adventure # 22: my memories of Heaven

Hello dear friends and fellow adventurers

Explore Your Story is drawing to an end. There are only 4 videos left in the series and today's upload is the first of those videos. The final 4 videos are all about Heaven - where Heaven is, what Heaven is like, the proximity of Heaven to Earth...

In my opinion, I've kept the best for last. Yet I'm aware that few Christians share my passion for Heaven these days. Pastors don't preach about Heaven. Perhaps they feel out of their depth with such a subject, perhaps they wonder what the point is, perhaps they feel like they enter the realm of science-fiction when they see what the Bible says about Heaven. Whatever the reasons are, the truth is, you will seldom, if ever, hear a sermon about Heaven. Its almost like Heaven is an accessory that you can add on when you buy the product  - you can buy this tassle and add it on to your handbag if you like, but its the handbag itself that is really important.

And yet..in Colossians 1: 4, 5 Paul says the following:

"..we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints - the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in Heaven."

Both faith and love spring from, have their origin, in something that is stored in Heaven for you. There's a hope, Paul says, that is not to be found on Earth - rather, it is stored up in Heaven for you. This hope is the consummation of everything that Jesus has done for you. Its the future, the Heavenly future, that Jesus has won for you. And Paul makes the point that your life on Earth is hugely affected by whether or not you know about, and hold on to,  this hope. Even your faith in Christ and your ability to love these very imperfect fellow Christians, is based on this. So, if you find your faith on Earth is wavering, the solution is..fix your thoughts on Heaven. If you find you are struggling to love the saints on Earth, the solution is..fix your thoughts on Heaven.

You can begin to do so right now, and for the next 4 weeks, as you engage with this first video.

adventure # 12: angels all around

Hello dear friends and fellow adventurers

I've been promising you that I will share my encounters with angels with you - and I am finally delivering. Today's post and video is part 1 in a 3-part series all about angels. The first two posts and videos focus on my personal experiences with angels and the 3rd post and video is an in-depth Biblical study on angels.

So here are my suggestions for how we can immerse ourselves in the topic of angels this week.

Monday

Watch the video. Here it is for your convenience.

Tuesday

Read Chapter 17 of my book. It is here that I detail the intervention that my angels created for me.  

Wednesday

Meditate on the following Scripture and give thanks to God for what it is saying. 

Psalm 91:11-12

“For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” -Psalm 91:11-12

God offers His pure and selfless love through the use of His angels. According to the psalmist, God commands many angels to guard us. God commands those faithful spirits who are nearest to Him, who come from Him and are marked by Him to guard us in all our ways. God’s promise through the psalmist to Jesus applies to us as well.

Thursday

Meditate on this Scripture today and give thanks to God for what it is saying. 

Matthew 18:10

“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my Heavenly Father.” -Matthew 18:10

This is one of the key passages in the Bible regarding guardian angels. There is no doubt that good angels help protect us. They also reveal information and minister to believers in general. The big question for many people is whether each person is assigned a guardian angel. While Scripture nowhere states that an angel is assigned to every individual, we know that we are in the presence of angels, and they are here for good.

Friday

You are surely aware that Jews gather with their family and friends on a Friday evening for Shabbat. Listen to these two versions of a favourite Shabbat song, in which the angels are acknowledged and welcomes. Let me know in the Comments below which version you prefer. 

Saturday

Just go out into Nature and enjoy God's good provision, knowing that angels are all around to guard you and minister to you according to God's perfect will. 

Sunday

Go to church - its the one place you are assured of being in the presence of the Lord's good angels! 

In next Monday's video, I continue my explanation of my angelic encounters..so I do hope you'll keep a lookout for that. Until then..Avante! 

adventure # 3: the faithfulness of God

This week I'm continuing what I began last week..an adventure into the faithfulness of God. Many places in Scripture talk about the faithfulness of God and many songs have been written about it, like:

Lamentations 3: 22, 23 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

and

Psalm 119: 89, 90 "Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations." 

Yet, despite the fact that Scripture is loaded with these kind of references, we still find it rather difficult to believe, don't we? The reason we find it difficult to believe is because of the flesh that is still present with us. But I think its incredibly important that we make an effort to fight against this tendency, to break through the darkness of this kind of thinking, into the light of truth. A firm footing on a God you perceive to be faithful will see you through life; but a wobbly footing on a God you're not sure of, is going to only cause you to stumble and trip..its a bit like trying to run with a nasty little stone in your shoe. This week, we're going to get rid of that nasty little stone and embrace the truth. And the truth is..God IS faithful. 

What is faithfulness? The Hebrew word that we translate in English as 'faithfulness' means 'steadfastness, firmness, fidelity'. A faithful person would be someone who never changes their mind, never says anything they don't 100% mean, always does what they said they were going to do, never has a disloyal thought towards you. In other words, a person of impeccable and faultless character, a person who you could always, always believe and trust. 

