The Father’s Love:

I’ve been feeling a bit despondent at times lately and the other night I read a chapter from Jo.seph Prin.ce’s latest book “The Po.wer of Rig.ht Belie.ving” on the Father’s love and that got me thinking…

I remembered one instance last year when they asked at G-force’s creche that we send them to school in their slippers on a specific day, as part of their holiday program. Only problem was that he did not own any slippers, and it was in the time that DH was unemployed, and to be honest G-force did not really need slippers since he wore onesies to bed and they all had feet on, so his feet were always warm and covered.

So I contemplated sending him to school with normal shoes and to just ignore the request. I mean he was 1.5 years old, surely he would not notice the difference? But then I thought, “What if he does notice and he feels like the odd one out?”

You see the thought of my little boy feeling out was just too much to bear, and I realized that I would rather go without food, than have his little heart unhappy. So I went to a few shops to look for slippers to see how much they were and one day I saw a cute pair of Spider man slippers on sale for R20 (that is less than $2), and that settled the matter for me, I bought them immediately! Thankfully I got them so cheap I did not have to go without food, but I was totally willing to sacrifice that just to keep my little boy happy.

***

Another time last year they wanted to have a picnic at the creche. I told DH about it and he said that I must buy extra things to put into the picnic basket (he was employed by then, so the cost was not such a big factor anymore), because we realized that many parents often forget such things and he was concerned that some of the little kids won’t be able to participate in the picnic. So I put in 6 tubs of yogurt, a whole string of packets of crisps, a big pack of sweets, a whole packet of cookies, etc. There was enough in there to feed at least 6 kids. When I told the teacher she was glad, because there were parents that forgot to bring the picnic baskets, and at the end of the day the basket was completely empty.

On Valentine’s Day this year they decided to have a picnic again, and I misunderstood the letter they sent home. There was a Valentine’s dinner at night which we weren’t going to and I thought the picnic was for the kids at the dinner, but it wasn’t – the picnic was during school time. So when I dropped G-force off at the creche and when the teacher asked where his picnic basket was, was when I only realized my mistake. The teacher ensured me it was OK; they would give him something from one of the other kid’s picnic baskets.

At first I thought that it’s not a problem, there is probably another mommy who did what I did the previous year and there would be plenty for G-force. But it kept bothering me and I realized that I had an unopened little juice box in the fridge, some crisps, sweets and some fruit in the house (this time only 1 of each) and I quickly put it all in a basket and took it to the creche. I got there just after 9h00 and the receptionist told me that they were just starting, so she quickly took it outside to G-force.

That afternoon when I went to pick up G-force the receptionist told me that when she got outside G-force was sitting there with just 1 little sweetie in his hand and looking not too happy, but when she came running and shouting; “Here is G-force’s picnic basket”, his little face just lit up. Well that had me in tears immediately! Just the thought that my little baby almost missed out on an enjoyable picnic, because I had made a mistake was just too much for me. I was so glad that I changed my mind and rushed to get his picnic basket to the creche. The receptionist was also in tears when she told me the story by the way…

***

Now for my last story of G-force: A few months ago there was a helicopter that flew over the area where we live and G-force’s school for quite a few hours. It started around 7h00 when I was getting G-force ready for school, and he asked me what it was that was making the noise. When we got outside I showed him the helicopter, and he asked me a few times what it was and I repeated the word “helicopter” every time he asked. I forgot about the incident and didn’t think about it again for about a week.

Then suddenly one afternoon when we got home, G-force pointed to an aeroplane in the sky (we live close to an airport so there are lots of aeroplanes to see here) and he called it a helicopter. I corrected him and told him it’s an aeroplane. For the next couple of days he pointed out a lot of aeroplanes and called them all helicopters.

The next Saturday DH went to watch rugby at a single friend’s house and since G-force was a bit sick I decided to stay at home with him and let DH go out and enjoy himself. G-force kept talking about a helicopter and asked to see one, but I was at a loss. How can I show him a helicopter? Then I remembered that I can go on to the internet with my phone and show him pictures and videos of helicopters. He was so happy!

So now we have a 2 year old who is obsessed with helicopters. He gets so excited if he sees one, but we don’t often see them in real life here. DH bought him a toy helicopter and he remembered he had a simple little remote control helicopter that he bought for himself years ago. G-force absolutely loves to play with both, and he can fly the remote control helicopter all by himself already.

The other night DH and I were talking about how much G-force loves helicopters and we both agreed that it would make him so happy to see a helicopter up close. We talked about how we would go to great lengths to treat our little guy by taking him to a helicopter and ideally we would love to be able to let him fly in one, but we don’t know where or how to do that. DH has spoken to a pilot he knows already, but he couldn’t help him since he works in a different field at the moment and doesn’t know any helicopter pilots. But we haven’t given up on the idea to somehow make G-force’s wildest imaginations come true.

He has never asked us to take him to one, or to let him fly in one, but we just know that is one of the things that would really, really make him happy, and to be able to treat our little boy and see him happy makes us happy. So we will try our very best to at least get him close to a real helicopter.

***

So when I read about the father’s love for us, I thought back to the above instances, and how much our little boy’s happiness and well being was of utmost importance to me. How just the thought of him being unhappy could get me in tears, and how much I’m willing to sacrifice for him, no matter what the cost.

And that made me think of the following verses:

Luke 11:11-13 (NIV):
11“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[a] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

It says here that we cannot compare as parents, to our Father in heaven. We think we may be good parents and treat our children well, and give them what they want or need, but how much more will our Father in heaven give us!

