Built To Build 10

Cumprimentos!!!! Como Vai?!!!!

Want to take a guess where I'm greeting from now? (in terms of the language)

It's Brazil and it's Portuguese. Oh yeah, the learning continues.

How are you doing on your side of the world? Progression is the name of the game down here in Tshwane, South Africa.

Right, we are still dealing with the Building block called - Relentless Decision. In the last post we concluded the matter of my bro, Oswald and he is now doing better actually.

Rose is an acquaintance of mine whom I met when I was a cab driver. She went to the Eastern Cape for a four month long Missionary Training Program, called me when she came back to Tshwane and asked that I pick her up from O. R. Tambo International Airport.

When she came into the car she seemed both excited and somewhat indifferent, but I made nothing of it because I didn't know her beyond our arrangement as client and transporter.

I inevitably asked how it was down in the South, the home of most Xhosa speaking people and joy came bubbling out of her, "It was quite life-changing Gabriel! I learnt so much there!"

I however sensed a small, almost imperceptable inconsistency in her expressed joy and asked, "So everything was great then?"

Something about my question made her reconsider trying to avoid what I have caught out to be some reservation with this experience. After a few minutes of cogitation and clear reevaluation, she said, "I feel so exhausted Gabe...I'm just so tired of this. I just hate pretending and I feel like that's all I've been doing."

I wondered how a time that seemed to be life-changing could also be so exhausting for her to bring pretence into it, "What's up Rose?"...

To Be Continued...

Ready?

Within the Building Block of Relentless Decision is an important ingredient that if avoided, can cause us a complete meltdown even though things seem to be going well with us in people's eyes and ears. People can't help reacting to what we give them, so its somewhat unrealistic to expect them to know the truth of our inner struggles that we hide.

Coming Next...

My Friend Rose Explains Her Inner Torment

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 9

Hola! Heitha!

Greetings to you in The Mighty Name of The Master!

A new journey has begun on my side and I have seen God open a door for me through His Mercy and Grace that I couldn't myself! I serve a God that knows no bounds!

As I continue to settle in to the new walk that has begun, it has been a while since I have put up a post. My humblest apologies.

Let's continue then shall we?

Remember that thus far we are still dealing with the series of What God Is Building In Us, in order for us to Build His Kingdom.

We have been through Faith, Confession and Perspective (or view). We are now busy with Relentless Decision and in the last post, we met my friend Oswald, whose frustration has to do with business. So now let me allow you to be a fly on the wall during the conclusion of our convo...lol.

Gabriel, "You sound pretty upset my authi...and I'm sorry about that...let me tell you this... There is a difference between knowing God's Will, allowing Him to lead you in doing it, and Doing God's Will Your Way."

Oswald, "What?!"

Gabriel, "Look it's like starting a new job at a new company, for example, Pick n Pay. When you get there after having gone through the interview and all that, and you are now under training. Your supervisor, who we will call Teboho, starts teaching you about the elements of your job description and the duties that you have there...right?"

Oswald, "Yeah...."

Gabriel, "Yeah, and one of the things they teach you is how to do what we call, 'ordering of stock'. They tell you how to read the system and make sure that in order for the customers to always find stock available on the shop floor, which numbers you need to look at."

Oswald, "That's simple enough..."

Gabriel, "Right. Now you get the hang of things as January, February and March come and go and you go ahead and sit in front of the computer in April and Teboho happens to be in the office and shouts, 'Stop!'. So you wonder what the heck is wrong with him because you were busy doing what he taught you to do... He explains that a this time of year, we don't order as much stock of a specific item as we would have earlier and redirects you to stock you didn't even pay attention to before. He teaches you that the seasons determine the amount of stock they order and how long they should last etc. This he never taught you when you started, but left it until now because it would be more relevant for you to know it now..."

Oswald, "I think you are starting to mess with me now. You're doing that thing again of being all philosophical akere?"

Gabriel, "Hai morena, I'm trying to explain hore o ska kwata so. As much as God has given you favor in certain things, much like Pick n Pay giving you access to be able to make orders, there are certain things that you won't know until the season has come or it will be irrelevant."

Oswald, "So you are trying to tell me that I have the ability to start things, that He told me He has favored me on, but I'm now missing the time?"

Gabriel, "Not just the time my friend, but also the way to do it. This is because you would have to now learn to look at stock that you never really noticed before and in your case, it may be a Fruit of The Spirit that you haven't yet become strong on in order to survive the success that will come when that ink finally does hit that paper. So instead of fighting God about what He already promised you, rather stop and ask what you need to learn now and let Him move you one step after another to fulfillment. He promised it, so it will come to pass...His way and at His time. You need to choose to stick with His Plan and never lose hope."

Ready?

Let's Be Relentless in what Jehovah has promised us, may we never lose hope in the destiny that He has designed for us. It's critical for us to walk with God on this journey because He doesn't just show us the way and let us just run with it...we will fall dismally. We have an enemy remember? We must remain sensitive to His Voice and do that Relentlessly.

