50 Good Years

Today I am thinking of my parents, Robert and Yvonne Pole who have been married 50 years today. A remarkable milestone in the era in which we live. Few people make it for one or another reason. Very often because they just cannot get along. My parents are still each other's best friends and such a wonderful example of what a great marriage should be. Always speaking good about and to each other. Always prayerful. Always hopeful. Never criticising. One piece of advice from my Dad I will always remember is "Never criticise, condemn or complain". He said he got this from a Dale Carnegie Course he once did. My mother's advice to me: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". Wow.

My father still spends hours in his home gym (he has always loved to exercise). He says that is when he talks to God. My mother spends hours tending her garden. And they both love to watch the birds, dozens of them come to feed at the bird feeder in their garden daily, and quite often I get a text message from Mom to tell me the woolly headed herons are once again in their garden. Sweet.

I know that Mom bombards heaven with her prayers every morning for a couple of hours. She once showed me a creased and torn prayer list which she'd prayed over for the previous 10 years. She pointed out 57 names on there that she was praying for, for financial release.She said that of those names, only 5 were still waiting for answers. There were other names there for other needs. Many of those prayers have been answered yet she continues to remember their names before heaven. Some of these people will never know that my Mom prayed for them, daily, for decades They are friends of friends of mine who live in other countries.

What a heritage I have. I feel so moved today just thinking about it. Joy and happiness to you, Mom and Dad! May the Goodness of God continue to be your portion. And many more years of happiness here and in heaven one day.

The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven

No other book on heaven impacted my life as much as this one. I finished reading it in 2 days this past week. What I loved the most is the tangible presence of God in the room whilst reading it also Alex's relationship with God and the fact he has such a continual link with heaven, angels and God that is available to us all...by faith. And I really got the sense of time - present, past and future - being an earthly dimension and that heaven is right HERE, right NOW and we can all experience it if we only believe. Living each moment in the light of eternity.

Here is the publisher's description of the book:

In 2004, Kevin Malarkey and his six-year-old son, Alex, suffered an horrific car accident. The impact from the crash paralyzed Alex-and medically speaking, it was unlikely that he could survive. "I think Alex has gone to be with Jesus," a friend told the stricken dad. But two months later, Alex awoke from a coma with an incredible story to share. Of events at the accident scene and in the hospital while he was unconscious. Of the angels that took him through the gates of heaven itself. Of the unearthly music that sounded just terrible to a six-year-old. And, most amazing of all . . . Of meeting and talking to Jesus. The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven is the true story of an ordinary boy's most extraordinary journey. As you see heaven and earth through Alex's eyes, you'll come away with new insights on miracles, life beyond this world, and the power of a father's love.

If you haven't already read it, buy a copy this week - and a spare one for a friend, it is definitely the kind of book you want to pass on.

Planning for Success

Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know – do not distinguish and recognise, have knowledge of and understand. Jeremiah 33:3

I have not spoken in secret, in a corner of the land of darkness; I did not call [you] to a fruitless service saying, Seek Me for nothing but promised a just reward. I the Lord speak righteousness-the truth [trustworthy, straight forward correspondence between deeds and words], I declare the things that are right.

God will always give us the exact right answer and plan of action if we seek Him. God’s plans for our lives are already blessed.

Roll your works upon the Lord-commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will and so shall your plans be established and succeed. Proverb 16:4

No Future Without Forgiveness

Archbishop Desmond Tutu gestures after receiving the Jamnalal Baja International Award in Cape Town, June 25, 2001.  The award, named after a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, recognises the promotion of Gandhian values outside India. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings --- Image by © Reuters/CORBIS

It is Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday today, an event which has been widely publicised in local press this week. This is a man who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his role in changing the landscape of South Africa and standing boldly against the Apartheid system in the face of great opposition. In the New South Africa he led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (April 1996 - June 1998) which at the time brought great healing to many hearts.

What impresses me most about his life is that he is known to be a Man of Prayer, punctuating his daily life with hours of private (personal) and corporate prayer.

In his book “No Future Without Forgiveness” (©1999), the Archbishop says “We happened to have been blessed with leaders who were ready to take risks – when you embark on the business of asking for and giving forgiveness, you are taking a risk. If you ask another person for forgiveness you may be spurned; the one you have injured may refuse to forgive you. The risk is even greater if you are the injured party, wanting to offer forgiveness. The culprit may be arrogant, obdurate or blind; not ready or willing to apologise or ask for forgiveness in their turn. He or she thus cannot receive the forgiveness they are offered. Such rejection can jeopardise the whole enterprise. Our leaders were ready in South Africa to say they were willing to walk the path of confession, forgiveness and reconciliation with all the hazards that lay along the way. And it seems their gamble might be paying off since our land has not been overwhelmed by the catastrophe that had seemed so inevitable.”

When he received news that he had prostrate cancer, journalists asked him if he was worried now that he had a terminal disease. He said, “We are all living with a terminal disease. It is called life.”

