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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Through the Fire #10 - Jesus speaks to me

http://youtu.be/5fpPlnJgKXo
Jesus makes me understand that we need to hear His voice and follow Him.

Through the Fire #9_2 - Learning His Ways

Lessons I learned in my walk with Jesus.
http://youtu.be/DUed5llOhU8

Through the Fire #9_1 - Learning His Ways

Lessons I learned in my walk with Jesus.
http://youtu.be/GIXotzjEMgo

Through the Fire #8 - The devil tries to kill me.

The devil tried to kill me. I was warned beforehand and Jesus saved me. This is part of a playlist where I share some lessons I learned in my walk
http://youtu.be/f1_lvMv-Cuo

Through the Fire #7 - One Spirit

For husband and wife to be able to serve together they need to be one in spirit. I share my testimony.
On Youtube:

Through the Fire #6 - Back to School

Jesus sent me back to school to finish my qualifications, and to do more studies(not what I had in mind) His ways are not our ways!
On Youtube

Through the Fire #5 - Kicking the habit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMU_KQJfUP0
How I stopped smoking...

Through the Fire # 4 - My New Ride

http://youtu.be/iNIrsL5dDl4

Through the Fire #3 - The devil is on my case

On Youtube

This is a continuation of my testimony, and I call it - "The devil is on my case."
Since the day I decided to follow Jesus with all of my heart, the devil was on my case because he was not my friend anymore. He was against me, and he has been severely against me, and that is what will happen to all
of those, all of us who want to follow Jesus Christ.

Your life will fall to pieces, because now suddenly, Satan will try everything to get you back. He will either make your life misery, or he will make things go so well with you in the world that you forget God. The devil was on my case and he still is and he will be until the very day that I give my last breath.

Now, when I came back to Jesus, I already told you that I lost my job because I changed so much - I was not the same person anymore. For 3 1/2 years, I couldn't find another job in the industry, but God changed my fate and the job found me, the job that God wanted me to have. I can tell you that in that time we were
down and out, nobody wanted to know me. My friends left me. They say when times are tough, friends are few. Even the family - the family avoided us. If you follow Jesus, then the devil is at you.
Then God changed our fate. I was back in the industry, I was back at an executive job, but this time a better job that I previously had. Things were going extremely well for us, so well that after a while, I bought a new car, and people could see that things were going really well with us.
With big hestancy, I bought a Mercedes because I was parking in the executive lot with my old vehicle, and it didn't fit in there. So I bought a Mercedes.
Now, Friends, if you think that people hate you when things go bad with you, you would think they would
love you when things go better with you. It's not true. If you follow Jesus, people are against you, the devil hates you!  The fact of the matter is, if you follow Jesus, it doesn't matter what you do, whether you got little or much - whether you're rich or you're poor - the devil hates you, he's against you, and he will try anything on you to just stop you, to get you to sin - He will be on your case!
That's my experience, and I can assure you one thing - Satan has never been off of my case, ever since I've decided to follow Jesus. If it's not temptation with a bigger promotion more responsibility or a nicer job, it's
something else, but he will try everything, to get you into his power. What we need to do is be in obedience
to Jesus, not to give in to the devil.
If we give in to the devil, he might make you rich and famous, but you will lose Jesus Christ.
God turned my fate, and after initially losing everything, God gave back a hundredfold what I had lost previously. I was extremely blessed, and then people started being envious, the same people that scorned me were envious of me because God blessed me.
The devil is against you, My Friend, but we must not love the world or the things of the world, because then the love of Christ is not in us.
The Lord Jesus blessed me exceedingly, materially as well, but there came a day when He said to me again,
"Take your stuff and sell it," and I did. Because we must love Jesus more than the things that He gives us.
If we love the world more, and if we love our possessions more, then the devil can get a hold of us.
Either good or bad must not affect us. Either the devil will make your life so miserable that you want to curse God, or he will make your life so pleasing  that you think you don't need God. But we must be aware of the
wiles of the devil because if we leave Jesus, we die.
I thank God more for the difficult times in my life, because it was in those times that I really got to know Jesus Christ. If it hadn't been for the difficult times,  And it was in the difficult times that I learned to cling onto Jesus.

When He told me to let go, let go of your executive job, sell your possessions, come here, follow Me and
preach His Gospel, I did because I knew Christ, and we must love Jesus more than everything.
But I'll tell you one thing - the devil will NEVER EVER LEAVE YOU. He will be on your case until the very
day that you die. He is on my case every day. He tried in every way to get my attention off of Jesus, and he tried in every way to stop me from testifying for Christ, and he will do so with every person that wants to be Godly or want to follow Christ. because one sin, one disobedience to Christ, will keep us out of Heaven.
We've got to obey Jesus and love Him above all things, but know one thing, - the devil will not leave you one second. He's going to be on your case, because he's going to hell, and he knows it and he wants to
take us along.
I don't want to, and by the Grace of God, I want to hang onto Jesus right to the very end,  or else everything would have been in vain. It's only by the Grace of God that we will make it right to the end. The devil is going to be on your case as long as you follow Jesus until the day you
die.