Coming next...

We Meet An Aquaintance Of Mine Named Rose

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 8

Kgotsong! Greetings To You In The Ever Extraordinary Name Of The Master and Lord of all...Jesus Christ!

It's good to be alive and well by His Grace. Is it just me or is this year just moving so quickly?! Yoh! We are already going into April...gosch. It feels like just last week that we were celebrating the end of 2014.

Anyway, I hope you are lovely wherever you are as we continue this blessed series.

Oswald is a very good friend of mine whom I have known all my life really. This guy is chronically a business man and his ambitions are just out there. He loves people and wants so bad to expand his economical territory and footprint so that he can be 'blessed to be a blessing', he always says.

We had this conversation recently...

Oswald, "Gabe, how're doing my brother?"

Gabriel, "I'm rocking ekse my authi, Jehovah is Awesome!"

Oswald, "Yeah I hear you there, but I don't think He likes me all that much anymore."

Gabriel, "What are you on about morena?"

Oswald, "Dude, you remember back in 2006 when I was praying all year about what He called me on earth to do right?"

Gabriel, "Very well mfan'..."

Oswald, "Yeah and He told me about business among other things. I was like, 'cool God, let's do this thing. Where do we start?' you know..."

Gabriel, "I do know. You have been trying to break through a lot of things business wise...I know what you're talking about."

Oswald, "I have been doing exactly that. I mean I see God's Favor as He allows to meet some powerful contacts bra! I mean people who are high up in the presidency and in different departments that are financial institutions that can set me up at a single go. Let's not even talk about the trucking contracts that come my way time and time again."

Gabriel, "Yes indeed...wait what happened to that Kendal Mine Contract that you spoke about late last year?"

Oswald, "Flip! The same thing that happens to every bloody endeavor I get into...things were going well until the day of the signing of the contract with everything in place. He never showed up! Gabe! I get to start things and take them off the ground but towards the end when we just need to put the ink to the paper...something just goes wrong!!! What the hell man?! why would He point me in the direction of business if He won't let me succeed in it so that I can fund The Kingdom of God and be used of Him to bless other people?! It's really starting to drive me up the wall!"

Gabriel, "You sound pretty upset my authi...and I'm sorry about that...let me tell you this..."

To be continued...

Can you relate to what my bro Oswald is going through? What do you do in this kind of situation when you are trying to follow God's Voice and nothing seems to just come together and if they do, they fall apart at the end? Don't miss the next post.

Ready?

Many of us face troubles that cause us to question God's involvement in our matters and in most cases we want to call this 'Trusting God Thing' quits and just do our own thing...right? I feel you and the most important thing is to remember one critical thing...(on the next post)

Coming next...

Gabriel's Advice To Oswald, Continuing In Relentless Decision

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 7

Hey There Reader! How Are You Doing?!!!!

The weather down here in Tshwane, South Africa is a little overcast and scattered showers here and there. It's a lovely day nonetheless and I hope you have woken up to another good day wherever you are.

I don't know about you, but this series has been awesome for me and its effect has been notable. A quick recap of the Building Blocks so far? Yep:

• FAITH
• CONFESSION
• PERSPECTIVE (or View)

I hope you've also been following as we continue to Build. 

I bought a DVD some years ago and it was a Message by Bishop T.D. Jakes, titled - Relentless. He partners the great Bishop Noel Jones on it and that Message is simply timeless. He introduced the Message by speaking of a time when he was driven by a young gentleman in his early years of ministry and he asked Bishop Jakes a question that went along the lines of, "In one word, what does one need, to be to be successful in ministry?" 

The Man of God replied, "You need to be, Relentless"

A powerful Building Block that needs to be Built into us is one I would like to call Relentless Decision. If there is one decision that is attacked mercilessly in this world, it's the one to follow Jesus Christ and live according to his Word and His Spirit.

We need to be Relentless in our pursuit to stand strong in our decision to Know The Lord Our Builder. He is Building us to be unstoppable by any force that is against Him and this is not a two week training session...Oh no! It's continuous and if I wanting to stop or derail you in this regard...I would only have to sway your decision through my own opinion. Ain't that the truth?

We'll see as we will explore the stories of a few friends in the coming post to expand on this as we push on through this series.

Ready?

We must be aware of how powerful our decision to be a child of God is and how much opposition we will get, designed to stop us from growing more and more in the Knowledge of The Master which is full of Authority for us here on earth and beyond. Yes I said it, here and beyond. Let's stand strong on this decision as it is Simply The Best Decision We Will EVER Make!

Coming next...

We Visit A Few Friends To Discuss This Relentless Decision Matter

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 6

A Wie. Na Fede? Na fe nu te!

Oh yeah! I thought we should take a turn to Liberia. That's Greetings. How Are You? and I'm Fine in Grebo, which is spoken in the Northern side of that part of the world. I love learning new languages... I do hope you are doing lovely by His Grace of course and we should get right into it neh?

