Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Joshua 1:9
![]() At the age of twenty-one months, Naila fell into a pond outside her home. When one of her older sisters found her, she was face down and lifeless. Her sisters immediately called 911 and were instructed on how to perform CPR. They finally got a weak pulse. Naila was rushed to the hospital while her parents, Debree and Dwayne, who were at work, were contacted. They were in shock and disbelief. Her father began reciting over and over: "By His stripes Naila you’re healed.” Her mother knew she needed Jesus but had no idea what to say to Him. When her parents arrived at the hospital, Naila was in the paediatric ICU unconscious and on life support. As Debree walked into the room, the medical staff around her daughter stepped aside. Nobody said anything and she was too afraid to ask them whether or not her daughter was alive. But finally she said: “You will live and not die in the name of Jesus.” Testing showed that Naila had suffered an anoxic brain injury due to near drowning, that she was in a deep coma and showed almost no brain activity. Doctors did not believe that she would wake up and if she did, she would be in a vegetated state. Her parents were basically told that she was dead. Both parents refused to accept this news and her father continued praying. They chose to stand on the Word of God not on what the doctors said. Later that afternoon, while Debree and other medical staff were in Naila’s room, Naila’s body jerked. Debree believed that God was sending them a message that she was going to be okay. When the movements continued, doctors, believing that she was having seizures, sedated her. However, the next day, they determined that she was not having seizures. Her body continued to move even under sedation. Debree was ecstatic and one of the doctors admitted that they were witnessing a miracle. Later that day, Naila’s heart and lungs started functioning on their own. Doctors took her off life support and brought her out of sedation. Naila continued to improve and an MRI confirmed that she had no brain damage. Four days after her accident, Naila was released from the hospital. Her mother, Debree, knows that they serve a big God and that He answers. She cannot wait to see what He is going to do with the rest of Naila’s life. What caught my attention with this testimony is the response of Naila’s parents. They adamantly chose to stand on the Word of God in spite of how dire things looked. They refused to accept defeat, they refused to believe what the doctors were telling them and decided that they had no other recourse but to turn to the One who could perform a miracle. God did not disappoint. God’s Word says in Isaiah 55:11, “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.” God’s words are not empty, lifeless words on the pages of a book. They are alive and when we choose to apply them to a situation, God Himself will bring His own Word to pass. Sometimes, maybe we need to choose to reject what we can see, the report we are hearing, the way we are feeling and choose to stand on His Word which is very much alive. It’s about walking by faith not by sight. The Bible also says that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). We need to be careful with the words that come out of our mouth. What we say can either come into agreement with our situation that we can see or into agreement with what the Word of God says concerning our situation. Our words can either bring death or life. It’s a faith thing, it’s a trust thing, but God’s Word will always be more powerful than any situation that we go through. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is faithful and if He says something, He is faithful to fulfil it. We can count on Him, we can trust Him especially when all else fails. He will keep His promises and His Word to us. He can do no less!
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![]() Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. (Psalm 103:2-5) Although Rebecca enjoyed going to church as a child and watching her father play the guitar, outside of church she went after a different lifestyle. She started smoking marijuana and by the age of sixteen she was a teenage mother. She married the father of her baby but their relationship was turbulent and she resorted to drugs to ease her pain. Suicidal thoughts stepped in while her marriage fell apart. She was invited to church by a friend and when she went she felt good. Unfortunately, however, outside of church she continued living her life of drugs. She finally became tired of promising God to stop using drugs if He would just help her out. She became so tormented and was so afraid that she would take her life, that one day, she called her pastor and asked him to come get her before she did just that. He took her to his parents’ home where she felt loved and experienced a sense of freedom from her old life. She went to a Christian Rehab program. There, the Lord told her that she was free and never had to go back to her old life. She surrendered to Him completely and became free from addiction. She now has a new purpose and ministers regularly to those bound in addiction like she once was. Psalm 103:2-5 tells us that God forgives us, heals us, redeems us, loves us and renews us. I think a lot of this sums up what He has done in Rebecca’s life. He did above and beyond what she hoped. When she felt discouraged and hopeless, He stepped in and came to her rescue. Sometimes I am sure, we all feel as hopeless as Rebecca felt. She kept trying to get out of the hell she was in and kept failing. She kept promising God that she would do better but kept falling right back into the same pit of destruction. Only God could deliver her out of her mess. No matter how hard we may try, there are times when we have to realise that only God can deliver us especially when the odds are against us and the giants are way bigger than we can handle. Yet, it can be a comfort to know that we don’t have to do it ourselves, God is more than able to do what we can’t. What’s interesting is the fact that she chose the destructive path that she was on yet, God did not reject her when she needed His help. He did not blame her for being in the situation she had gotten into, He did not leave her there either. God will never leave you in your mess - whether or not you have brought it on yourself. In the book of Judges, the Israelites consistently strayed away from God and did what was evil in His sight and consequently brought trouble on themselves. But, whenever they cried out to God in their distress and oppression, He sent a deliverer (or judge) to deliver them. God loves us too much to leave us where we are. When we humble ourselves and cry out to Him, He will come to our rescue. Whether or not our mess is because of any wrong we have done, God is there and will show up when we need Him. Psalm 103:2-5 is a reminder to us that God is the One who does the forgiving, the healing, the redeeming, the loving and the renewing. It’s not up to us because we will surely fail. When we leave it up to Him, He will do it and will never fail! If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. No matter what you are facing, God will not abandon you or fail you. Whether or not you are responsible, He is very willing and able to see you through. ![]() Genesis chapter 29 tells an intriguing love story with some interesting twists and turns. Jacob goes to another country to look for a wife among his mother’s relatives. There he meets a beautiful young woman who