God is described as being such a Person. And the more we get to know Him, the more we can testify to this fact. There are three main ways that we can get to know God better - by studying His Word, by contemplating His working in our own lives and by learning to hear and follow His voice. And so this is what we're going to focus on this week. 

Monday

Watch the video. Here it is for your convenience. Don't forget to comment and to share your experiences either under this blogpost, on the youtube channel or on the Change Your Life Facebook page. 

Tuesday

God's faithfulness cannot be separated from His Word. He is, in fact, faithful to His Word. The more we study His Word, the clearer it becomes that He is indeed faithful to what He says. One of the best ways to study the Bible in order to gain an unshakeable certainty regarding the faithfulness of God, is to use the Biblical Theology approach to Scripture that sees it as one, unfolding story from Genesis to Revelation. The course that I wrote in collaboration with my husband The Big Picture is based on this approach to Scripture. Go here to find out more about this. 

Wednesday

Pray in tongues for 5 minutes. Then worship to this song. 

Pray again in tongues for 5 minutes. Then worship to this song.

Pray again in tongues for 5 minutes. Now worship to this song. 

Friday

Spend time today reading through and contemplating this devotion inspired by Oswald Chambers.

Click here

Saturday

One of the best ways to gain faith for NOW is to contemplate God's faithfulness to you in the past. Spend some time today worshipping the Lord and asking him to speak to you about his faithfulness to you in the past. Ask him to remind you of times and events and incidences that display his faithfulness and that will build up your faith. 

Sunday

Go to church. Think of it as an act of faithfulness. 

One last thing before I go. Last Sunday I had an amazing vision experience during worship that relates to adventure #2: the fragrance of Christ. I was deeply in worship when I perceived there to be numerous angels present. They formed a sort of avenue and as I 'walked' down that avenue I realised that they were escorting me to Jesus. When I reached Jesus he did an unusual thing..he pushed up his sleeve and rubbed his bare arm against mine. Immediately a beautiful fragrance was released that I could actually smell. I was so excited because this is the first time that I have experienced the fragrance of Christ since my encounter with him that I write about in my book. So, like I said in my last blogpost, there really is no harm in asking him to reveal himself to you in that way. I asked..and he did! 

That's it for this week. I'm looking forward to your Comments. Until next time, Avante! 

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adventure # 2: the fragrance of Christ

Sometimes I think that we don't take the Bible literally enough. Take this week's topic for example - the fragrance of Christ. We look at Bible passages like 2 Corinthians 2 and we see that 'fragrance' or 'aroma' is being used as an analogy in these verses - and so we assume that any association between Christ and fragrance is always metaphorical, never literal. But this is not the case. This week, we're going to spend time looking at what the Bible says about the fragrance of Christ. I really didn't intend for that to be the subject of our second adventure but once you've watched today's video, you'll understand how it happened.

Dearest adventurers, I hope that you are enjoying the Explore Your Story adventure so far. I know that many of you are still in the process of getting hold of my book and of catching up while others are chomping at the bit, counting the hours till the next adventure gets posted. Wherever you are, it doesn't matter because each video, each week's adventure, does really stand on its own although you will obviously get more out of it by keep up with things. 

Many of you echoed my heart last week by talking about #childlikefaith and how to return to that place, as well as how to ensure that we don't now rob other children of their #childlikefaith. I'd love to hear your Comments on that. 

In the meantime, here are my suggestions for this week inspired by the video that was definitely one of those bundu-bashes I spoke about last week. I'll leave it to you to decide what you can manage time-wise and, if you are registered for this adventure look out for an email from me.  If you are not registered, and you'd like to be, simple leave your email address and name in the Comments section below. 

Monday

Watch the video. Here it is for your convenience. Don't forget to comment and to share your experiences either under this blogpost, on the youtube channel or on the Change Your Life Facebook page. 

Tuesday

Learn more about the holy anointing oil. The holy anointing oil (Hebrew: shemen ha mishchah), mentioned in hundreds of Old Testament verses, formed an integral part of the ordination of the priesthood and the High Priest as well as in the consecration of the articles of the Temple. Once anointed with the holy anointing oil the person or object became consecrated to the service of the Lord. Its described in Exodus 30: 23-25  “Also take for yourself quality spices—five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil.”

This unique blend of spices was used for the anointing oil and only for the anointing oil and it was a type of the Holy Spirit; the anointing in the natural is a prophetic act of empowerment by the Holy Spirit. A. W. Tozer put it this way: "The fragrance of the anointing oil was unique. If someone went near an Old Testament priest, he could say immediately, "I smell an anointed man. I smell the holy oil". The aroma, the pungency, the fragrance was there. Such an anointing could not be kept a secret."

As we know, all the things associated with the Tabernacle and the Temple are Earthly copies of Heavenly realities (go read Hebrews 8 and 9) - including the presence of fragrant oil. Jesus, our High Priest, is anointed with a unique and actual fragrance, and so God's people were instructed to anoint the earthly High Priest with fragrant oils. 

Why is this even important? Two reasons: it makes Jesus all the more real to us and it strengthens our trust in the Bible. 