I know I am not a perfect parent – far from it. I think some of it can be seen in my stories above. I forget, or we don’t always have the resources to help, I make mistakes, I get tired and sometimes cranky, but thankfully our Daddy God is not at all like I am.

He has unlimited resources, He does not make mistakes, He does not forget, He is always there for us, and always willing to help us, also so much more than we can ever think or dream off.

Let me tell you, when I thought about all of this, I was in tears again…

I want to finish with this: To really know how much our Heavenly Father loves us, we need to know how much he sacrificed for us. He loves us so much that he gave his only Son, Jesus Christ, to be punished for all the sins and inequities of the whole world for all time. Jesus suffered terribly; he gave up EVERYTHING, for us. But you know what? He still would have made the sacrifice for you, if you were the only person on earth…

THAT IS HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU!

Let me tell you, I certainly cannot even think to sacrifice my son for anybody else. Not even 1 person, never mind all of humanity (and thankfully we will not ever have to do that!).

Now don’t you think that if my little boy’s desires and happiness is so important to me, how much more is your happiness and your desires to our Heavenly Father!

I must say that night I felt very miserable. I had a head cold and I was not looking forward to going to bed, even though I was so tired because G-force had been waking a lot during the night again, because every time I laid down I had trouble breathing. Well this night I actually slept quite well. I can’t really remember if G-force slept through or maybe woke up once, but it was a lot better than the previous nights, but the best was that the next morning my head cold was so much better! All in all it took about 2 days to be fully healed and I did not take any medication! That is only by meditating on how much our Heavenly Father loves us!

The next night I was nursing G-force in his room just before bed time and I looked at his sweet content little face and I thanked God for this wonderful little boy of ours. I thought back to the revelation of His love for me, and I just prayed out loud: “Father, you know the deepest desires of my heart and you know how much I want another precious baby just like this one. Thank you that you love me so much that my desires are very important to you, and that Jesus has already made provision for our next baby. I just know our next baby is on its way, thank you Lord!”

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Our Future is so bright; we’ve got to wear shades!

Gosh, it has been a while since I’ve blogged! I’m concentrating more on the Bible studies lately, and I must say it’s taking a lot more time to do each Bible study than I thought, but it has blessed me incredibly! Who would have thought that just refreshing your mind with truths you already know will bless one so much! It’s good to spend time in God’s Word and it is really good for one’s soul!

Studying God’s word has also helped me to see a couple of things differently. While I’ve been studying the Covenants, how graceful the Lord is and that our sins are not imputed on to us anymore, it’s helped me to realize that none of God’s blessings is dependent on me or my performance. All the blessings are pure grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) and it all depends only on Jesus’ performance at Calvary, and since His performance was perfect and it is finished, whatever I do or don’t do will not affect God’s grace towards me.

How freeing is that! All the pressure I had put on myself is suddenly all gone! I am free now to worship God and thank Jesus for His wonderful sacrifice and relax about all the things that bother or worry me. It feels like I am walking on clouds, I feel like singing and dancing and rejoicing all day, because God is sooooooo good! For some reason I keep thinking, “Our future is so bright, we’ve got to wear shades!” 😉

Then 2 days ago I got this daily devotional from Jo.seph Prin.ce in my inbox and it just confirmed all that the Holy Spirit has been showing me lately:

“Song of Solomon 4:7:  You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.”

“Sometimes, when we don’t receive our healing, breakthrough, restoration or miracle child, we can’t help but think that something is wrong with us. We tell ourselves, “Nothing’s wrong with God, nothing’s wrong with the Word, so something must be wrong with me!” My friend, if you think that your miracle depends on you, then you are on shaky ground.

In the old covenant, we see this “it’s all up to me” demand put on man. God’s part was to bless His people, but only if they played their part by obeying all of His laws. If they didn’t do their part, not only would they not be blessed, but the curse would also come on them.

Most of the time, they ended up under the curse because they just could not keep all of God’s laws. So God found fault with that covenant because though He wanted to bless man, man’s sins made it difficult for Him to do so. Man himself was the weak link.

In the new covenant, man has no part to play except to believe and receive. The new covenant of grace was cut between God the Father and God the Son—both infallible and more than able to keep the covenant.

God the Son is man’s representative. Jesus represents you and me. So in this covenant, how much we can receive from God depends on how good our representative is, how perfect His obedience is. Of course, Jesus is the perfect Man with perfect obedience. So in Him, we are qualified to receive all the blessings of God! We only need to believe and receive.

Jesus’ blood has been shed for the remission of all your sins. You are now the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) By His one perfect sacrifice, He has perfected you forever. (Hebrews 10:14, KJV) There is no spot in you!

Today, the devil has no right to tell you that you cannot be blessed because there is something wrong with you. So as you are waiting for your miracle, say, “Nothing’s wrong with God, nothing’s wrong with the Word and nothing’s wrong with me! I am going to receive my miracle!”

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The Divine Exchange:

This is only part of (Sermon # 176 Part 1 of 3) Why you can expect good things to happen to you, by Jo.seph Prin.ce:

“Today I want to share with you something that is a culmination of all that we have heard the past few months.  What is the attitude that we ought to have?  If God has made us righteous through Jesus’ blood, what is the attitude we ought to have?