Cool. We have thus far been dealing with an understanding of what it means to be Built To Build. Matshidiso and her friend Sarah have illustrated just how pivotal it is to be careful with our words and what we believe as a result.

Sarah's cousin, Pontsho lives in Hammanskraal and she gives her a call while looking out of her second floor bedroom window. Her husband Trevor is sitting on the bed in the room.

Pontsho, "Sarah o kae my sister?"

Sarah, "Hai I'm doing fine wena Pontsho...what about you?"

Pontsho, "Aag ke sharp really. I'm just bothered by this neighbor of mine, Tlholo. Every morning I wake up and find her clothes hanging on the line neh?"

Sarah, "Jah and...?"

Pontsho, "And they are always somewhat dirty choma. Like, they have blotches and spots of dirt and I just wonder how she can't wash them clean. I'm so disappointed in her and she seems so proud of herself all the time."

Sarah, "So her clothes are a little dirty and yet she hangs them on the line like that?"

Pontsho, "Yes hle. I just wonder how her man deals with all this. I am looking at them now again and I'm just stoned..."

While she is talking she sees the husband who had left the bedroom push a step ladder right up against the wall nearest to the window, get on it and use a wet cloth to clean their bedroom window outside.

Sarah, "Hauw, Pontsho, why are you so silent now? Are you ok?"

Pontsho stays mum until Trevor cleans the entire window and another look at Tlholo's washing leaves her without words as they are sparkling clean.

Well I do wonder what Pontsho will tell Sarah next but for you and I, the point should be clear. What we say generally speaks of how we see things. Sometimes, it may be our very own perspective that shields us from the actual truth. We can see many things as dirty and wrong not necessarily because they are, but that our own 'window' is what is actually dirty and wrong.

Check this out: Ephesians 5:25-27 says, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

Christ was and is all about washing His Bride, The Church, being us, with The Word so that our perspective can be as His is. Then, what and how we see, will inform what we believe, alter what we say and shape our reality. 

Ready?

We need to make sure that our 'window' which speaks of our perspective, reflects that which is of God. That is achieved by reading and meditating on The Word more and more, allowing it to cause us to see things the way Jehovah sees them. Then Faith and Speech become aligned correctly and we can do what is right in His Sight.

Coming next...

More Building Blocks From The Master

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 5

Salama! Hu Jambo! Habari Gani?!

U huh...that's Swahili for Greetings! and How Are You?!

A bit of a Swahili touch this beautiful day neh? Lol...I hope you are doing quite well wherever you are. I also pray that this BTB series is as beneficial to you as it is to me, if not a whole lot more.

Let's keep moving. So we have come to understand (as per the last post) that where we choose to place our Faith, we take time to engage therein and ultimately Speak it out. We have also learned that what we Speak out can become our very reality due to the Power that is in our tongue.

Interesting hey...

Now, we are still on the matter of being Built To Build for The Kingdom of The Almighty. The Building Blocks that we have explored include Faith and Confession. I want to stretch this a little bit by giving some observations to clarify these two 'Bricks' if you will.

Matshidiso and Sarah are two best friends and have been, since primary school. In Grade 10, they were having a loud and jolly conversation about marriage and business as part of a group of school mates, numbering eight. 

At break time they were talking about how marriage in this day and age is no longer valid, how weak and unfruitful this institution is and how its significance ended with their mothers.

Sarah, "I mean really guys...look at the guys that we have today. All they want is to bed you and then keep moving to the next prize. They can't hold a conversation for a minute without being distracted by our breasts and thighs and just want to touch them and all. I'm not interested in getting married at all. In fact, I am going to be the kind of woman that earns a 6 figure salary and has everything I want. And if I want to have my needs met, I will just call in a horny man and tell him to check out the next morning."

Matshidiso, "Hai Sars you can't keep saying that. Words are powerful phela and that could actually happen. You need to be wholesome and enjoy life with someone that you can grow old with."

Sarah, "Oh please, get real Tshidi. In this generation, it's all about me, me and me."

Matshidiso met the man of his dreams some six years later and emailed her friend Sarah who lived in London to come to their wedding which would happen soon. She flew over on her private jet and came to see her old friend.

On the night they scheduled dinner to catch up, Sarah's phone wasn't going through and she wasn't answering any messages. Matshidiso, having a bad feeling, raced to her hotel room to find her on the ground with pills around her. It seemed like an attempted suicide and feeling her pulse, she called the ambulance that came and took her to hospital. 

Having pumped all the pills out of her stomach, she woke up to find Matshidiso sitting beside her and a man with her.

Matshidiso, "Hey Sarah...how're you feeling?"

Disappointed that she isn't dead, she replied, "Why aren't I in heaven?!"

Matshidiso, "Haibo why mara Sars? I'm glad you're ok..."

Sarah, "I'm not. I hate my life. Every man I meet and fall in love with just ends up using me and I just don't understand why they won't stay. I have everything to offer and even let them be the man. But still, they just won't stick around...damn it!"

Matshidiso, "That's what you wanted though Sars..."

