Sandra

The fruit of the Spirit. At school (www.charisbiblecollege.nl) we recently discussed the fruit of the Spirit. It was explained so beautifully using a mandarin as an example; the fruit of the Spirit is like a mandarin orange, one fruit with several beautiful segments. It is the same with the fruit of the Spirit; it is one fruit with different parts: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The one I want to highlight now is self-control. There was a time when I had quite a bit of trouble controlling myself when it came to eating, drinking, and exercising (and especially the lack of it). I ate poorly, drank too much soda, and the only movement I had was from the couch and back, and at work from my desk to the toilet and back, LOL. I wasn’t really treating my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. In addition to Romans 12:1, God pointed out to me that my body was to be a living sacrifice, and I had to take better care of it.  And especially because I already possessed self-control! Namely, as fruit of the Spirit. In the Spirit, we already possess all those things spoken of in Galatians 5:22. We just have to learn to draw from this. This is different for everyone, and some people have a revelation about it more quickly than others, and that’s okay. But the fact that we already possess it is a truth we can stand on. The moment we chose for King Jesus, our old nature was removed from us, and we received God’s nature complete and sealed with all the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:17, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6). Mmm, okay, there was still a learning process there, because if I already have all these things in the Spirit, how do I see them manifested in the natural? I thought about it for a while and prayed about it. In the meantime, I asked God to help me to at least make better choices regarding healthier eating and exercise. That went very well after a while, and I also started to lose weight. /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 05-08-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} Proclaim what you already have I watched a sermon one morning that explained very practically, when you react or act in a way that is not in line with the fruit of the Spirit, you can actually say in short, that you are reacting in your flesh! If we mind the things of the flesh, then we’ll be after the flesh; the physical realm will dominate us. We won’t be able to please God (Romans 8:8) or experience the victory that’s available to us. To unleash God’s power and life, we must conquer your flesh by constantly focusing on who we are and what we have in spirit. Well, that was an eye-opener. I could do something with that! When we are aware of reacting in our flesh, we also know that we have to crucify this. But especially the part of becoming aware when I am in my flesh, that was a learning process (and still is) for me.  I started working on these things, whenever I had a reaction or a thought, I looked to see if it was in line with the fruit, if not, I did my best to subordinate my thoughts and actions and renew my mind according to the Word (Romans 12:2). And so I started with self-control. Sinds I already owned it, I had to learn to drawn from it. I started proclaiming it. I prayed about it, and asked God to help me crucify my flesh and stand on what He had already given me. And, over time, the more I stood on it and renewed my mind in line with God’s Word, the more I saw it manifested.  Also, I started a fixed pattern of getting up at five o’clock for quiet time and reading the Bible, a prayer walk several times a week (short walk with God), healthy food and drinks and exercising several times a week.  Because of self-control, my relationship with God has grown enormously, I am more rooted in the Word, I have gained more knowledge of the Word, I have lost a lot of weight and am much more physically fit.  Is everything smooth and perfect, nope! I am still learning, but knowing what we already have in our possession and how we can see it manifested in the natural, is a big step forward. The moment we choose Jesus, our old nature disappears and we receive God’s nature. However, our old patterns and ways of thinking have now become ingrained, which takes time and dedication to renew our thinking and align it with God’s Word. Like a computer, we need to be reset, so to speak. Draw from your “mandarin orange” You have already received all the “parts” of the fruit of the Spirit; God has already given it to you. I want to challenge you to start standing on it, drawing from the source, your “mandarin orange”, and acknowledging that we are as Jesus is in this world (1 John 4:17, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 4:24). Ask God to help you renew your mind, stay in the Word, and embrace this. As you renew your natural mind to think like your new spirit nature, God’s nature, then you’ll experience the life and power of God within you. We have been programmed wrong (by the patterns of this world) and need reprogramming (in line with the Word). Be humble and stand on it; it is the truth, and it belongs to you. Being humble means accepting by faith what God’s Word says about you: “Yes, Lord, I believe You.” Don’t be proud and say, “Well, I don’t know if that’s entirely true; I’m just a sinful person.” In fact, you are then doubting God’s Word