What is our lot in life?  Since Adam fell, the consequences of the fall, the effects of Adam’s sin, has brought in all the D’s, you know, destruction, disease, death, depression…  It’s come upon men, now, man is you and I, the ground we stand on is called cursed ground, it’s like there is a cloud over your head and it’s raining all the time.  You know, everywhere he goes, the rain follows him…  It’s like he is always under depression.

What happened was that God loved us so much, that God could not leave us in this state, of death…  God sent His Son Jesus.  What was the purpose of sending Jesus?  No listen carefully, God sent Jesus to take our place – what does that mean?  That is actually half the gospel – Many places we are only hearing half the gospel.  In my previous church I heard for many years only half the gospel – how Jesus died for my sins, how Jesus came as my redeemer, as my saviour, but the Bible says that when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, God brought them out to bring them in.   God didn’t bring them out to wander in the wilderness.  God brought them out of bondage to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey.  Many believers are out but they are not in…They are wondering, wandering in the wilderness…  So, they are not here, nor there…

This is half the gospel – that Jesus took our place – the other half is this:  that God put everything that you deserve – now if we stop right now… There is no end to what you and I deserve, we can say that depression, failure, poverty, curse, everything…  Because of Adam’s sin and our sin, everything that you and I deserve, Jesus came to take.  The other half is – all that Jesus deserves – you take…

In a covenant it is called an exchange – where the two parties will take each other’s place.  This is what happens in a covenant, Jesus takes our place and we take Jesus’ place, now listen carefully, now you are no more on cursed ground.

This is what happened to Jesus at the cross:  All that you deserve, Jesus became, and God did not even spare His Son, because if He (Jesus) took our place He had to suffer like a sinner, He had to die and He never sinned – he never was a sinner.  So God gave Jesus everything that you deserve – did Jesus become sin because he sinned?  Did you become righteous because you did righteous deeds?  No!  How did Jesus become sin?  He received our sin – how did you and I become righteous?  We received His righteousness.

Christianity is not what you renounce or what you do, because all of this still speak of self… It is not what you renounce or what you do, Christianity is what you receive…   Salvation begins when you receive.  Christian life is continued by receiving.

Now, what happens is this:  Many Christians are on Jesus’ ground, favoured ground, grace ground, the light shines on you, while darkness fell on Jesus…  God turned His back on Jesus, so that God can face you and never leave you or forsake you, in the countenance of God is life and light forever more and His presence is joy.  The Bible tells us in the Old Testament that the back of God is the curse, in fact there is a verse that says sickness, and inflammation is behind Him, I think it tells you that in the book of Job.  So God turned His back and Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He cried this so that you and I know that he was forsaken at the time, and He called His Father for the first time, “My God.”   He never called Him, “My God,”  it was always, “My Father,”  so that you and I can call God, “Father…”

The divine exchange took place – this is how much God loves you and me.  God loves us so much that God gave Jesus to take everything that we have, but don’t forget that is half of it, so that we can take everything that He has and that He deserve.  Now because of what Jesus has done, listen carefully, you and I, we are on grace ground…  Are you supposed to bow your head, look depressed, look sad, and expect bad things to happen?  No!  If you still expect bad things to happen, if you are still depressed, if you still act like God doesn’t love you, doesn’t care for you, you are actually pushing away all that Jesus did for you.  You are still saying that, “I am the old person,” when actually the divine exchange took place, and this is where most Christians are missing it.  Most Christians miss it right here!  They look at Jesus and say, “O, Jesus you died for my sins, O, Jesus you are my saviour, O, Jesus you are so good, so lovely…”  But then they do not know what has happened to them.

They are standing on grace ground, where ever you go is favoured ground, you can be walking with a colleague, side by side at the workplace, but the guy is on cursed ground and you are on favoured ground, and the favour of God is with you everywhere you go.  So God told me to tell you this, He wants you to have this attitude towards life, even this coming week, there is a word that He is going to give you in a while’s time, but the main thing is this, He wants you to face life believing that everything that Jesus deserves, you will get.  It will be good for you to take time, today if you can, to take time to think, “If God really treats me the way that He treats Jesus, what can I expect to face this week?”  You know, you and I, we do not know what is going to happen, we can say, Pastor Prin.ce no one knows what is going to happen in the future.  Correct!  But I can tell you my future; I will get whatever Jesus deserves.  This week I will get whatever Jesus deserves…  “Are you saying that there will be no trouble in your life?”  No, even when trouble comes, because Jesus deserves deliverance from trouble, peace in the midst of trouble, I will get that.

“Pastor Prince, I don’t think you are that smart to receive this kind of success, this kind of church success and your career success…”  You know what, I agree 101% with you, but you know what?  It’s not what I deserve, it’s what Jesus deserves.  Do you think Jesus deserves this kind of success?  Well, he gives me what He deserves…

So once you think like that, once you focus like that, the devil has nothing on you.  The devil wants you to focus on what you deserve, do you understand?  You see this is the word God told me to give you, write it down somewhere, you know the things of God are simple but powerful, this is what God said;  “Tell the people, expect good things to them, not because they deserve it, but because I love them.”  Once again, “Expect good things to happen to you, not because you deserve it, but because God loves you.”

You see if you think you deserve it because today you are extra holy, allright, you gave money to the poor or you went to do some charitable work or you got involved with more work in church or whatever…  You think you are extra holy, you know something, the devil will find something wrong and he will pull that little string and the whole thing will unravel.  But…  You say that; “It’s not because I deserve it that I expect good thing to happen this week, it’s because Jesus loves me…  God loves me,” you know what?  The devil has nothing to pull, when it’s God’s love in your life.  Amen?  Praise the Lord!”

