Category Archives: Testimony
The fortified bronze wall that the Lord has made
Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (Jeremiah 15:19-21)
There are times when the Lord God calls his people to be steadfast in his decrees without having to face others. But then there are certain times in which the believer in Christ is faced with those who oppose the decrees of God. If you are one such believer who’s facing such opposition, then this write up is for you.
The Prophet Jeremiah who served the Lord of Hosts as long as he lived, dwelt in a land that was rebellious to God. For they forsook the Lord and burned incense to false gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. Rejecting the Living God still remains a sin to this day, make no mistake about this. And the Lord God knows how to deal with those who are unwilling to repent of their sins, in case the grave sin of worshiping false gods.
Here’s what the Lord God spoke to the Prophet Jeremiah:
For behold, am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:15-19)
A few lessons to learn here:
- The Lord will declare his judgement against those who forsake Him.
- Worshiping false gods is a grave sin and must be rejected at all costs.
- Your heritage and descent is no excuse for sinning.
- Don’t get dismayed by sinners, lest the Lord dismay you in front of sinners.
- When the Lord God makes you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, trust God, for he plans to deliver you from this evil generation.
Being a fortified bronze wall in the New Testament context is the the same as what told to the Prophet Jeremiah, but now is even about staying true to your calling in Jesus Christ when evil doers entice you sin. The Holy Spirit will teach you what to speak in that time!
Let’s read the following Words of Jesus our Lord:
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:8-12)
Christ be with you!
Jesus Heals The Ten Lepers
On his way to Jerusalem in his ministry actually,
Jesus passed by the border between Samaria and Galilee.
There he met some lepers numbering ten,
In that village he healed them, amen!
They called Jesus from a distance afar,
Hoping to be healed of each leprous scar.
“Jesus, master, have pity on us!”
In their misery they called out to Him thus.
Upon Christ’s word to their priest they all went,
As they walked they got healed with no lament.
One of those cleansed did greatly rejoice,
And came back praising God in a loud voice.
He was the only one of the ten lepers who returned,
To give thanks to the Lord as Jesus had discerned.
The Lord Jesus questioned this Samaritan who became fine,
As to where were all the other nine?
For the Lord Jesus heals because he is faithful,
And expects those healed to be grateful.
Remember Jesus to the Leper did solemnly tell,
“Rise and go: your faith had made you well.”
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Bible reference : Gospel of St Luke 17:1-19
Fear not for the Lord is risen
Fear not for the Lord is risen,
Move out of any doubt filled prison.
Remember his Holy Word, remember his miracles,
And also his resurrection prophesied by God’s oracles.
Fear not for the Lord is risen,
Walk in faith in the Great Commission.
Jesus Christ is the Lord’s name,
By his grace the Gospel you proclaim.
Fear not for God has defeated death,
When to his son Jesus he again gave breath.
Those who believe will share in the first resurrection,
And get to walk in the new Jerusalem; all perfection.
Fear not any trouble nor any persecution,
For in Christ you have victory and absolution.
Stay away from sin, idleness and unbelief,
Guard you faith from each deceptive thief.
Fear not for your reward is great,
As for the Lord your heart does elate.
Hold on to the hope of Christ’s resurrection,
And stay put in your walk in God’s direction.
A Testimony Of A Former Hezbollah Muslim Soldier (Video)
Note: This video is from Living For Christ Channel on Youtube.com
Don’t be selfish after getting your blessings
Recently I happened to meet a preacher who went a long rant about people who came to his church, got their miracles and then stopped coming to his preaching services. Here’s one such real life example he keeps facing; people who are unemployed came to him for prayers. Then those people get jobs by getting trough the job interviews. These people didn’t earlier get jobs for months. They then come to testify in church, in front of the entire congregation as to how after being prayed over by the preacher, they received their blessings from God and have so got a great paying job. Fast forward this to like three months later and the preacher then observed that many of these who received their jobs miraculously are nowhere to be seen at the church services. In fact now the very jobs they got blessed with are cited as reasons for not attending church, pathetic! This preacher was visibly upset for a moment when he mentioned this challenge he faced but yet after that kept praying for others who are in need of jobs etc.
Then there’s a thing that I too faced. I’d pray for people and they’d get married and but then reduce their church attendance, while there are many other couples who do attend church even after marriage. They then will avoid any religious seminars and guess what; being married is cited as the reason for that. Then few years later when the child is born and is sick, they are in ‘need’ of me for prayers. Only out of concern for the child do I pray for his or her well-being and they recover. After that if I try to contact the parents, they again go non responsive. Utterly ungrateful and opportunistic people!
Due to this, I later on modified my strategy towards such people. Basically, first identify such people and pray for discernment. Then don’t help unless explicitly asked for in a non ambiguous manner. And only then help as usual but expect them to not be grateful later on. So don’t invest too much into them. Instead go on to help the next person God sends in your life.
So what’s my point?