Sarah, "What?!! Who on earth wants to be used and treated like a second hand car to be sold off after they're tired of it?!"

Matshidiso, "Don't you remember back in high school when we talked about marriage and stuff and you said that you just wanted men for your needs and that you will not get married? You also said you will be pretty rich...and well you are."

Sarah, "What?! Are you telling me that I did this to myself?!"

Matshidiso nods her head and reminds her of the many times she told her about how powerful words are.

Needless to say, right there and then, she changed her confession, which, as we know, would change what she believes and soon enough, her reality entirely.

Ready?

What we give our time and effort to having Faith in, giving our attention to, thinking about and eventually speaking out all the time, will at some point, come to pass. Let's rather read The Word of God, speak THAT out and let THAT be our reality. It's a whole lot safer than doing our own thing without God. These are critical in the Building Process.

Coming next...

The Building Continues

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 4

It Is Well! 

One pastor greeted me with the above words some time back. I thought it was pretty cool, so there you go! It Is Well...

In a tough situation, those words are hard to believe or speak out right? Yeah, I know. That is why we need Faith for them to become a reality in our lives. Remember the first Building Block we spoke about in the last post? Well it applies here as we move on to the next one...Confession.

Once Faith is a steady brick in our building process, we soon pick up that it is tied to the most powerful, natural weapon we possess - our speech. Really Gab? Yep, let's check this out:

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"

"and how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written,

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

And I'm sure you all know this one very well...

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

These three 'witnesses' come from Romans10:14, 10:15 and Proverbs 18:21 respectively.

These days we have a lovely thing called 'Just Say It' or 'Just Speak Your Mind', the power of 'Freedom of Expression'. There's nothing wrong with it until we start speaking things that end up becoming our very lives. 

Eg. "This food is killing me..", "I'm going to die after I drive this car..."; "I'm telling you, if I get married, I won't even last 5 years" or even, "I don't want to live past the age of 35 because there is not fun in getting old"

I've heard such things and a lot more, and I suppose these can be taken as jokes or just sayings right? Imagine if they actually happen, where someone actually dies because of the food they ate, or never last past five years in marriage, or truly die after driving a particular car or just drop dead with no medical explanation on their 35th birthday?" No ways?

Well Romans 10:17 say, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Faith in God comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith in other things comes by hearing those things. So what we engage our ears in, listen to and eventually make part of our thinking processes, develops faith in us automatically. Oh yeah! If the power of life and death is in our tongue, you best believe, it happens!

Ready?

Once our Faith chooses to go after God, we need to cause our mouths to speak that which is Godly. We achieve this by understanding that Faith COMES by hearing and we need to choose to listen to things that will cause our minds to harbor things pertaining to God and speak those things out. This will become our reality.

Coming next...

The Building Blocks Continue

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 3

Hi There! A Blessed and Glorious day to you my beloved reader!

I look forward to a wonderful day and I pray yours is much the same if not better...

We are on a pretty lovely series and we continue with it swiftly.

On the last post, we got to understand that being Built To Build has an important prerequisite of studying to be approved for the purpose of being trusted with much in future. We understood that God Himself needs to trust us with little and then more as we taking one step after another to reach the destiny He has for us.

Now, let's go back to basics in this regard. I'm sure you have all heard the scripture, Hebrews 11:6;

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

What does this actually mean? Many people think that others don't have faith and therefore can't be Christians. Well I need to tell you that every single person on earth has faith...it's what they have faith in that sets us apart from each other.

"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

We all have a measure of faith and so how does Heb 11:6 serve the message here? Well in the second sentence, it says, "...for he that cometh to God must believe is and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

As you can see, whatever or whoever we believe in, be it money, our own strength and intelligence, be it the company we work for, be it our business, our spouses, boyfriend or girlfriend, school maybe, or even our church...wherever we place our faith, we invest so much in it, him/her.

We are diligent in engaging, we place our heart there, we expect many a reward from there, we go there with invested intent of benefiting without fail...don't we?

Well then, this is how we are to approach the matter of Faith. This needs to be Built into us and we do that by deciding to Seek Him and find help with this matter from those who have walked with Him. Don't hesitate to ask me as well, I am here to serve.

Ready?

Faith is a decision to believe in God, reading His Word with the diligent intention of getting to know Him in the dimension of The Spirit. We need to be sure about this decision and let nothing derail us as we aim to benefit entirely from this Relationship with Him. This is Lesson 1, completely fundamental!

Coming next...

We Continue With The Next Building Block

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 2

Ekaso! Goeie Dag! Dumelang! How are you all doing?!

I'm pretty chilled over here in Tshwane South Africa...the weather is looking chilled as well...lol. I would love to know how you are as well, so why not leave me a comment and we can interact a little.

Right, so we are busy with quite the topic aren't we? Let's carry on...

I hope after the last post, we fully understand the need to be Built to Build and also have clarity about Who should Build us.