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The Price Was Too High:

Remember this post?  Well, it seems that the Holy Spirit just won’t let me stop thinking about this.  I think so often on how easy it is to fall back into unbelief and even though I know the scriptures and the promises in the Bible, if one doesn’t meditate on them and speak them out loud every day, even frequently a day, it’s so easy to just start to doubt if it will happen.  Yesterday, when I was giving myself a bit of a pep talk, I just “got it” again, and I want to share this with you, so that hopefully other people will also “get it” whether it is for the first time or a reminder just like I had to get again.

I think a lot of people have trouble believing that a lot of the scriptures in the Bible are promises for them.  I know for a long time I thought that one just cannot claim a specific scripture for yourself.  I thought that God’s will was different for every individual.  For example:  I thought that it was God’s will for some people to have children and that it was also his will for other people to never have children, and that we would never know on this earth why He would will it for some and not for others.

Then one day I started to learn the truth.  That God’s will is the same for every person on earth, and that God only wants all that is good for all of us, and that He wants to give us the desires of our hearts (if they are good desires off course).  I learnt that God has no favourites, and that it is not a case of that some people are getting blessings and others don’t. (Acts 10:34 (NIV): “³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism.” Romans 2:11 (NIV): “¹¹ For God does not show favouritism.”)  God treats us all the same and He wants to give all of us the same blessings.  If I got fewer blessings than others it was not God’s fault, because He made it all available to me, but the problem was with me for not receiving it.

When God speaks there is incredible power in His words.  For example – In Genesis we see that God spoke everything into creation.  Genesis 1:3, 6, 9 (AMP):  “³ And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.  ⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament [the expanse of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below] from the waters [above].  ⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected into one place [of standing], and let the dry land appear. And it was so.” 

All it took was God’s words and everything in the whole cosmos was created.  And not only that but God’s Words cannot return to Him void, (Isaiah 55:11 (KJV): “¹¹So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”) and that means that once God has said it, it cannot go back to Him until everything is accomplished of what it had to accomplish.  (To get a better understanding of this read this post.)  So for instance if the Bible says in Exodus 23:26 (NIV):  “²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span,” then God’s word cannot return to Him until there is no more infertility or miscarriages on this earth. 

Then there is the importance of the covenants in the Bible.  They were like binding contracts, but those contracts were made by the spilling of blood.  In the Old Testament there is an example of one where God made a covenant with Abraham.

Genesis 15: 1-12 & 17-21 (NIV): “God’s Covenant With Abram: ¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ² But Abram said, O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? ³ And Abram said, You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir. ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. ⁵ He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars— if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷ He also said to him, I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it. ⁸ But Abram said, O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it?

⁹ So the LORD said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. ¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking brazier with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Abraham had trouble believing the promises of God so the fourth time God promised him an heir and land God made a covenant with him, and the way to do it was by cutting animals in half and arranging them opposite each other on the ground.  That was the custom of the day, but the custom was for the lesser, or younger party to walk between the sacrificed animals and to do that meant that the person was willing to be cut in half, just like the animals, if he could not keep his part of the covenant.  In this case God was the one who moved in between the animals, even though he was NOT the lesser party, just so that Abraham could believe that His promise would come to pass.  Well, we know off course that God’s promises all came true and that Abraham was richly blessed not only with his promised son, but also other children, lots of land and incredible wealth. 

Galatians 3: 6-9 (NIV): “⁶ Consider Abraham: He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. ⁷ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you. ⁹ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Paul says here that everybody that believes in God is a child of Abraham, and because we believe we will be blessed just like Abraham.  But do you know what?  We have something that is even better than the blessings of Abraham, even though they are awesome enough as it is.

We have the New Covenant that God made with us.  How did he make this Covenant?  By giving His Son, Jesus Christ, as the sacrifice, by shedding the precious blood of Jesus, so that we can believe His promises for us.  Now think on this.  If Abraham was so richly blessed because of the covenant that God made with him, and there the sacrifice was a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove and a pigeon, how much more shouldn’t we be blessed because HE GAVE HIS SON – JESUS CHRIST as the sacrifice, as a promise that He will keep His word.

I remember, every time when I read the story where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, I thought – how can he do that?  He waited so long for his son, but even if he never waited, it must be impossible to give up your child!  Now that we have baby G, I still cannot fathom how Abraham could have gone out, ready to sacrifice his son.  To think what God did for us is so much more than what He asked of Abraham, because Jesus 1. WAS sacrificed and 2. the full wrath of God, all the punishment for every human being of all time, came down on Him.

Yesterday I realized that Jesus’ sacrifice was too high.  God gave more than what was necessary, so that we can have his promise, better than a promise, a covenant, a contract, bought with the blood of Jesus, that He will keep His Word, and that we will get what He promised us.  There is no reason why God would not want to give all His promises to us.  The price was too high!  Just try to imagine – He gave up everything for us, why wouldn’t He then give us all He has promised?  Imagine if you had to make a huge sacrifice for someone and for some reason that person did not receive what you gave them?  You certainly would not want to with hold whatever you were going to give, after you’ve already made that huge sacrifice!

Can you see how much God loves you? How much He has sacrificed for you?

Please understand God wants you to have every single promise He has made in His word.  I want to post some more posts in the next few weeks that explain how we are made righteous in God’s eyes, even though it might not feel that way and that we may think we don’t deserve His blessings, that God is gracious towards us, and that means that we get undeserved, unmerited favour from Him, and how to actually receive from God.