As I have told you before, I lived in the world for years before I met King Jesus. In that life before I knew Jesus, everything happened the worldly way. The same goes for relationships, of course. My whole life, I didn’t have a very good example of what a relationship or marriage should be like. Or rather; how not to do it was my example. My father disappeared from view when I was very young. I can still remember things from my parents’ marriage, but it was nothing to “write home about”, as we say in the Netherlands when something is not as it should be. My mother remarried my dear stepfather, this marriage was beautiful but unfortunately did not last long, my stepfather died at the age of fifty-eight and from that moment on my mother was alone again. So I didn’t really get an example of what a good and Biblical marriage should be like. I have also gone through a divorce myself, when I look back on it, I sometimes think; we both had no idea how to manage and keep the marriage on the right track. We just did what we did, hardly talked to each other, just lived our lives and grew completely apart with all the consequences that entailed. After my divorce I ended up in a relationship and in this relationship I gave my life to Jesus. From that moment on, everything changed, and an unequal team was created! God changed everything in me. The old is gone “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36-26 As soon as you choose Jesus you are a new creation, everything old has passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17) and He gives you a completely new heart, a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36-26) He gives you His Spirit and you are sealed with Him (Ephesians 1:13). “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,”    – Ephesians 1:13 God changed me completely, and the change was apparently so immense that my then partner no longer recognized me. One day we were sitting at the kitchen table when he said, “you look the same, but I don’t know you anymore. You react differently, act differently… it’s as if I’m dating Jesus Himself.” A great compliment for me of course; Praise the Lord, and confirmation that I was on the right path with God, but beyond his comprehension. Ultimately, this relationship also failed. God showed me that this relationship was not what He had for me, He even once spoke to me very briefly and forcefully and out of the blue, “he is not your husband”! I was in a split in this relationship, on the one hand my relationship with God and on the other hand my relationship with him. More and more I had to make concessions at the expense of God. That was the last straw because God has my first place. So, this ended also this relationship. Almost immediately afterward, God gave me a promise:  a Godly man and Biblical marriage was waiting for me in the future. My “wish-list” I stood on this beautyful promise, so from that moment on I started bringing all my heart’s desires to God. I listed for myself what was important to me and brought this to God. I saw it all very clearly and after all the years of experiencing how I no longer wanted it, I brought everything to God how I did want it. All my desires were in line with God’s Word, so I knew I could bring this all to Him. He is a good Father and wants to give you all the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). As long as they are in line with His Word, He can and wants to give these to you, and you may also come to Him with these as a child. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4 For months and months, I worked with God on myself and on my relationship with Him. He gave me a number of points and Bible texts to focus on which I could apply in many areas, so I learned to take better care of my body, soul and my spirit-man. God led the way and healed old wounds that were apparently still there, and He gave me direction. I made sure that I stayed very close to Him, so that I would learn to hear His guidance and voice better and better. My hunger was to hear His voice so clearly, that I could anticipate it more quickly in difficult situations. He showed me why all the other relationships had not worked and what a Biblical marriage looked like. I was busy in the Word, busy with Bible school and all the homework, He gave me a purpose and showed me my gift of writing, which in turn led to the creation of this page; Come See a Man. Although I found it very difficult at times, I also enjoyed being single and spending all my time with God. He showed me that I was in a waiting season and that a waiting season does not mean; sitting back and passively wait. But that it means; being active, investing in God and your relationship with Him, investing in discovering yourself and healing old wounds. I examined the Word about finances, tithing, sowing and harvesting and I also examined the Word about marriage, relationships and unequal yoking. God showed me to behave and act now as if I were already married. He already had someone for me in the spiritual, He showed me that it is therefore