Now it is critical to bring ourselves to the level of knowing how things work in The Kingdom of God. As we know, He has a vision and has a place and part for us to play in getting to this goal. Here's a scripture out of Timothy 2:15 in the King James Version:

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

In the English Standard Version it stipulates, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^c a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth"

The currency of The Kingdom of The Master is The Truth Manifest.

Remember going from one grade to another in school is entirely based on us being competent enough to advance to the next level. We need to show ourselves approved for the next grade. To move up in rank in the military, navy, or police services, we need to show that we are able to handle the intended workload etc.

Jehovah is in the business of advancing us and we have yet to scratch the surface of the immense resources that Heaven has for us to use to navigate this earth in His Power. (I look forward to the time we will be discussing these matters...stay glued to this blog.)

As we walk with Jehovah, even He needs to trust us in the things He puts in our care and under our authority. Luke 16:10 says, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."

So what does God need to train us in? Stay with me, this is going to take a while...lol. In this post I wanted to be clear about this...

Ready?

In order for Jehovah to train and raise us in His Kingdom, we must understand that we need study to show ourselves approved in order to grow in God's company. Study what? His Ways and Processes of teaching us. He needs to trust us with the Heavenly tools which will cause us to affect the world with great impact. The building process continues...

Coming next...

What Does God Need To Build Within Us Part 2

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build 1

Heitha! Good Morning! Molo! Avuxeni!

Wassup Everybody?! It's good to be awake and moving forward today.

It's a pretty beautiful day on my side of the world and I hope as we go towards the end of February that we are all mindful of the things we set out to do this year with Jehovah and staying on track. It's vital to keep tabs on ourselves to make sure that we don't get complacent and distracted.

Alright! Any company that has a good visionary who is aiming for greater things, is always looking to build their brand. One definition of building is, "the action or trade of constructing something."

Constructing something is driven by a progressive goal over all things and pivotal to this is having the right building blocks. In just about all cases, one needs the right people for the job.

Since a leader then needs to make sure that the people he/she works with are on the same mindset and function in one accord, he/she needs to Build this into them. He/she needs to teach them the culture that they want to see prevail in the company, the approach unique to it and the kind of people they need to be, to ensure the success thereof.

Is this not why companies train us on their policies, processes, and ways to do the work that they have hired us to do? Of course! They have to make sure that when they hire us, we uphold their brand very well and represent them properly.

Then once they have built us enough to trust us as dedicated employees, then they can also trust us to Build others who come into the company and in comes the positions of supervisors and managers etc.

So that at this point we will understand what it means to be Built To Build. We are Built by the company to Build the company. In The Kingdom of Jehovah, it is no different. God Almighty has a plan and He intends to fulfill it. To do that, He needs the right people for the job. The Awesome thing about Him is that He also Created into us all the things we need to play our part.

He does however need to Build us and train us to know what we are made of and do what we are supposed to do. We need to prepare our minds, hearts and bodies for this Building Process and surrender to the process just like we surrender to any process a company takes us through to eventually work for them.

Ready?

It's very important to understand that Building is done by any company and also The kingdom of God for the purpose of trusting us to Build the company and others who come in for the success and sustainable progress thereof. We must prepare our entire beings to surrender to the process of Building in order to reap the promised rewards.

Coming next...

What Does God Need Build Within Us?

Don't Miss It!

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

Built To Build

Greetings to you in The Ever Powerful and Unfailing Name of The King of all kings....Jesus Christ!!!! Oh yeah *air punch* Man I love church!

I hope you are doing very well on your side of the world. 

Today we take a look at a pivotal aspect of walking with God in this day and age. In the TPOP Series we learned a lot about the beginning stages of finding one's purpose in God and hearing His Voice. If need be, please go back in the blog and read them again.

(By the way, a friend of mine suggested that I should take these posts and turn them into a book for easy reference if one hasn't got an internet connection...what do you think? Leave me a comment and advise if you don't mind)

Now we have come to a point where we have begun to hear God's Voice about our purpose and we are trying to work out what to do next...yes? Well asking Him what to do is most advisable and if we are sensitive enough, we will hear Him.

Sometimes however, we have a natural tendency of going ahead of Him. Let's take the case of David in 1 Samuel chapter 16.

King Saul had messed up in previous chapters by not completely obeying The Word of The Lord and as a result, lost his place, as per God, on the throne. Prophet Samuel was heart broken and mourned for his king.

God came through and was like, "Why are you tearing up about someone I have rejected? Hey man, I have another plan so stop all that crying and let's go anoint us another king." (That's my own interpretation...lol)

He got up and went to the house of Jesse out in Bethlehem and basically David was anointed king of Israel. We will be getting into the matter of David and his brothers in terms of God's choice vs what man would rather choose, but for the purpose of this post, I want us to understand that when God chooses us, He has a plan. This plan is not only about getting us to that intended destination, but also for the training that must occur before it.

He was anointed king, but he didn't immediately go to the palace to take his place did he? Check it out, read the whole 16th chapter.

Ready?