I hope this will bless someone.

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Miracle anniversary:

Exactly 2 years ago we received our miracle. I cannot tell you how it felt when I saw that very feint second line on the pregnancy test. I tested 4 days early and there it was – the positive we’ve been dreaming of for 11.5 years! I remember the very first thing that went through my mind was, Thank you Lord! Then I burst out in tears of gratitude. Then I felt shivers go up and down my spine because I realized this is it! This is the moment where we receive what we have been hoping, praying and believing for. One of the best days of my life, let me tell you – the first day I knew we received our miracle…

Even now I am still in awe of God’s grace and how good He is to us. How much He has blessed us and especially how much He has blessed baby G.

God is so good! Hallelujah! Thank you Lord! All the praise and all the glory must all go to our almighty Lord!

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What a Wonderful, Glorious day!

Why is this a wonderful, glorious day?  To quote the angel who brought the message of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds:  Luke 2:10-14  (KJV):  “¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself, gave up His Godliness so that we can participate in all the benefits of the atonement.  What are those benefits?

1.   Financial prosperity:  2 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV) says that, “⁹For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
2.   Healing:  1 Peter 2:24 (KJV), it says, “²⁴Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” And Matthew 8:16 -17 (KJV) it says, “¹⁶When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: ¹⁷That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”
3.   Deliverance from demonic oppression, depression and evil:  Galatians 1:4 (KJV) that says that Jesus “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,”
4.  And last but not least, salvation and the forgiveness of our sins:  Romans 5:8-10 (KJV) “⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  ⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  ¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Please know that all of this was freely given by Jesus, we can accept it or reject it.  It is available already – the full price was paid a long time ago.  God loves us so much that He gave His only Son, so why don’t you accept what He has sacrificed Himself for?

All of this was done, because God loves us so much:  Romans 8:31-39 (KJV):  “³¹What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?  ³²He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  ³³Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.  ³⁴Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.  ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  ³⁶As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  ³⁷Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  ³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Merry Christmas to all, I wish all the blessings of God upon you over this Christmas time and for the new year of 2012!

With love from, Marion, DH, little baby, Shumi, KT and Nandi!

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We have so much to be grateful for:

Even before I got pregnant I knew that we have a lot to be grateful for, but since getting pregnant I am just so much more aware of all the things I’m grateful for, and I’m not lying to you, but my prayer life has changed to mostly praising God and thanking Him for all the blessings we receive from Him.

Every single day I thank God for our pregnancy and our baby. I cannot tell you how much I love being pregnant, and to feel our little boy kick, how much I love him already and how much I’m looking forward to meeting him. Last week at the water birth class there was one lady that said she absolutely hates being pregnant and she is so glad it’s almost over. I can honestly say that I don’t have that problem at all; as a matter of fact it is difficult for me to understand it, because it’s been such a wonderful time for me. I am so grateful that I’m not in her shoes…

Yes, I’ve had most of the symptoms and sometimes I didn’t feel well, or sometimes I have pain, but it doesn’t affect my joy. I still remember the constant nausea and fatigue of the first trimester, and I remember I wasn’t able to do much during that time, but I would willingly do it again and again, just for the joy of being pregnant. I know I’m going to miss being pregnant once our baby is born, but we will definitely try again!

I am also so grateful for the wonderful husband that I have. He is so attentive, and loving and interested in what’s going on in my body and with our baby, and he just loves to have his hands on my baby bump to feel our darling little boy move and kick.

I just know he will be an awesome, wonderful dad. A lot of the time I think he will be a better dad than I could even dream to be a mom. He just loves our nieces and nephews and he takes time to play with them every time we see them, and they absolutely adore him! I just cannot imagine how he will be with our boy – if he is so good with children that isn’t his, how wouldn’t he be with his own! I know he will not be a distant dad, or someone who’s job is more important than his kids, or more interested in his social life than his kids, I know he will make our little one the most important part of his life.

Then most importantly I am so grateful to God, for being there and helping me, guiding me, comforting me and blessing us so richly! We have had some really incredibly difficult years behind us and only when I turned to God, did it feel like I was able to cope, to overcome, to get hope and finally to have our dreams realized. And even now He is still there giving me strength, health and joy, even though we are still going through a difficult time.

The other day I realized that this has been the best and simultaneously the worst year ever. The best because I got pregnant with a healthy baby and we will give birth to him, but the worst because I had to lose my mom. But thanks to our Almighty Lord He is giving me strength and He is helping me to not just concentrate on the sadness, but still experience and enjoy all the wonderful stages of this pregnancy.

I am also incredibly grateful of how much I’ve grown spiritually, and that my idea, or concept of being a child of God, a Christian has changed. I see God so very different than even a year ago, I know Him so much better – I know He loves me unconditionally, that even if I disappoint Him, His love for me won’t change, and that He doesn’t want to punish me for every wrong thing I do – it’s not necessary anymore because the punishment has already been borne by Jesus. I have no more guilt and condemnation hanging over me, making me feel less of a Christian, or a bad person, because I’ve been made righteous by Jesus, and yes, I know I don’t deserve it, but it’s already been done, so I can just as well accept it! God wants me to receive it! And the same goes for everything else that’s been covered by the atonement. Like health and healing, deliverance from evil and prosperity.

