our spirit is linked to our minds.

Unlike what most people think God does not speak to us through our hearts, as the Word of God is neutralised by emotion. But rather He appeals to our intellect.

Therefore one of the most important things for any christian is to ensure that they have a sober mind. Yes it’s important that we keep our hearts clean, we have good eyes but all of these things first begin as thoughts in our mind which are then manifested as bad eyes etc.

When my spirit is well, know that my mind is also strong. As there is a clear and uninterrupted connection between me and God. As a consequence such things as mentioned above are unable to fester and grow, as they are a sign of a weak spirit. A weak connection with God.

When you meditate and delve into the Word of God, you notice one thing – that God has absolutely no pleasure in losing anyone. He’ll do whatever it takes to preserve the lives of those who are His and those He is calling to become one of His very own.

In saying this, He will do whatever it takes. Even if He has to allow us to cross the driest deserts, walk through the hottest furnace and cross the deepest storm. He doesn’t hesitate because He knows the end result will surpass all our expectations.

Gods care isn’t characterised by the “care” of this world. His care is often harsh. A rebuke, difficulties and a situation that feels as if it is tearing us apart. But in doing so He aims to lead us to Him, to humility and total dependence on Him, and with this care He is able to preserve our spirit.

In other words, He allows the difficulties to allow us to maintain having a strong and firm mind. To being fixed and focused on Him, and Him alone. As God speaks to us in our minds, His Spirit is able to connect with our spirit. It’s important we are always well in our minds because then and only then can, and will we be capable of maintaining a solid communion with Him.

You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit. Job 10:12 NKJV

The Secret Place – Part 2

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall find protection; His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall. Psalms 91:4 MEV

“His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall.”

A shield and a wall are both forms of protection. Protection is needed when and only when there is a chance of harm or being put in danger.

In Biblical times a shield or a buckler was a small round shield that was held by a handle at arms length, which were used specifically to protect one from blows. In Biblical times you would often find cities that were surrounded by walls. These walls were built thick and strong, as a form of protection against enemy invasion.

Faithfulness is a quality. Gods faithfulness is able to protect me as the above verse states, because it is declaring that a quality of God is that He is faithful. In other words He cannot fail. It’s impossible for God to not fulfil His promises in the lives of His servants.

Therefore this quality protects us. And how does this apply to The Secret Place? In our difficulties and intimate moments with Him we make way for this quality that God possesses to become a reality.

But yet why do some experience Gods faithfulness and others don’t? Why do some see the hands of God and promises of God fulfilled in their lives and others never do? Because there is a lack of those intimate moments with God.

God can only be faithful to those who are His, and those who are His are those He knows … personally. And for God to know you personally it requires visiting The Secret Place. A place in which we unveil who we are to God with absolutely no reserve. Where we uncover even the ugliest things and allow Him to work in us to change us.

No one sees this process, no one knows when you’re truly visiting The Secret Place. Anyone can pray, everyone goes through the desert but not everyone has the courage to go to The Secret Place.

If you ever wonder why some people can go through the worst situations and come out a million times better? Or how some people just always bounce back? It’s because they’ve placed themselves in a position where Gods quality of being undeniably faithful can protect them. In the desert God has a plan to strengthen us but Satan also has a plan to confuse and disorientate us (like the children of Israel), but when you are someone who visits The Secret Place His faithfulness protects you from all attacks of the devil. From all plans of Satan. You only blossom and grow.

I was watching Nothing To Lose on Netflix (an excellent film I recommend you watch) and when you see the struggles Bishop Edir Macedo faced you literally see the embodiment of this verse. Gods faithfulness was his protection.

The Secret Place

The Secret Place

What if I told you I had a secret place? A place where I go when I’m afraid, frustrated, angry, upset, worried and so much more…

A place that no one can enter, even if they wanted to. Where no one can invade.

It’s a place where I can never be judged or made to feel as an outsider, a place of love and great care. Where the One I meet there directs me, moulds me, hears me and speaks to me.