He also said, “when you have a potentially terminal disease this gives new intensity to live”. By allowing the mind to focus on the important things in life you are able to live your remaining life to the fullest. You spend time with the things that matter to you - love of family, sounds of music, and the beauty of nature, God’s own creation.

A remarkable man. An amazing life.

Extravagant Giving

A number of years ago a friend of mine, at that time a school teacher earning a very low salary, told me she had just been through a period of several months where many of the people in the community (staff, students, parents and others) had approached her constantly for cash loans or gifts. The needs were great, and she had recently given half her monthly salary to  help someone to pay for a funeral. She had begun to struggle financially as a result and was feeling "used". And resentful. And then God challenged her with Luke 6:30 where it says Give away to everyone who begs of you who is in want of necessities, and of him who takes away from you your goods, do not demand or require them back again.

She said, Well God, I will do as you say but then I need you to keep me in the black and not allow me to go into the red in my bank account. Something changed. From that moment the "asks" dropped off dramatically and she knew that the ones who did ask were somehow sent to her by God. And her bank account never looked better.

This week God highlighted another similar verse which appears later on in the same chapter - Luke 6:38 Give, and gifts will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into the pouch formed by the bosom of your robe and used as a bag.

Well, soon after being reminded of this verse I went into a supermarket with only a little cash on me. A well-dressed man approached me and said he had just got out of prison. He was asking me for money. To my shame, although I have always thought of myself as a generous, giving person, I did not give that man the last of my cash. I said I can't help you. I felt dreadful within minutes after the lost opportunity to be a blessing to someone in need. May God forgive my stinginess and give me another opportunity to be generous.

In the past, I have always found God is so generous, and when I do give away my last cent (or bank notes) I am always abundant and overflowing in blessings soon after. I remember hearing a testimony once of a wealthy businessman who said, before he "made it" in business, he often gave away the last of his cash to someone in need and had to walk hours home after a meeting instead of catching the tube or train since he'd given away the money he would have spent on the tube (he lived in London). At the time (years later) of giving this testimony the man owned a major international corporation that brought him a personal income of £25 million per year. I have no doubt that Mark 4:25 is true. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.

God rewards our generosity to those in need and pays us back with interest at a level way beyond our giving. I need a bit more practice it seems. At living generously.

Waiting

Waiting...

There are some things in my life I feel I have been waiting forever for. And sometimes I think, maybe this will never happen. On days like this I take courage from this passage in Isaiah 30:18-23

But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you.
He's gathering strength to show mercy to you.
God takes the time to do everything right—everything.
Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you'll find it's grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he'll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he'll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: "This is the right road. Walk down this road." ...

God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the Day God heals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.

Waiting produces great fruit in our lives. Patience. Kindness. Compassion. There is nothing a person can do to speed things up. The best thing we can do is to relinquish every way we would try to force God’s hand to produce the answer, and just rest in Him. He will do it in His time. And Eternity is time enough.

Moving mountains

Cathedral Peak mountain range, Drakensberg, South Africa

Yesterday someone gave me a scripture linked to a prophetic word which made me research deeper into what God’s Word says about removing obstacles from our path. It could be that you need a financial or business breakthrough, or a healing, or a relationship issue resolved. All of these things can seem to be like a mountain, or like a solid metal gate that we cannot pass through. But God! My faith is strengthened and built up by meditating on these verses:

And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake 1 Kings 19:11

Is not My word like fire that consumes all that cannot endure the test? says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces the rock of most stubborn resistance? Jeremiah 23:27

I will go before you and level the mountains to make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron. And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name. Isaiah 45:2-3

For He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron apart. Psalm 107:16

Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. Mark 11:23

You cannot actually meditate on a verse if you don’t memorise it. The secret is to memorise it, and then to speak it out, often, during the day. Once memorized, you don’t need a piece of paper or Bible to help you. You can pull that verse back into your mind anytime you want to. In Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 2:8 God says we should meditate on His Word day and night. That word meditate from the original Hebrew means to utter, mutter, speak, moan, imagine, muse, roar, growl, groan. This is Biblical meditation. What I love is it is something real and tangible and practical that I can DO.

There is an amazing story of Simon the Tanner who moved the Mokattam Mountain in Cairo Egypt some time between 972AD and 975AD recorded here in Wikipedia.

Nothing is impossible to those who believe. So let’s move the mountains! Do it.

Amazing Provision

I lived in Cape Town for a season. During this time I shared a house with a friend, Belinda. Every week, on a Friday, she would invite people from the local community to a stunning meal which she would prepare with grace and imagination. Belinda is an amazing cook, and she always managed to turn each meal into a festive celebration of life. But this particular week, the money had run out. Literally. I said to her, ok, let’s trust God. I know that when you pray, you need to be very specific in your requests. So we prayed according to Mark 11:23 ..whatever you ask for in prayer, believe – trust and be confident – that it is granted to you, and you will get it. We asked for provision for a stunning roast chicken and vegetables home cooked meal. In faith, we actually invited all the guests and told them to be there at 6pm on Friday for dinner.