immediately captures his attention and his heart. She turns out to be his cousin, Rachel, younger daughter of his uncle Laban. He agrees to work seven years for his uncle to have her as his wife. Unfortunately, his uncle, a crafty man, tricks him and on his wedding night gives him instead his older daughter, Leah. Leah is not beautiful and enchanting like her younger sister. However, his uncle’s excuse is that the older daughter must marry before the younger. But, Jacob wants what he wants and when he agrees to work another seven years for the younger daughter, he is given her also as his wife. What I find interesting about this story is how Leah was positioned in this marriage. She did not have any say it would seem, and was probably simply being obedient to her father’s wishes. The Bible does not say, but maybe he, on the other hand, knowing that she was not beautiful or attractive, and would take a while to get married, came up with a plan to marry her off along with her younger sister. Of course, his plan worked but at what expense? Leah may not have felt very comfortable having her life manipulated and controlled but custom was custom. She may not have felt comfortable with her earthy father’s manipulation but little did she know that her Heavenly Father had a plan for her life far greater than what she could ever imagine. Verse 31 tells us that when God saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb but her sister, Rachel, was barren. God saw her in the midst of her distress and pain and chose to bless her with children. At first, she kept wishing and expecting that her husband would love her because she was able to bear children for him but that did not happen. She finally turned her eyes to the One she knew was responsible for her favour and said: “Now will I praise the Lord” and named her fourth child, Judah, which means praise. She simply took her eyes off her situation and placed them on the One who could change her situation. Many years down the road, the Messiah, Jesus, came through her son Judah’s bloodline. Earlier on I said that Leah was positioned in her marriage. Had it not been for her earthly father and his scheme, she would not have married Jacob. This may have seemed like a negative but it was in fact a positive. Her Heavenly Father had a greater plan for her and used her earthly father to position her to be a part of God’s plan to fulfil His promise to their ancestor, Abraham, to make him a father of many nations (Genesis 12:2; 17:1-4). Sometimes, we don’t and can’t always see the bigger picture. The negative situations that come our way are exactly what God uses to position us to fulfil His greater plan and purpose for our lives. We may be so discouraged and trying so hard to get out of that situation but God in His wisdom has allowed it to propel us into his purpose for our lives. When Joseph was sold by his brothers to merchants who in turn sold him as a slave in Egypt (Genesis 37:28; 39:1), that situation seemed like such a negative one. Yet, those same brothers are who God used to propel Joseph into his destiny. Had Joseph not landed in Egypt, he would not have had the opportunity to realise the dream God had given him. We may try to bind, pray against and earnestly seek deliverance from some negative situations, but if God has promised that all things will work together for our good, then we can be confident that even that negative circumstance, God will use to do something great and mighty in our lives. Maybe we need to be like Leah who finally decided to praise the Lord in the midst of her unfortunate circumstance. Praise is powerful, and praise in the midst of negative situations that you cannot change can move God to do great and mighty things in your life. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I invite you to do so today. God has a perfect plan and purpose for your life and He knows exactly how to position you to receive His very best for you. Trust His leading. Trust His guidance. He will work everything out for your good. ![]() At the age of fourteen, Mallory agreed to go to the movies with an eighteen year old. They never entered the movie theatre, instead, he took her somewhere and raped her. She felt broken and would look at herself in the mirror telling herself she was disgusting and had no worth. To deal with her trauma, she turned to drugs, drinking, sleeping around and cutting. She went into a state of deep depression and withdrew from family and friends. She attempted suicide but afterwards remained stuck in her emotional prison. She cried out to God asking for His help. That help came almost immediately through a youth leader who sent her a song that gave her hope and encouragement. As she began listening to the song, she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. She felt a hand over her heart. She began crying and talking to the Holy Spirit. She told Him, among other things, that she was tired of living the way she was and that she did not want to be depressed anymore. She felt the hand enter her chest and squeeze her heart. She felt every bad thing that had happened to her and every bad thing that she had done, leave her. The hand then left and she was filled with indescribable joy. She felt as if the Lord had gone into her and squeezed every negative thing out of her and replaced it all with the things of Him that He knew she needed to feel, like the fruit of the Spirit, peace, patience, love. From that moment, her life changed. She started following Jesus and has not stopped. She feels as if the Lord has washed her memory clean. She sees Him as her best friend. She is now a wife and mother and encourages girls who have faced similar challenges to embrace their true identity as a dearly loved child of God. Sometimes we make choices and decisions and are not always able to anticipate the negative way things turn out. Our life turns upside down and we see no way that anything will ever be the same. Fear and hopelessness step in and we may feel as if everything is spiralling out of control. One of the things I like about this story is the fact that when Mallory was at her lowest and no one could seem to penetrate her world of despair, God stepped in. He saw her in her pain and her suffering and even allowed her to go through a season of bad choices and decisions because of it. Yet, the interesting thing is that He was right there with her in her trauma, even when she could not feel Him. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Mallory was certainly broken and crushed and only the Lord could fully understand her pain. When she cried out to Him, He made Himself known to her and healed her heart from all the brokenness. God hears our cries. No matter how far the Israelites went from God time and again, when they faced trouble, as soon as they cried out to Him, He sent the help they needed. Psalm 61:2 says, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” God is still our strength and help when we need it. No matter how far we may go, God is never far away. He is always close enough to come to our rescue. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is still a present help in trouble and will never abandon us when we need Him. No matter how far challenges may take us, God is able to keep up with us and is always right there ready to help when needed. He will never fail you. |
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February 2025
AuthorThis blog provides inspirational nuggets inspired by the Word of God and serves to encourage and motivate Christians in their Christian walk. |