May Jesus Bless You.

Through the Fire # 2 - Back to work

My testimony.
On Youtube

This is a continuation of my testimony - "Through the Fire."
It took place 25 years ago, or started 25 years ago after I came back to Jesus after I had been severely back-slidden for about 12 years.
I lost my job, I did not fit into the job anymore because I changed so much after taking Jesus seriously that I was dismissed from my job there, they asked me to resign. I want to make one thing clear, and that is the country I come from does not have any safety nets. There is no social services, there are no food banks. When you lose your job, you've got a problem. You've got to make a plan. I was fired from a management position, and that was quite a shock.
And whenever I tried to get back into industry,get a job, it didn't work. I went for interviews, and I didn't find a job. I went for interviews where I was, I was certain I can do this job with ease, I had the qualifications, I had the experience, I had the connections, but I never got the job.
After some time I stopped looking for a job because I realized that God was talking to me, He was fencing me in like He did with Job, because God wanted to teach me trust in Him.
I didn't really understand it at the time, it was extremely difficult. But I could take the good times, so I decided, well, I'll take the bad times as well. If I've got to follow Jesus and things go bad with me, that's fine.
Job said, "I can take the good times, and I can take the bad times, too," so that was my resolve.
And in that time, which was about 3 1/2 years, I was forced to do minor jobs, stuff that I would never even have looked at, and my financial situation kept on deteriorating. Whatever money I had in savings was disappearing.
And we were living from basically day to day, just with what little bit we earned, I earned from little odd jobs.
I was doing anything - I was doing mechanical work, I was doing construction work, whatever I could lay my hand on, I tried to do. I was doing shop fitting, building shop fronts, anything you can think of just to keep going.
But in that time, I got to know Jesus because where previously the preasures of work had kept me awake at night, I started relaxing in the knowledge that God is in control, He knows what He's doing.
And I resolved, I said, "Lord, even if I never find a good job anymore where I've got a regular pay and medical aid, whatever, I don't care, just as long as I can serve You."
I had a wife, three little boys, but during that time, my wife never had to go and work because it was our resolve that the man of the house must earn the keep of the house. If you cannot work and care for your family, then you're worse than a gentile. So my wife never worked, she never went out to work.
But it so happened that after 3 1/2 years, we came to a period where the small jobs also dried up and we were down to rock bottowm, basically nothing. So one day the phone rang, and a personnel agency called me. They offered me a job about 60 miles (100 kilometers) away from home. I was amazed because I did not apply for any job, I had not been applying or sending my resume out any more.
I said to this guy - "Where did you find my details?"
He said to me, "Sir, you went for an interview 3 1/2 years ago and a friend of mine remembered
you and he pulled your file."
Now, Friends, that doesn't happen.
Anyway, I laughed at him and said -"Listen, you're offering me a job 60 miles away.
How am I going to get there?" He says, "Well, they'll pay your gas.
The company needs a manager to run this steel pipe factory."
Well, I went for the interview because this guy kept on calling me back, but it so happened that at that
stage, I had lost my car, I was driving an old little Mini, which was a stick shift, or manual as we call it. The battery was flat on this thing, so I had to push start it.
I went for the the job interview, and when I came out of the interview, the person that interviewed me had to push start my car to get me back home.
I got home, and my wife said to me - "How did it go?"
I said, "Well, I don't know. The interviewer had to push start me, so I don't think they'll be interested in me."
The very next day the employer called me and said:"When can you start?"

I started the following Monday. And as I arrived at the job, the personnel officercame to me and he said to me, "Sir, this job has got traveling allowance attached to it, do you want to take the money now or at the end of the month?" I took the money there and then because we had nothing. We lived off that money, and I paid the gas and fixed the car so that I did not have to push start it anymore.
There God changed our fate, but I want to tell you one thing, I went back into the industry a different man, a man with a different way of working, with purpose. I took a bankrupt company and turned it around in a matter of nine months, from severe loss to profitability, because I was there with a purpose. I did not accept any mediocrity because I was working for Jesus. I had changed, my management style had changed because I realized that God does not go with half measures.
The 3 1/2 years I had been out battling on my own, that was the school of God to teach me to do everything that I do to the Glory of God. I was not a compromiser, I took no half measures. Whatever we promised a customer, we delivered - And God blessed us, and there God changed our fate.But the big thing was that God had CHANGED ME!
The time I had been unemployed and battled to find a job was the schooling of God to do a work in me.
We've got to learn to put our eyes on Jesus and trust Him. I learned from that, that all His ways are beautiful ways. It's all grace and kindness - God can give us anything. God is not poor, God can supply all our needs, but sometimes we need teaching from the Holy Spirit Himself, from the mighty Hand of God Himself to teach us to trust in God to work character in us.
May Jesus Bless You.