It doesn’t matter how I feel that day, or what the issue is He hears every word I say. As soon as my knees hit the ground everything just disappears. It’s as if it’s just me and Him. The pain of that day cannot touch me, doubts cannot enter.

It’s where I express myself and I can go as far as saying it’s where I am most free to be me. This is a place where I can never be judged and I am always understood.

I wanted this blog post to be dedicated to God. All are really, there’s nothing I write without His guidance but I wanted this blog post specifically to highlight how important He is to me.

This Secret Place is an essential part of any Christians day to day life. It’s where we kneel before the throne of God and He gives us what we need in that moment. A place where we are able to express ourselves but yet humble ourselves to allow our King to reign freely over our lives.

The moment I or any of us stop humbling ourselves before God, accessing this Secret Place it will be the start of our downfall. That’s the moment a person can become proud and no longer sees a need for God, and His direction. When we stop entering this Secret Place we can become weaker, distant … as it’s where we are able to draw strength daily.

You are left to feel as though you are without direction, or guidance. It’s not because God has left your side but because you’ve forgotten the importance of the Secret Place. The place where you have free access to God. Where you speak and He listens, and He responds – with His Word, strengthening-empowering you.

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall find protection; His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall. Psalms 91:4 MEV

This verse for me speaks volumes it higlights that God always takes care of His own, however it is our duty to seek to have a deeper level of intimacy. When I choose to make His presence my dwelling place I am protected from everything and anything that tries to come to weaken or attack me and my faith.

I find protection in my communion with God. Why? How? Because those intimate moments define who you are. And if you’re 100% sure of who you are before God, what can sway you? Who can shake you? Or cause you to doubt yourself?

Doing It Like a Queen – Discernment

She had great wisdom to know how to handle any situation.
When I initially read this statement, a few things came to mind. We could easily speak about the way we deal with people… but as I thought deeper though all these things are equally important one thing did come to mind.

Knowing when to fight and when to wait .

Thinking deeply about Queen Esther and the decision she made she knew exactly how to do this. A bit of context on her story – Queen Esther found herself in a situation where she was physically speaking the only one who could save her people, and with this she took a massive step. She placed herself not only in a difficult situation, but the decision she made to confront the King about the planned massacre, if rejected would cost her her life (Read Esther).

We may never face a situation such as that of Queen Esther, but we too have our own battles and we must know how to judge each situation. When it is the time to go before God in purpose and fight for what we want, and when it’s a moment of humility and we must trust in our God.

Each situation brings about different requirements of how it should be dealt with, and we have to have wisdom to know what each situation is demanding from us.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is fight and do purposes of faith, to try to gain what we want with our own strength in hope that we will successfully “shake Gods throne” and make sense of what we are being faced with. At times it’s easier to recite Bible verses, and believe that “this fight is the Lords…” when in truth the situation requires an act of faith.

“Okay, I get it Peniel, but how do I know what to do?” Simple, seek Gods guidance. Ask Him what He would have you do in that situation. If necessary He will inspire you with a purpose of faith, or He will encourage you to invest in other things and persevere in faith or He may even be silent. Baring in mind His silence isn’t a free pass for us to just do what we think is best. In those moments of silence continue to seek, and He will guide your every step – How? Through His Word of course. What has He been saying to you recently? What is the Word He has been allowing to play in your mind? That’s what He wants you to focus on.

You must understand that If now is a moment to allow God to act, this does not mean you are not in faith or even not revolted. It just means that that is what God requires from you in this moment. It’s so important we get this right, because getting this wrong can lead to frustration, anxiety and even malice towards God.

One of the hardest things to do when you’re far from God is to posses the ability to discern – to truly understand what He wants you to do. There will be times in life where you will need to distance yourself from everything and everyone, cancel out everyone’s opinions and stop to listen to what God is saying. That separation from everything that distracts you, and takes away from what God is showing you is at times necessary. The only way to be able to discern what God expects of us in different situations is when we are close to Him. The closer we are, the clearer His voice is and the more we discern when He is speaking.