The way I feel from day to day has changed – from being sad, and feeling lonely and that nobody understand my pain, to being happy, and joyous and expecting just good things to happen from now on. I cannot tell you what a burden has been lifted from me. God has changed me so much and I am so grateful! When I think of all these blessings, I just feel like bursting out in tears of happiness (and I often do)…

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How God works:

Very often when I speak to people I realize that most people including Christians don’t know God at all.  They have no idea what God’s will is and how it impacts them.  They believe lies about God, mostly because that is what they heard in church and from other Christians. 

So often I hear people say: “God is tempting me,” or “teaching me a lesson,” or “maybe it’s not God’s will for us not to be healed/not to have a baby,” or “God allowed it,” or stuff like that and I get so sad, because then I know that that person does not know God’s character. 

I have said this many times, and I guess I’ll have to say it many more times, but God does not punish us with sickness or infertility.  God does not give it to us to teach us a lesson, read this post if you’re not convinced by this post.  Yes, most often we do learn lessons from it, but that is us, not God doing it.   Most Christians still live under the old Covenant, and have no idea that they have a new Covenant with God or what that new Covenant entails – if you haven’t read it you can read more about it here.

To prove who God is I’m going to quote a bit from And.rew Wom.mack’s teaching:   Don’t limit God.

1.   God’s sovereignty:

“The normal doctrine in the church today is that God is almighty that He is sovereign and that nobody can limit God.  I’ll agree that God is sovereign if you would use the word sovereign the way that the dictionary defines it.  The dictionary says sovereign is first in rank, order or authority.  It would be like saying he is at the top of the food chain.  If you want to say that about God I agree 100%.  God is almighty, He is first in command, but to say that God chooses everything, controls everything and if your life is a mess God willed it – that is wrong. 

It always amazes me when I go to funerals.  People get up and say, “Well, we don’t know why God took this person.”  They just automatically make an assumption that when you die it’s because your number is up, and you can’t die unless it’s God’s will.  That is not so!  That is absolutely untrue!

Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV):  “¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

God does not want us to die!  He told us not to do it!  We ate from the tree and we were the ones who ushered in death! 

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV):  “¹⁴Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death— that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Jesus came to destroy him who had power over death and that is the devil.  It’s Satan who kills people!  Satan comes only to steal and kill and destroy! (John 10:10 (NIV)) But Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  God doesn’t control every person when they die!  God doesn’t control if babies are born deformed and things like that!  God isn’t the author of evil!  God is a good God! 

In the Old Testament there are examples of the wrath of God, but praise God the Bible makes it very clear that under the new Covenant we have been redeemed from the curse and Jesus is not the one who is putting problems on you!  It says in James 1:13-14 (NIV):  “¹³ When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”  God is not the author of evil, God is not doing these things and yet the church is saying this. 

God does not sovereignly rule your life like a chess piece and just determine what’s happening – you cannot blame God for the failures in your life.  God has a perfect plan for every single person’s life and if you are not seeing that plan fulfilled, if your life isn’t very exciting it’s not God’s fault.  If your life is not supernatural, your life is superficial.  If your life is not going good it’s not because God doesn’t have a plan for you, it’s because you are not co-operating.  You haven’t found out that plan, but I’m telling you that God doesn’t just sovereignly control your life and make it work out.  You have to pursue the things of God in order to receive it.

One of the reason people teach the doctrine of sovereignty is so that they can dodge all responsibility.  For ministers it’s really a convenient theology – You can pray for a person and if they die, well then, “Que sera, sera, what will be, will be.  “Well you don’t know why God took them; it must have been God’s will…”  You know what?  It saves you from having to deal with problems and reality and failure, so that is the reason it’s convenient. 

We can miss God’s will.  Now God can take anything and work it for good (Romans 8:28 (NIV):  “²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”), but God didn’t cause it, God doesn’t do it and yet God can work something awesome out of anything negative that the devil throws at you.

2.   God respects your free will:

God gave you a free will and he respects your free will. God is not going to force you to do anything.  You have to stir yourself up or you will sink to the bottom.  You’ll find that when Jesus came to the earth he said, “I’m meek and lovely.”  He had to be invited even when His disciples were drowning in Matt 14.

Matthew 14:25-32 (NIV):  “²⁵ During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.   ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. It’s a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear.   ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.  ²⁸ Lord, if it’s you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water.  ²⁹ Come, he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.  ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me!  ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. You of little faith, he said, why did you doubt?  ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.”

Jesus came walking on the water, you know the reason He was walking on the water was to save His disciples, but He made as though He would have walked past them.  He went and showed Himself to His disciples in the midst of the Sea of Galilee while they were drowning, and He didn’t come running up and say, “Hold on!  I’m coming,” and then saved them.  He came, showed Himself and they had to cry out and ask Him for help. 

Luke 24:28-29 (NIV):  “²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going further.   ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them.”

It’s the same when Jesus met the two on the road to Emmaus.  They had to invite Jesus to come in.    God wants you to invite Him in, that’s just the way He is – He doesn’t force Himself.  You’ve got the right to go to hell and He will defend your right – nobody can force you to choose God.  You have to invite Him in – you have to open up the door.

3.   God works through people:

Ephesians 3:20 (NIV):  “²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”

If you don’t have any power, any faith stirred up in the inside of you, if you aren’t believing God for anything then God cannot do exceedingly, abundantly above all you ask or think.  God has to flow through somebody.  God always uses a person; see again this goes against the whole teaching of the sovereignty of God.  That God just sovereignly moves.  There is no such thing as God moving independently of people.  God moves through people.  God always has to have a man or a woman, there has to be some person that God speaks through.  That’s why God raised up Moses – He had to speak through him. 