Through the fire #1 - Bread and Candy

If we follow Jesus we will be baptized with the Holy Ghost and Fire This happened 25 years ago, when I returned to Jesus after being backslidden for 12 years.
On Youtube

Many people have asked me about my testimony. I made a series about my testimony, which I want to call -"Through the Fire." Because when I seriously came to Jesus and I committed my life to Him, the fire started burning. John the Baptist said, "I baptize you with water, but He Who comes after me, Whose shoelaces I'm not worthy to tie, He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire." When we make that commitment to Jesus and are serious about following Him, then we will go through the fire because we need to be purged and we
need to be cleansed. I can assure you since that day I totally committed my life to Jesus, my life has been fire and I've been through the fire many times, and I'm constantly in the fire.
God takes us through real life, and He teaches us. Jesus will baptise you in the Holy Spirt and in fire. He will teach you His way, but you've got to stick with Him. And it is in the fire that you get to know Him. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they made a decision for God - They said, "Well will not bow down." And then they ended up in the fire and we know what happened to them, God delivered them. It's only when we make that decision for God that we get into the fire.
Many Christians never get into the fire because they never make a decision for God.They're lukewarm. When you are serious with God, then you will go through the fire.
When I made my decision for Jesus and I said, "Lord, this time I want it for real," I was severely back-slidden and I came back to the Lord. It was only then that my real life, my real relationship with Jesus started, but I was immediately in the fire, because I decided to not compromise - I decided to follow Jesus seriously. The first thing that happened is, I changed so much in a short time that I lost my job. I was called in and they said to me, "You don't fit in here anymore," and they dismissed me, they fired me. I was walking out in a matter of minutes, but that was the beginning of the fire. I was jobless, now I got to look for a job.(Where I come from in South Africa there is no unemployment fund) I couldn't find a job for 3 1/2 years. I just couldn't. It was impossible. I would go for an interview, and in this interview, I know I can lick this job, I can do it, I know how. I had the experience, I had the know-how, I had the schooling, and everything.
But God hedged me in. He closed the gates on me, and then I never got the job. I was forced to go and do handiman work, demeaning jobs, because God was shaping me. He closed the doors, and I got to the stage where I just gave up and said, "Lord, everything I try You just break it down." It is when these obstacles come in our way and when God stacks all these problems around us so high that we are forced to look up - then we get to know God.
There was one day that everything was going wrong - our money was getting less, I couldn't find a job, and my wife wasn't too happy with me either. So I went to the shop to go and buy bread, and on my way there, I had two little boys at school and one at home, walking to the shop to buy bread, I thought to myself, well, I'm going to buy a bit of candy for the kids, two of them were at school and one at home. So the one at home, he will take the candy that I bought for his brothers at school and he'll eat it, so I got to hide it. It just struck me right there that I was concerned about my children, and the Holy Spirit said to me, "You, being evil, know how to give what is good for your children - How much more will your Heavenly Father not give you the best?"
And you know, I repented. I said, "Lord, I'm sorry," because I was getting so despondent. I just said, well, I don't know, has God forgotten me? And things were very tight in our house because the money ran out. I went home and I said to my wife -"Honey, I'll make you a cup of tea," and she gave me the stare. I said, "You know what?  We've asked God to supply for us, and He's heard us, and He's concerned about us, and we mustn't worry about it anymore, we must just thank God."
I made a cup of tea, but you know what happened?
That afternoon, somebody called me out of the blue. Nobody knew or told him about my predicament, and he was in a predicament. He was the planner of Dunlop Rubber Company, and he was looking for somebody to help him. They had an export order, and their factory scheduling was in shambles. He was looking for somebody to write them a program, computer software to organize and control a huge export order they had just landed. He called me that afternoon, he came to my place, and I was down and out, our money was running out. He said to me, "When can you come and help me, come and consult to us?" I said to him, "Well, I can come, but I need a deposit." He brought the deposit to my house the next morning!
It was there that we started trusting in God. When I had a job and I was forever worried about everything.
I used to have so many worries in my job that I was fired from, that I would turn around so many times at night on my bed, that the bedsheet would be like a rope underneath me in the morning when I woke up.
God took me through a period of 3 1/2 years without a job, where God just supplied at the time when we needed it, I started trusting and I slept like a baby. I had to learn that God will supply.
Get your eyes on Jesus. God will take you through the fire. He will put you in the fire so that you can look up to Him, and then He will deliver you. But it is not until you get into that fire that you get to trust Him.
You've got to be in the fire first, but you've got to make a decision that's going to land you in the fire. You made that decision because you trust God, because you've taken a stand for Jesus. It's then that you get to know Him. You don't get to know Him on the side, you get to know Him in the fire.
I've been in the fire since I started to follow Jesus Christ with all my heart.
May Jesus Bless You.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I died of a heart attack and live to tell the story

Jesus gave me a second chance