Doing It Like A Queen – She was humble

She gave credit where credit was due

“(…) for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NKJV

For months I’ll be honest I’ve been raking my mind with this quality, trying to figure out how this relates to me and what God wanted me to speak about…

Humility is one of the most important characteristics in any servant of God. If you have the intention to go far, better yet to go until the end then humility is a necessity.

It’s not even about being able to take criticism or even show gratitude to others or God. Rather it’s the humility that derives from having a continuous and complete dependence on God, a humility where you acknowledge that alone you are incapable.

It’s when you don’t wait for situations to come and humble you, but rather you seek for ways and reasons to humble yourself before God delay. It’s an understanding that defies all sense of pride and destroys all self righteousness.

How? Because you continuously place your self in a position in which you remind yourself that any “good” or “admirable” thing in you comes from God, because prior to finding Him you had little to none of these “amazing” characteristics you now have… if not any.

Often those who struggle with humility are those who do not seek to humble themselves. It is my duty – for the sake of my own soul – to do this daily. To never lose the dependence I have on God.

Queen Esther understood the importance of having this quality, though she was athe Queen she did not depend on her status or position as the Kings wife to protect her (Read the book of Esther). Rather she depended solely on God when she exclaimed the infamous words “If I perish, I perish!” In other words whether she would rise out of the situation or die in it, wouldn’t be down to her own abilities. Her life was fully in the hands of God, she depended on Him.

“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Esther 4:16 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.

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 …

Doing It Like a Queen – We’re back!

A few years ago I started a blog series, but it’s very much incomplete. Recently I’ve been thinking about my blog and the purpose behind why I started it – honestly nothing changed and therefore I’m back :). With the same intention – sharing with you my thoughts and growing together.

Doing it like a queen is based on some of the characteristics I found, that were portrayed by Queen Esther in the Bible. Far from perfect she was, but even in the most difficult of circumstances she shone and today we can learn from her. Below you can find some of the blog posts already written for this series and I’ll be continuing where we left off.

Join me on this journey…

1. She accepted what she believed in no matter what the consequences.
2. She knew when to ask for help
3. She made sure her physical appearance was good
4. She knew how to submit to authority
5. She trusted in the authority of others
6. She had great wisdom to know how to handle any situation
7. She gave credit where credit was due
8. When she asked for something, it had great purpose
9. She was wise enough to understand the whole matter before responding
10. She realised God’s timing
11. She knew God’s warning even when it came out of the mouth of someone else
12. She had courage
13. She required those closest to her to be just like her – she wasn’t friends with just anyone!
14. Everything she did was for God to show his power
15. She knew how to wait for the right moment to speak
16. She chose her words wisely
17. Her reward was great but she did not mind passing on her blessing
18. She kept going and kept pushing for what she wanted!
19. She knew how to speak sweet words to her husband to make him feel like a king
20. She knew that after you have done all you can do then the Lord will handle the rest
21. She fought for what she believed in

I’ve highlighted in purple the things that really stood out for me, what characteristics stand out for you?

2019 – The refining process

Setbacks are opportunities for God to propel you into who and where He wants you to be.

Sometimes we think that because things seem to be going in the opposite direction to what we planned, or because we’ve been setback that now we are “at the back of the queue.”

No! That’s when you are at the front of the queue, because it’s in the difficulties and setbacks of life where God is watching you most. Where He is observing your every move. Your attitude towards your problem, and current situation. That’s what changes everything.

When we choose to make the most of every situation we face in life with FAITH and total dependence on God… when we comeback from those “setbacks” we will find ourselves even further ahead and better off than where we were before, because we choose to make the most of the situation with God.

The God you serve is a God who loves to use setbacks, these are the moments where He shows Himself strongest in our lives – if we allow Him to. The moments that shape us and change us for the better if we allow them to. These are the precious moments that change everything, the moments we never forget.

Wherever you are in life at this current moment in time, even if it feels as if you’ve taken 10 steps back. Continue to look ahead, sometimes the best way to fast track ahead to who and where we want to be, is by being put in a position where we have no other choice but to cling to God… and grow. It’s at our lowest that we seek God the most, and those moments spent on our knees before Him is when He can orchestrate the work He’s been wanting to do within us for the longest time.

No matter what remain in faith. However long or quick it takes, if you remain FAITHful He too will be faithful to you too.

The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him. Psalm 37:23 NIV

“But who do you say that I am?”