When God chooses us, He does so intending, not only to get us to this destination, but also to train us or build us in order for us to build where we are called to. Most children of God can misunderstand this, get frustrated with no clarity on the matter and ultimately give up on the whole thing.

Coming next...

What To Prepare For In The Building Process

Don't Miss It...

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

To God Be The Glory 4

Hey Guys! I hope you are all very well on this lovely Saturday. Valentines day, I'm told is all about love between couples in most instances, so I hope you have someone special to enjoy it with.

Well, let's bring this TGBTG series to a close for now. Praising and Worshiping God can never end so rest assured, it will come back again some time in the future.

For this last episode, let's remember where we are from. The value that we place on something like Giving God The Glory rests on our understanding of His Work in our lives.

And if we see His Hand on us more often, we will thank Him more often and Worshiping Him breeds outstanding results. What am I talking about? Test it out with yourself. If you do something for someone and they take the time to thank you and appreciate you expressively...doesn't it encourage you to do more for them?

Of course it does. I would not want to help someone again if they are not grateful for one thing that I did for them. I'm not saying that I would shun another opportunity to assist if God told me to especially, I am saying that it would be far easier and I would be far more willing to do more for a person who can appreciate it.

God is God and He knows more than we ever could in terms of what we need and want. However, just like any one else, He wants to be appreciated, Praised and Worshiped. He inhabits the praises of His people and that is a clear indication of what He wants from us.

Many characters in the Bible understood this and gave burnt offerings to God; Praised Him in the congregations as we saw in previous posts; and my goodness, King David and others wrote an entire book full of Praises to God - The Book of Psalms.


Here it is...
Let's Praise Him as much as we can, doing from the heart rather than out of duty and we will find it a wonderful thing to live on earth. We will see God's Work more and more and there is no doubt that it will become such a habit, that we will never be the same again!

TGBTG!
The Messenger
Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

To God Be The Glory 3

Hola! Heitha! Huzet?! How are you all doing this Heat-Wave afternoon?
It's pretty blazing here in Tshwane...

So when I woke up this morning, I found myself going, "Good morning Holy Ghost" It has become so automatic these days that I have come to see that Praise is a habit that can be developed. 

We have been going through this TGBTG series with an understanding of how important it is to acknowledge Him in all that He does for us.

So today I want to say that anything that has great value in our eyes can be made a lifestyle. This is done with a couple of components put together. The Ears, Eyes, Heart, Mouth and Actions. One feeds into the other as they are part of one system.

The more time we spend with friends, family, acquaintances even, who live their days thanking God, you will do the same in time. People who are full of testimonies about what Jehovah is doing in their lives have made it such a habit to Praise, that even seeing the clouds in the sky will draw Worship from them. 

• "Lord, thank You for the privilege of another day to give You Glory"

• "Thank You Lord for another chance to go to work"

• "Lord You are so Awesome! I still have two hands and two feet."

• "Kealeboha Modimo hore ke sa phela."

On a daily basis, the more time we spend acknowledging that we still live and breathe because He is still Faithful to His Word to us, the more we actually notice throughout the day that He has His Hand on us.

I've had a few instances when I almost hit a car, or had a fantastic meal, or gotten a call from someone so very special, and the first thing I want to do is say Thank You Holy Spirit.

Here it is...
Luke 6:45, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." We need to fill ourselves up with the auspices of Praise everyday. Thanking God for a meal, waking up, having someone around us, being able to do anything really. This will perpetuate the Work of His Hands in our lives!

TGBTG!
The Messenger
Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied!

To God Be The Glory 2

I am the LORD, and there is none else

Hello Everybody! Howzit going out there ekse?!
I hope you are very well. Jehovah is really working on me on this side of the fence and I tell you the truth, it is something else to serve The Most High God.

Above is a statement that is made by a Very Confident God. You find these words in opening Isaiah 45:5. 

In Exodus 20:2 - 3 He declares, "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

He says that there should not be ANY OTHER god before or above Him and therefore, He deserves all the Glory!

As we continue this TGBTG series, I wanted us to come to an understanding of what it means when we magnify God ALONE for our very survival, let alone the things that happen in our lives.
He wants us to exalt and worship Him above any other simply because He Can Back It Up! Oh yeah!!! Ask Beyonce...

Now let's be clear about something...He is well able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think(imagine) according to the Power that is at work within us. We find this in Ephesians 3:20. I will be mentioning this in 'Here it is...' but at this juncture I wanted to bring out the fact that He can produce the goods and says this very well in saying that there is simply NO other god that can compare to Him.

Why does He continue to show forth His Power and Ability in our lives? The concluding words in Isaiah 45:3 say, "...that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel."
Just so that we may KNOW that He is Lord!

Here it is...
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. There has never been a clearer reason to Praise our God.

We unpack Ephesians 3:20 and 21 in the next post...
Stay Tuned...

TGBTG!
The Messenger
Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied
 

To God Be The Glory 1

Let Everything That Has Breath, Praise The Lord!!!

Good afternoon everybody!