It had been raining heavily for at least 3 days, but on the Thursday, I walked out to the postbox at the gate, and found a thick sodden envelope posted to me by my sister in England. Inside the envelope were six soggy R100 notes (about $100 at the time)! Enough to create the most spectacular meal for our Friday night celebration meal. The envelope must have been sitting in the post box for 3 days, it was so wet. My sister had said she didn’t get to change her currency at the airport so posted it to me. Well, frankly, it was a miracle the envelope wasn’t stolen on the way (which happens 99% of the time). But it reminded me of the verse “Before you called, I answered” because the answer to our prayer was already on its way at the time we prayed. This is that verse in the New Living Translation: I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! Isaiah 65:24. 

Amazing.

How to Raise the Dead

Raising the Dead promises and dreams of God over your life..

I was so encouraged recently when I listened to Marc Bredenkamp’s teaching on “Raising the Dead”. If you click on the link you can listen to it online too and gain more insight. In fact, you will probably want more after reading my notes (where I quote practically verbatim, I was blown away by this teaching and the words are powerful): 

When God gives you a Promise, He is giving it to you in order for you to FIGHT with it! As a rule God will give you the promise and He will never tell you the problems but there will always be a satanic contradiction. FACTS are always subject to change by the power of truth! So when you receive a promise from God in whatever way God chooses to speak to you, you have the Sword of the Spirit which is also known as the judicial punishment of the breath of God* which also gives you the ability to punish all disobedience in relation to any demonic force that chooses to exalt itself against the knowledge of God concerning your life. Once we receive that Promise we need to respond and obey according to the Word of God. 1 Tim 1:18: This charge I commit to you concerning the prophecies previously made over you that BY THEM you wage the good warfare. 

Question:  How do you wage a good war? 

Answer:   With your Promise, with your prophecy. 

God is speaking but nothing is happening until someone on earth begins to prophesy relating to the subject according to the WILL of God, not according to the “suggestion” or the “facts”. 

WHEN you do that, in the spirit, there is an establishment that takes place. IT COMES TOGETHER! In Ezekiel 37:9 “prophesy to the breath” in Hebrew means, prophesy to the air, prophesy to the atmosphere. 

We need to vocalize to the atmosphere that which God has said, on a continual basis, UNTIL that which is DEAD, comes back to LIFE.

* One of the definitions of the word used for the sword of the spirit (Eph 6:17) machaira is "judicial sword" for a full explanation listen to the teaching by Marc Bredenkamp by clicking on this Link:Sermon: Marc Bredenkamp

God you Promised..

There are days when the promise of God over our lives seems to fade and we wonder if there ever will be a season when things might be different than the present reality. It seems especially hard when the promise is for something quite spectacular. It seems the bigger the dream or promise or vision over our lives is, the longer the wait and delay in its turning into a reality. We can know why. We can even know how to get there (although the “way” is sometimes blurred and obscured from our vision) It doesn’t make the journey any easier. In these moments I continue to take comfort from God's Word. 

Stay alert! I am God, the God of everything living. Is there anything I can't do? Jeremiah 32:27

The day is coming when I will fulfil the good promise which I made to you..Jeremiah 33:14

Persistent Prayer

We have all experienced times when we’ve felt disheartened because our prayers weren’t answered quickly. Jesus said that we are not to give up but must continue to pray, even though it takes time for our prayer to be answered.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus gave the parable of the widow and the indifferent judge. She was facing a desperate situation and was unable to find help anywhere. She had an adversary, it was a difficult situation and involved spiritual warfare. It was extremely hard to keep on praying. Her answers were delayed. But even the disinterested judge gave an answer to the widow’s plea as a result of her tenacity.

When facing a situation like this, we need to continue to cry out to God and and to pray frequently, and stay focused on our prayer, do not give up. Pray in the early mornings, pray late at night. Pray with fasting. Know that we are loved in Jesus. Believe and trust in God, do not give up, do not pull back.

Inspired by a teaching on the subject by Dr David Yonggi Cho.

Persistence

Have you ever seen a worried bird?

For many people, life on earth can be extremely stressful. Whichever end of the spectrum you live, whether you are barely surviving or have millions in your personal bank account, happily married or desperately seeking, it doesn’t matter. In the flash of an eye, everything can change. For better or for worse. The news is full of stories about people who have been on both sides of the coin. We hear almost every day of a billionaire banker, politician or celebrity who fell from grace. Or a story of someone who suddenly comes into a great inheritance, changing their life circumstances dramatically. Or a lost love coming to light again.

In our most desolate moments, all we need to do is look outside at the birds. Even just one little bird can make all the difference to our outlook on life. They don’t worry, they’re always singing. And they always look pretty and well nourished. Jesus said, “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.” (Luke 12:27-30)

Seagull on Wilderness Beach, Garden Route, South Africa