God gave authority over this earth to physical human beings and when God did that, it limited what God could do, because God Himself is a Spirit (John 4:24 (NIV):  “²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”)  God gave control of this physical earth to people with physical bodies (Genesis 1:26 (NIV):  “²⁶ Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”)  

That is the reason Jesus had to become a man, to come down here and deal with the devil.  He had to become a physical human being and Jesus allowed God to flow through Him in a way that put Satan in his place.  Now Satan is a de-fanged foe, he cannot do anything except gum you to death.  All he does is lie to us and intimidate us and Satan can’t do anything to you without your consent and co-operation.  The problem is we have been consenting and co-operating more than we should…

Some of you might be frustrated and think, “Well I sought the Lord and things didn’t work out.”  Well we have an enemy that comes against us.  We live in a fallen world.  This is going to be swimming upstream.  This is going to take more effort than floating downstream.  But I can promise you God is for you and if you co-operate God will reach you!”

We have to stop being passive and hope God will reach out to us and fix everything for us.  We have to take responsibility for our actions, we need to stop putting the blame on others and start acting upon God’s word and live according to His will.  The only way we can do that is to read the Bible and learn who God is, what He wants for us and what our responsibility is.  That is going to take work.  It is going to be more effort than just going to church once a week and being spoon-fed.  It takes time, but I have found so many rewards in doing this.  God has given me hope, He has given me a reason to live and He has healed me of many problems.  It is worth it, believe me!

I can also recommend that you read one more post I’ve written about who God is.

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Surrender all:

Once a month we have a street outreach in our town centre.  It’s a few people from different churches that come together and we go out and hand out Bibles and tracts.  I try to join them every month, but I manage to go about 10 times a year.  We went again this past Saturday.

One lady had a meaningful discussion with a young man who was hurt by “Christians” in the past.  This young man is exploring different religions at the moment, but not Christianity, so I get the feeling he is looking for some meaning in his life.  But he also admits that there are certain things he doesn’t want to give up, to become a Christian.  So he spoke to this lady, but he refused any tracts and a Bible.  That made me think back to certain times in my life.

I have said before that I grew up going to church and Sunday school.  We were also taught about Jesus Christ in School, and Bible study was one of our subjects.  It was one of the easy ones, one or 2 classes a week and it didn’t count for much on our report cards and it was also not compulsory (I remember some of my class mates were excused when their parents didn’t want them to attend).  So I had a strong Christian background and I certainly believed in God and Jesus Christ, but at best I think I was religious.  I certainly didn’t have a personal relationship with God. 

There were times when we went to church and there were times when we didn’t bother for years.  There was also a time where I almost never read my Bible or prayed.  In the really tough times I would go on my knees and pray to God, but as soon as things got better I would backslide again.  There was a time when I think I was mad at God.  I didn’t conciously think:  “I’m mad at God”, but I avoided praying, going to church and reading my Bible and I think I blamed God for the fact that I didn’t get pregnant.  I was also very bitter and jealous, especially when I heard stories of other people who got pregnant so easily, and sometimes I felt like they didn’t deserve it.  And off course that I deserved it more… 

After meeting some people who were Born again Christians with a personal relationship with God, and who were obviously Spirit filled, I decided that I also wanted whatever it was that they had.  So I started to seek God again.  I started to listen to church services on the radio, I started to read my Bible again and look for messages elsewhere.  But there was still something that held me back.  There was something that prevented me to surrender it all to God.  And I didn’t know what it was or why…

Eventually after our first IVF failed I had a total emotional breakdown.  I decided to start watching Christian programmes on TV.  I didn’t know who to watch so I just picked out programs where the name spoke to me.  That is where I started watching the programmes of Joy.ce Mey.er.  Eventually I felt that I was so “broken” that I had to surrender it all to God.  I could not go on without God, I just didn’t have any other options anymore.  I don’t know what it was that prevented me from giving my whole heart to God, maybe it was the thought of giving up sin in my life.  Not that I had any really bad habits that I had to give up.  Nothing like drugs or an affair or porn or anything like that, but more things like the thought that I was not allowed to lie anymore.  I wasn’t even such a terrible liar – but like most people I prefered the occasional “white lie”  in certain situations.  Other issues that bothered me were unforgiveness, and selfishness, I was very reluctant to let that go.  I think I thought that I could never sin again, and as soon as I did, I would be in big trouble.   And I didn’t think I would be able to go through life without sin, which is off course right, we can never do that! 

When I think back I know it was ignorance that prevented me – I didn’t know Who God is, I just thought I would be punished the moment I sinned again, as I was supposed to know better.  Today I’m so glad that I did surrender to God – it is so worth while and I cannot understand why I hesitated.  It is impossible to describe fully what God did for me.  He healed me emotionally, He gave me hope, He helped me, He gave me strength when I needed it and comfort when I needed it.  I was so depressed at one stage that I felt that I couldn’t go on living.  I was in a dark hole of despair and I saw no way out, yet God healed me of that depression completely!  Without any help from any doctors or any medication!  My quality of life is so much better, because I am a happier person, even through all the difficult times, or should I say especially in the difficult times. 