Wednesday 

The various fragrant oils have prophetic significance. Take frankincense and myrrh, for example. These oils were two of the gifts given to Messiah at his birth, representing his role as High Priest and Prophet and speaking prophetically of who he was and what he would accomplish on Earth. Frankincense was burned morning and evening in the Temple to symbolise prayer and intercession and myrrh was used as a burial spice and in purification rites and speaks of the deliverance work of Jesus' suffering and death. 

Can you use it?

A combination of frankincense and myrrh is anathema to snakes, it drives them away. As in the natural, so in the spiritual - this is one of the most effective oils to use for deliverance prayer.

Frankincense oil can offer a variety of health benefits including relieving chronic stress and anxiety, reducing pain and inflammation and boosting immunity.

Thursday

How much do you know about the gift of discerning of spirits? I think I am going to do a whole video just on that gift and how it works but for now, suffice it to say, that 'smell' is one of the way in which this gift 'discerns' the nature of the spirit present. I'm attaching a link below to a good general article about the gift of discerning of spirit (although she doesn't mention the 'smell' factor).

Click here

Friday

Have you ever experienced or become aware of the presence of the Lord, via fragrance? As I shared you with in my book and on today's video, it was my very first impression of Him. I can't remember ever experiencing it since but I know that there are people who do. According to them, the fragrance is usually released during times of deep and intimate worship. Spend time worshipping Jesus today - and I see no harm in asking him to reveal himself to you via fragrance. During your time of worship pray in tongues for 15 minutes. 

Saturday

Consider this verse: 

Philippians 4:18

“But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God."

Paul likens the gift that the believers in Philippi sent him to the Old Testament sacrifices made to God - and he says it comes up before God as a beautiful perfume. Wouldn't you like to send your Heavenly Father a beautiful perfume today? Which one of His children or those in service to Him can you bless with a gift?

Sunday

Go to church. Even if you don't smell Heavenly aromas there every Sunday. Go to church. 

That's it for this week. I'm looking forward to your Comments. Until then, avante! 

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Adventure #1

In this week, I did two things that I haven't done for ages - I fasted, and I spent a whole morning just worshipping the Lord and praying in tongues. The fast happened because our church called for a time of corporate fasting. I don't know why (well, I do know why, it's called apathy) but I haven't fasted for quite a few years now so, I'm not going to lie, I found it tough going. But then..suddenly..two days later, I found myself doing something else I haven't done for ages and that is, spending an entire Saturday morning just worshipping the Lord and praying in tongues. And out of that time came a lot of stuff to share with you guys as well as some private ministry from the Lord.

So, you tell me..coincidence? I don't think so.

Dear adventurers, it's exciting to think that in merely drawing near to God, we end up activating very real encounters - but I'm also aware of your busy schedules so I don't want to load you with too much. I'll leave it to you to decide what you can manage from my suggestions below for this week. For those of you who are actually registered on the Explore Your Story adventure, you'll also receive this list in an email so you don't have to keep coming back here every day.

Monday

Watch the first of our Explore Your Story videos. Here it is for your convenience. Don't forget to comment and share your experiences either under this blogpost or on the youtube channel.

Tuesday

Pray in tongues for 5 minutes. If you don't pray in tongues, you never have before, you're scared of it, you're not sure if its Biblical or for today..or whatever, just let me know and we can chat further about it. 

Wednesday

In the video I make mention of the time I 'flew' over Table Mountain in a panel-van. I don't want to get too much into this right now because I am going to do a whole video on translocation but in the meantime, check these Scriptures out and have a little think about them:

“… and immediately the boat was at the land to which they went” (John 6:21)

“…. the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more…… but Philip was found at Azotus; and, passing through , he preached in all the cities….” (Acts 8:39-40)

Thursday

In the video I also mention that I would love it if you all wrote your stories down and we could publish them together. I know of at least one of you who is doing that already. How about you? It doesn't have to be your whole life story..it can even be just one story of a time when you really experienced God as real in your life or the story of how you came to be a believer. Let me know if you're up for this. 

Friday

Pray in tongues for 10 minutes. 

Saturday

Close your windows, curtains and doors and worship like nobody's watching - 'cos nobody is, except the angels and the Father and Jesus and the Spirit and, who knows, some other spiritual beings that might be hanging around (not that they'll hang around very long once you start worshipping of course!) hmmmm that's quite a lot actually. Here are some of my suggestions for worship music I love:

https://youtu.be/r7p09AgfvQw (if you got saved in the 80's, this music will especially take you straight to the Throne Room)

https://youtu.be/aQEgS5_3nac (if you got saved in the 90's, this will especially release your heart)


https://youtu.be/huFra1mnIVE (talk about dynamite coming in small packages, this is one of the best live worship experiences EVER - and BTW, how gorgeous is her makeup?)

Sunday

Go to church. Even if they don't practice flying over Table Mountain there. Go to church. 

So, that's it for this week. Until next time. Avante.