My point is don’t be selfish after getting your blessings. Firstly, honour the Lord God and don’t miss out on praying to him and loving him. Secondly, have regard towards those who prayed for you in your suffering. Thirdly, remember that miracles are not for your selfish agendas but for the glory of God. Finally, don’t make your blessings as an excuse to neglect coming to church nor an as excuse to reduce praying and avoid reading the Bible.
Now to people who still think all they need is a blessing and then disappear from doing their responsibility towards God, well I have bad news for you. You can try to give all the reasons you want but the Lord God knows the deceitful and the good right from the heart. The maker of all hearts knows really well how to judge them and obviously there is a Final judgement that will soon happen. And just to let you know, not every preacher will allow you to take them for granted. Even myself made a strategy as mentioned above. But let share just one strategy which another set of preachers use; don’t grant the miracle unless the person shows interest in continuing in the Word God. Rude as this strategy sounds to the selfish of heart, the good of heart don’t mind this at all.
Let me make it real to you. At a preaching convention, there was a woman in need of a miracle for her baby. Now this preaching was residential over a span of five days. This woman was desperate and was only looking for the preacher to lay hands on the baby so that her child recovers and then she’d immediately leave the convention half way. Signs were already showing up. She was skipping prayers and mentioning the baby as the reason. Arriving late in the preaching hall and citing the baby as the reason. Keeping on saying that she has things at home to attend to and what not. At the time of healing prayers the preacher felt the power of God at work. He prayed and a lot of people received their healing. Now that woman came to him for praying for her baby. But he realized in his mind that if he grants her the healing she will immediately leave the place. So he told her to wait till the final day of the convention. She was reluctant but had no choice.
Before any of you think what that preacher did wrong, please continue to observe what happened next. The preacher kept preaching the Word of God in its fullness and emphasized on believing in the Gospel, repentance from sins, faith for life etc. These are very vital topics in the life of a believer in Christ. Now on the fifth day the woman went back to the preacher and asked him to pray over her baby and this time he asked the Lord God to heal the baby of so and so disease. The moment the woman realized her child is healed she immediately made an excuse in the name of the baby and left the convention. The preacher was smart enough to call her only at the last minutes of the convention. He said he didn’t lack mercy towards the baby but knew in advance that the woman was more interested in the miracle than hearing the Word of God if the baby was healed first. Because he prayed that the baby’s health won’t worsen in those five days but only that the healing would occur last day.
Now, I myself don’t use his method about praying for people but I do get his point loud and clear; some people once they receive their miracle may make excuses to avoid hearing the Gospel, so do whatever you can to stop that.
My advice to those preaching and healing others in the name of Jesus Christ, would be that don’t let people treat you like an MVM. Some people incorrectly feel that they are entitled to all the time and efforts of those who pray for others and they don’t feel grateful towards them. Don’t be an MVM but a true minister of the Word of God. Be a pleaser of God instead of the people.
You might ask what is a “MVM”. It’s called as a Miracle Vending Machine. So again for those preaching healing in Jesus’ name, please remember that miracles are secondary and the glory to God comes first. Ensure that you explain the love and mercy of God as mentioned in Gospel and then pray for healing and miracles for those who come to you. And tell those people who might think the job they will get is due to their own ability then why are they asking you to pray for them? You can also tell them if they want a good spouse in marriage then why are they expecting you to fast for them but themselves don’t want to fast? Obviously, you don’t need to blunt too much but at the same time don’t be anyone’s door mat either especially when you know the gift of healing and miracles are not yours to claim fame for but are of God’s alone who is working through you.
Christ be with you!
Photos of preaching in Pakistan
Here are few photos a few preachers based off in South Africa who were preaching in Pakistan. South Africa now preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ to various nations. The photo’s were taken in September 15-28th 2015, around the city of Lahore, Pakistan.
But first let’s know our man on the ground. Pastor Saleem Saddique (Graduate, Rhema Bible College, SA) from Tell The Nations Church, Pakistan. Here’s a photo of him in South Africa.
Pastor Saleem Saddique preaching in Pakistan
Here come my brothers in Christ, Martin Lloyd and in the next image Chris Chitts. Both are from South Africa. Pastor Saleem doubled up as their translator apart from being their host.
The preaching was spread over a couple of days. So expect them wearing up different clothes each day.
A baptism in Pakistan
Praying for a Pakistani man.
More preaching – Now in a ghetto.
Many people including those who were sick arrived for the preaching in the ghetto for their healing. The reviews were amazing!
Ministering to the people. Couldn’t get the name of the preacher in the checked shirt but I do wish him well.
Praying over a child.
Pastor André Smith doing the preaching as well as praying over others.
A little camaraderie after preaching.
A mission trip review.
Courtesy of the photos : harvest-timenews.com
Participating ministries were : Spirit Formed Ministries, South Africa and Harvest Time Ministries, Praetoria, South Africa.
Disciples of hope 