It was a simple question that Jesus asked His disciples, yet those words carried so much weight. So much so that that question has been on my mind the last 3 days.

Today Jesus is asking me and you the same question – “Who do you say that I am?”

Its one thing to verbalise who I think or believe Jesus to be, and its another thing to show it. It doesn’t matter how deep my belief in Him is if when things aren’t going to plan, I’m so worried, afraid or doubtful that I allow my situation to get to me. In other words – Jesus doesn’t just want us to say who we believe Him to be, He wants us to show it. And this happens when we choose to trust Him rather than panic. When we choose dependence over independence, and fight the urge to act recklessly and take matters into our own hands.

We don’t really answer this question when everything is rosy and going according to our plans, we answer this question through our choices and reactions when everything is seemingly “falling apart” or things are “taking too long.”

This revelation isn’t to make us feel bad or even correct us. The solution is simple – in moments of difficulty, when life just isn’t doing what you’d like life to do (lol), or you feel there are delays left, right and centre allow Jesus to be who you say He is. Don’t try and do a “quick fix”, don’t speed the process or take the lead. In fact take a step back and allow Him to live up to all your expectations, let Him be who you say He is. And you’ll see things soon work out perfectly – maybe not as you imagined, but even better.

“I’m still here!”

We are human.

Why am I starting my first post in months like this? Sometimes things don’t go to plan or how we would have expected them to go. We face battles, difficulties, shed our fair share of tears and just when we are about to cross the finish line desire to maybe just give up!

This happens when we focus more on what we’ve been through – the shame we’ve felt, the pain we’ve felt – rather than the simple fact that we’re still here, we’re still standing!

Yes, the last year has not been easy for me but one thing God is reminding me and you today, is okay maybe you may feel afraid, you faced a lot and don’t know what the future holds… but please even if it’s just for a second look in the mirror and smile and say “I’m still here!” Despite all you’ve been through and faced everyday you still wake up, you still push…. you’re still trying! And know God sees that!

 

God is the kind of person that when it seems like He’s not working… that’s when He’s working the most! Keep doing your part – all you can do and watch Him surprise you!

 

On that note, here’s the link to the song that inspired me and this blog post:

Journey to Mount Sinai – part 2

Reading about Moses lately has left me wondering what qualifies a person to be chosen by God. Moses doubted a lot, more than you would expect one of the greatest leaders to ever walk this Earth to doubt (Read Exodus  4  ). But despite this I believe Moses’ problem wasn’t that he thought God couldn’t or that the task ahead was impossible for God, but rather God couldn’t through him.

But Moses did something that often we find hard to do – he exposed himself to God, or better yet unmasked himself. He didn’t hide his fears, doubts or lack of self belief and consequently without realising it he was making himself even more qualified to be used by God to set the children of Israel free. He stood on the mountain the place of sacrifice as he exposed himself, and sacrificed himself.

So now think with me, how many times do we not doubt God and what He can do, but rather what He can do through us? How many times do we allow ourselves to doubt before even giving God a chance to work through and even in us?

If you are fearful, if you are afraid, if things are getting harder and you want to give up… expose that to God. Tell Him, make Him aware of what is happening within you, because when we do this we also open a door for Him to remove these fears. We open a door for Him to exchange those doubts for certainty. And even more through our humbleness we become qualified to be used by Him.

Moses was not perfect, nor was he brave and courageous to begin with. Don’t get me wrong he was strong (as many of us are), but he was not yet strong enough…. yet even that he didn’t hide from God.

I am more like Moses than I ever thought I was, but just like Moses if I am fearful, afraid, lacking faith, unable to see past Egypt (obstacles) I must make my voice heard to God, and as I make my journey to the top of Mount Sinai bit by bit sacrifice these emotions – as did Moses.

 

The Dream and Trust

This last month for me is probably different from what this last month means to others.

For me December, the last few days of 2015 represent totally and completely trusting God; believing he is working. Relying on him completely. Trusting that even if I enter a new year without the answer I want, it will come.

To be honest, that’s the secret. Have you ever noticed that every time you saw results its because you trusted and were reliant on God but you also did one other thing. You didn’t question him. You simply minded your own business!

You did what you had to do and trusted God, and left God do what he had to do. Right now that’s what I’m doing. Is it easy?? Of course not, is minding our own business ever easy???

However, its a learning process and I know that the less I interfere in Gods work the sooner he can work, and I can have what I want – Its a win win situation really.