 

I hope you are all doing very well as 2015 progresses. I have come to understand the vital importance of Praising God for the things that He does and just Who He is in our lives. Therefore in these few posts we are going to speak of what it means to Praise Him. Sounds so easy isn't it? You'd be so surprised how much we take this for granted...

Check this out...
Deuteronomy 8:11-18 in The Message Bible Translation;

'Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God,

 

• the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery;
  the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness,
  those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions;
  the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock;
  the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.

 

^17-18 If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today.'

 

It is critical to know and understand that Praising can quite literally save our lies. When you get that magic call that you've been accepted into a company for a new job - Thank you Lord. When you pass by an accident scene and find you are still intact - Thank you so much for keeping me safe my King. When you see someone walking in crutches because they don't have a leg - Thank you for both my legs Lord of the heavens.

 

Watch it...

Every opportunity we get to Praise God for anything from the clouds in the sky to the clothes on our bodies, from the child that is still running around in the house to the business we've just started, from the new hairstyle you just did, to the family we still have. We need to remember that it is God Who gives us the strength to do all these things!

 

We Continue To Praise On The Next Post...

 

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied!

To God Be The Glory

Good morning to you, who yet lives and breathes this day! I hope you are doing very well at this stage.

We wake up every day and look to press forward with the things that we have planned. It’s in the nature of every person to develop themselves somehow, whether to the good or to the bad. We have spoken vehemently about finding our Purpose in God and the steps thereof.

As we go on this pursuit, we must NEVER forget this critical element called Praise! You see, this entire journey of Purpose Pursuit is in the Hands of God, so is our very lives in fact and it’s important to remember to praise Him.

1 Peter 4:11, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

I have been reminded of the power of praise. Candi Staton sings a song called, ‘Hallelujah Anyway’.

‘You have some problems, you need God to solve them, and you get down on your knees and pray…’ you know that song right? If you don’t, please check it out… its chorus says, ‘Praise Him ‘till your blessings come down, praise Him ‘till your situation turns around, you’ve got to lift up your voice and sing, Hallelujah anyway, Hallelujah any weh eh ehi’ lol, not sure how to write what they do at the end there.

I want to say that on this road with Jehovah and as we grow and mature in Him, that things aren’t easy and aren’t going to be easy. Walking in His purpose for our lives means walking in victory and crippling the kingdom of the evil one. It stands to reason that he ain’t gonna just let us do that without putting up a fight.

Judah is one of the tribes of Israel and they majored in praise. They would at times go ahead of them all and with trumpets, they would lead the charge.

Praise is powerful and so is telling others what God has done for us!

1 Chronicles 16:8 says, ‘Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.’

So in the next few posts, let’s spend some time praising and making known His deeds.

Stay Tuned…

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied!

The Pursuit Of Purpose 12.2

Hola! Heitha! Good morning and how are you?!

I wish I could hear your answer, but can only hope that you are doing better than yesterday, if not financially then let it be in Wisdom. We should always strive to learn from each day and be more knowledgeable for the next.

Ok, it has been quite a journey going through The Purpose Formula and I hope that it has been very beneficial in terms of giving insights into how we find our Purpose, particularly in God.

Let's do a quick recap and bring it to a close shall we?

• First we learnt that our most nagging Frustrations that have to do with the world we live in are some of the best indicators of what our God-Given Purpose is. It is imperative to take stock of what truly bothers us that we want to do something about. We then can't just have them there to linger but these Frustrations must grow inside of us until they draw us into step number 2, establishing a Desire to change the matter.

• In step two, we have Desire. Here is where we then register our intentions to sort these things out. It is where we work within ourselves that we indeed intend to do what is necessary to make our mark. This step of course, comes with it's own damaging challenges which normally tell us that what we Desire to do isn't going to actually change anything, make any difference or do anything for us personally. These obstacles can really dent this step and deny it's growth. Our greatest encouragement here should be that The God of heaven and earth is NOT subject to the elements of this world and that when we partner with Him, WE CAN!

• When Desire has grown enough to now push us to find ways to fulfill it, we start Seeking them. We met Themba and Patience who found themselves in search for something and someone respectively, that was lost. In both stories we learnt that the value that you place on what/who you are looking for will propel us to either spend a little time and then give up, or to stop at nothing to find it/him/her. We need to place the highest value on this Purpose of ours and Seek out every way to manifest the solution/s. If the way isn't there, then let's create a way. God is an Inventor and He made us with the same characteristic.

• Lastly, once we find ourselves where we are not going to be held back by obstacles and challenges, then we become Zealous in our endeavors. In the Zeal Dimension, we are consumed by this Purpose and are driven to make things happen! Yet we learnt in the Book of Isaiah that it is the Zeal of The Lord that accomplishes great things and that if we now allow Him to Lord over our plans and ways, then we will certainly conquer for His Glory!

Welcome to your Purpose!

That about wraps up this beautiful, life-changing series and if you want more on it, please go ahead and leave me a comment right here or contact me on the details in TPOP 11.4. Also, if there is a topic that you would like me to discuss, let me know and we will see what we can do.