So when I heard this young man didn’t want to surrender his life to God, but that he was indeed searching for some divine guidance, it made me want to shake him and tell him what happened in my life.  But I didn’t speak to him, I only saw him from afar and today I’m sad that I missed the oppurtunity to speak to him…

After writing the above I saw this clip on God Tube – it’s about a man who died in a plane crash and what happened to him after he died and how he was miraculously brought back to life.  At the end Mick.ey Robin.son tells us his theory about why we don’t want to surrender it all to God.  He says he thinks it is fear and the fact that we feel we are not good enough…  So even though most of this clip is not about surrendering it all to God, it ends on that note, and that’s why I want to include it in this post.

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=DDDYLPNX

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How do I keep my faith?

Theresa asked in a comment that I should write a post about how I keep my faith.  I am more than happy to comply with that request as I also very often have questions about similar issues and it’s not always possible to ask other people those kinds of questions.   So I know the frustration of wanting to know something and not necessary getting your questions answered.  So I will try my best to answer it as honestly, openly and accurately as possible.

Let me first say this:  I don’t have any special kind of faith.  My faith is based on knowledge and relationship: knowing God, who He is and what He wants and can do for us.  Once you learn about God, His love for us, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it all means it gets easier to have faith and to trust in God.  So in times when I waiver I look for comfort and help in God’s Word.   I pray to God to help me and to show me the way.  Sometimes I get answers quickly and easily.  Sometimes I need to look for it for a few days.  Sometimes I get an answer before I really know I need it.  Like this past Sunday in church – the minister spoke about patience and when I heard the message I realised I really needed to hear about it that day, because I didn’t consciously notice I was getting impatient again…  Getting all this knowledge takes time.  I put in a lot of hours of study and it literally took me months before I realized that what I learnt was what I believed, and what came out when I waivered.  I wrote a post about it here if you want to read about it.

Another thing:  I do sometimes waiver in my faith – I’m not a strong person that just believes in God all the time.  I had a big crisis of faith a few months ago and I even blogged about it here.  I also learnt there is a difference between doubting and being tempted by the devil.  At first I thought I was thinking wrong thoughts.  Later I learnt that is was the devil tempting me.  He tries his best to get me to give up.  I realised it while I was watching the movie the Pas.sion of the Chri.st.  In the opening scene they show Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane and they have the devil next to Him whispering all kinds of temptations to Jesus.  You can read about it and watch a part of the movie in this post.  A lot of the time I thought I doubted God or His promises, but I didn’t.  It becomes doubt or sin when you act on it.  Not when you hear it.  So I try (I’m not always successful) to counter those temptations with statements that agree with God’s Word.  I don’t always quote scriptures.  I might say something like:  “I know God will make me pregnant,” or I might quote an exact scripture like:  Exodus 23:25-26 (NIV): “²⁵ Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, ²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.” I like to use this one a lot because it is general and applicable to me, but also to everyone that is sick like Shumi and my mom.

I must say God is faithful and He has given back to us.  I have seen and heard certain things that can only be God’s hand that caused it.  It was sometimes things that might seem coincidental, someone saying something on a day when you needed to hear it, or something happening just at the right time or in the right way.  I do not believe in coincidence or in luck.  I see it as God giving us what we need, when we need it.  Once you start to notice these things, you see how often it happens, and I try to give God the glory and praise for every one of those “little miracles”.

I have also seen things that can only be God – like the polyp that disappeared during my last IVF cycle.  It was there on the scan one day and less than a week later is was basically almost completely gone.  It has never happened before with any of the other polyps I ever had and even my FS could not explain it.  Or the lump that Shumi had on his back – it was big and hard – like bone, suddenly there one day and a while later completely gone.  Both of these times I prayed to God asking Him to heal it, confessing scriptures and He helped out.  Proof like this helps a lot to strengthen you faith.  But I must say I must consciously think back on these things every now and then – it’s very easy to forget about things like this and start to waiver again.

I cannot always blog about every feeling or thought that goes through my mind, so it might seem that I’m stronger in my faith than what I actually am.  Let me tell you there are times when I feel bad, when it’s difficult to keep my faith, or there are times when I get discouraged, but every time the only thing that helps me out of the situation is a message from God or the Word of God.  How long I am in that situation mostly depends on me – I have to realize that I’m under attack and that I must turn to God for help.  That might take a day or two sometimes, but I must say I’m getting better at recognizing those situations.

I have some favourite scriptures that I meditate upon on and confess out loud.   Joy.ce Me.yer said once that we believe what we hear from our own mouths the most.  I found it to be true – the more I say something out loud the more I start to believe it.  Here are the confessions and scriptures that I turn to the most in no specific order:

Phil 4:6, 1 Peter 5:6-7: “I do not fret or have anxiety about anything. I do not have a care.”

Luke 18:27: “What is impossible with men is possible with God”

Philippians 4:13 (NIV): “¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Exodus 23:25-26 (NIV): “²⁵ Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, ²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

Deuteronomy 7:13-14 (NIV): “¹³ He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land— your grain, new wine and oil— the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.    ¹⁴ You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.”

Psalm 127:3-5 (NIV): “³Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.    ⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.    ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate”

Psalm 128:3 (NIV): “³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots round your table.”

Psalm 113:9 (NIV): “⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.   Praise the LORD”

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV): “²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes in Christ. And so through him the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV): “¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV): “²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV): “ ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.    ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

John 10:10 (NIV): “¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Romans 16:20 (NIV): “²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

James 4:7 (NIV): “⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Here and here are some more posts I wrote about doubts and my faith, where you can see that I’m not always strong in my faith, but where I got messages of hope in the times when I needed it.  Alternatively you are welcome to click on the Faith tag and get all the posts I have written and tagged about faith so far…

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