Seek for Gods direction in everything, and He will show you what you must do in every moment in your life. You’ll hear Him loud and clear. Until next time …

Journey to Mount Sinai

 

Today I was thinking about the children of Israel.

Firstly, a bit of background on this Biblical story. The children of Israel were Gods special people, generated from His Promise to Abraham. There was a period in which a drought was coming, so they were invited by the Egyptians as guests to stay in Egypt, however they soon out stayed their visit and out of fear of their growing numbers… the Egyptians made them (the Israelite’s) their slaves. They remained slaves for 430 years. Until God sent Moses to set His people free when they cried out to Him.

Today I was just thinking to myself, God isn’t a “spontaneous” God, I believe He always has a plan. When He sent Moses to go and set His people free, His intention was always to take them to the promise land. They asked to be set free, and God wanted to do that and more! And with us I believe its the same. Wherever God has taken us from, whatever was our Egypt it didn’t just end there… there’s so much more God wants to do in my life than what He has managed to do up to this point. Gods vision for our lives is so much greater than we think, but to obtain this vision and for it to be realised in our lives something is needed…….

I’ll leave it there for now, lets think deeper on the above and next blog post  I’ll be back with more!

What Growth Looks Like Vs What Growth Really Is

From the outside growth looks like success, the achievement of goals and a person moving forwards spiritually and physically. An example of spiritual being gaining responsibility and physical doing well financially/in education, love life etc..

As physical beings we tend to pay more attention to the physical things, in this case how things look from the outset. But, the truth is that growth, whether spiritual or physical, starts within. It comes with the daily struggles, the battles against doubts, negative thoughts and even the old you. Because It’s in these moments where our faith is put to the test, where it is exercised. It is in these moments in which we discover who we really are, and get to know ourselves, where we find exactly where we stand with God and we rely on him and his direction more than ever as we are humbled by the pressure. All things we see on the outside of are a manifestation of growth, a reflection of the ‘behind the scenes’ and what no one else sees. The real growth isn’t just in what we achieve physically – this just reflects its – but rather in what happens inside of us.

I know this because I am living it, and the last year and a bit has not been easy but it’s been a journey, a journey where I am finding myself and learning to know myself. A journey where I am learning the importance of self belief and holding onto your dreams, despite the odds. So believe me when I tell you if you are in a similar situation there is nothing wrong with you… this is simply what growth and maturity looks like.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up Galatians 6:9

 

The Book Of Ruth – The Beauty that Comes From Within

Now Ruth was living with Naomi and within a short period of time she met Boaz (Read Ruth 2).

What caught Boaz’s attention about Ruth is that she left everything her country, her people and everything she knew to go to a place where she would be a foreigner.

“There is beauty in trusting.”

What drew Boaz’s attention was her trust in God and that he would provide. She followed Naomi blindly! Leaving behind everything she knew, stability and certainty of food, comfort and even a place to sleep. To go to a place she did not know without knowledge of what her new conditions would be.

“This kind of woman is a gem.”

This makes me think of Rebekah (Read Genesis 24). How could Isaac know this woman was the right person for him? She did exactly what Ruth did.

“She left what was certain, for what was uncertain.”

For a woman to leave her family and everything to marry the son of a relative who had upped and disappeared many years ago was beautiful for Isaac… her trust in God made her beautiful.

“As a servant of God this is the same, constantly leaving the certain for the uncertain – never questioning simply obeying.”

Both women I’m sure we’re physically beautiful – as so are many women – but what caused them to stand out from the others and even increased their beauty (because what was within was also extremely beautiful) was their obedience and trust. One of the things we admire in children is trust, they don’t question or doubt they simply follow and act upon our instructions …and this is how we must be with God.

So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.
Ruth 2:10-11 NKJV