Here it is...
In the Kingdom of God, there are ways and means to succeed and be completely fulfilled. Living in His Purpose for our lives and learning to listen to and follow His Voice will cause us to do thing far greater than we could have otherwise. He is Lord and will always be, no matter how much this world tries to say the opposite. Let's walk in Victory, in our Purpose and in Power on planet earth! In Jesus' Mighty Name!

TGBTG!
The Messenger
Stay Tuned, Be Multiplied
#2015

The Pursuit Of Purpose 12.1

The Pursuit of Purpose 12.1

Good Day, Good day, Good day! Oh yeah it is a good day in Jesus’ Name!

Hoping that you’re getting things done on your side as well, let’s keep going.

In the last post we spoke about the understanding that in the Zeal step or dimension, it is The Lord’s Zeal that shall accomplish great things. IF we immerse ourselves in His Hands and choose to be led of Him, then even the gates of hades cannot stand against us fulfilling our Purpose.

The Almighty is the One Who created this world that we live in and although He gave us authority over it to rule and to reign like He does in heaven…He is still Sovereign and even His foolishness, is far higher than our own wisdom. It is therefore imperative to remember that He is the One Who knows the plans that He has for us, to prosper us and not to harm us.

He made us, He knows us, He isn’t shocked by what we experience, so it’s easy to see why it would benefit us immensely to trust that His Way is simply the best way.

News Flash! God knows that we have plans in life! I’ve spoken to many people who think that submitting to the Will of Jehovah means not having plans at all in life. Errr, no! Check Proverbs 19:21 out;

‘Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.’

As we can all see, He is well aware that we plan things and aim to achieve them etc. So how is it that we submit to His Way? I will tell you.

Walking with God is a beautiful journey and He made us with a will of our own, which He also acknowledges. He does tell us in Isaiah 48:17, ‘Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.’

He teaches us that like David the king, we should go to Him and ask for direction on where to go and what to do. We do this in prayer and supplication, and then of course listening to Him answer. We have spent quite a while on past posts discussing how to hear from God…yes? Right…so that we should do.

At the same time, it is natural to us to plan things, our next meal, a trip overseas, to start a business, to have a child, to purchase a car, to apply for a new job and all that. In many cases, we jump at such opportunities and talk to God afterwards, right? I know, so does God. What Proverbs is then talking about is that whatever we are planning, when we walk with God, it is God’s Sovereign Will that will prevail. So we best brace ourselves for certain plans of our own, to fail if they are contrary to where He is taking us. Eish neh?

Here it is…

In Zeal, we must understand that God made us and gave us authority on earth as He has in heaven, yet He is still Almighty and He knows the way to navigate this world MUCH better than we do. Period! It is His Word that asks us to go before Him if we want to do something to propel us forward, but also knows that we have many plans. If we are in Him, it is His Will that will prevail and we must accept that with joy, for our own sake.

On the next post…
We Recap On And Close ‘The Purpose Formula’ Series
Stay Tuned…

 

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied

The Pursuit Of Purpose 12

Avuxeni! Molweni! Dumelang! Greetings from Pretoria!

 

I’ve had a lovely day, plans upon plans to move forward as I aim to get things done every single day. No messing around I tell ya!

I hope you are well and progressing as well in 2015.

Let’s do this! We are now in the last step of The Purpose Formula called, Zeal. By definition this word commands some respect:

·         ‘great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.’

 

Someone who is Zealous is one who is highly passionate about something or someone and as far as I’m concerned, consumed by it. Zeal speaks of a serious commitment to a cause and the success thereof. Herein lies the driving force of fulfilling our Purpose in Him.

 Let’s look at the Word;

• Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

• 7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

 

King David observes this Revelation as he admonishes God in front a large congregation in 1 Chronicles 29:10,

 

• “10Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.”

 

There is something that we learn about life when we walk the face of the earth…God Is Sovereign. That’s it. I heard someone say that God is a myth, while another says that God is just another option out there or even a last resort after you’ve tried everything. Yet another young man told me that God doesn’t exist.

Heh heh, this world is full of opinions and views and perspectives I tell you…and make no mistake, all the options that are available to us have caused unmistakable confusion. What do we do? Stay Tuned to these posts, we get into that soon.

 

For the purpose of The Formula at hand…the first thing that we see is that in this world, if we are to have True Success, we need to understand that it is the Zeal of The Lord that will accomplish it! Our zeal is limited to our own strength, but if it is the Zeal of The Lord that we are consumed by, then it is dependent on Him to get it done. Yes? Oh Yes!

Here it is…

It is The Zeal of The Lord that accomplishes feats both great and small in our own eyes, yet all have their place in the advancement of The Kingdom of God. The first thing we need to understand about this dimension is…Allow the success of our quest to depend on Him than ourselves.

 

On the next post…

A Closer Look At Zeal

Stay Tuned…

 

TGBTG!

The Messenger

Stay Blessed, Be Multiplied