Being single; it might not really be something you would choose or want at first.   We are all searching for love, acceptance, connection and security. When you don’t know Jesus, you will search for all kinds of things that can never fully fulfill you. When my relationship ended last year, I also ended up in a time of being single. That was something completely new to me; since my teenage years, I had had relationships -almost continuously-. All based on a worldly perspective because I didn’t know Jesus until about four years ago.   You are looking for the “ideal” partner. Someone who suits you, complements you and makes your life complete. It took me about forty-four years to realize that no human being can fulfill or complete you, that is something only Jesus can do.   By nature, we were created by God to be in relationship with Him. We can see this right away in Genesis 1 and 2. God made man, Adam, and had a relationship with him right away. It is also clear that God visited Adam in the Garden of Eden. For example, God brought all the animals to Adam to see what names he would give them.   We can also read, God walked around in the Garden in person, and Adam and Eve recognized the sound of God coming, which indicates this happened more often. All in all, it is clear that God sought contact with Adam and Eve. God did not just walk around in the Garden, He came there to meet Adam and Eve. /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 05-08-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”- John 3:16   Because of the fall, the “line” between God and us was broken.   However, Jesus came to restore that (John 3:16), but it is our own responsibility to let Him in (Revelation 3:20). When we let Him into our hearts and lives, He will fill all those voids, making you feel whole and complete.     “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” – Revelation 3:20 Waiting season After the relationship ended last year, I truly was alone for the first time.   Although I had felt incredibly lonely at many moments in every relationship I had had in the past, I had never been “really” alone.   This time was different. Of course I realized all too well I was not really “alone-alone” because I have Jesus, but to suddenly being alone in the natural world; I found that a whole other story. I really had to get used to the idea there was no “safety net” to fall back on, and because of this, I was somewhat “forced” to cling to Jesus alone, which ultimately was the best thing that had happened to me in years!   Around me, reactions like “so from now on, we’re going to see you in the pub again” followed my new status of being single. That’s the worldly way of thinking: you’re single, so you’re going to go out again – to the pub, throwing yourself into the party scene, looking for a nice partner, meeting people and that kind of craziness. But that was something I didn’t aspire to at all!   I discovered I was in a waiting season. But what on earth do you do in a waiting season, and what does it even mean? I had to discover that for myself, with God. I discovered it is the most valuable time imaginable! It is a time when you can put all your time and energy into healing old wounds and discovering who you are in Him.   A time when you can grow in your relationship with God before He can bring you into a new season. Backpack of misery Being single may seem overwhelming and not necessarily a situation you want to be in, but it can still bring you so much and teach you so much about yourself and God, knowledge you can fall back on for the rest of your life.   We should not see this period as a curse, but rather as a blessing, no matter how long it lasts. It’s how I discovered there were apparently still old wounds from previous relationships which had been in the past for years and years.   We often go from one relationship to another, or we think we have healed enough and are therefore ready for a new relationship. However, the Bible teaches us not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; “ – Proverbs 3:5 We need God to point out old pains or unprocessed traumas. Sometimes things can be so deep, we don’t even realize we are walking around with these wounds. They have become second nature to you. You then start a new relationship when you are not fully healed and restored, and take all the brokenness with you into your new relationship, which doesn’t do anyone any good. Certainly not when your partner brings in a simular backpack with unprocessed pains. Traumas and misery shape you, only God can bring you to the person He intended you to be before the foundation of the earth. From oats to groats God is the only One who knows us from “oats to groats,” as a Dutch proverb says when you know someone very well. He not only knows our character, He also knows all our pains, pains that lie just on the surface, perhaps clearly present as deeply hidden pains. So deep that you would have to dig yourself to be able to recognize them, but on

Strangely enough, it took me over a year before I dared to pray out loud in front of other people. When I was alone, I would pray the most powerful prayers, but as soon as someone was around, I would “shit seven colors of shit” out of fear. I would clam up, and not a word would pass my lips. I found it so frustrating because I wanted it so bad, but it didn’t work out, and the fact that I was slightly forced into it by some people didn’t help. This made me retreat even more into my shell during prayer. People made comments  which made me doubt  whether or not I would be Spirit filled, because in that case I would have been more bold, so they told me! It is true, of course, if you have the Holy Spirit, you have also received His power (Acts 1:8), but I now know our thinking pattern also needs to be renewed (Romans 12:2), and that is not going to come overnight. So it can sometimes take a while. One person may go faster than the other.  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.”- Romans 12:2 Our thinking is often a pattern of years and years, and that must be renewed according to the Word. Our brain needs to be reset, that can sometimes take some time. At the time, when I was “expected” to pray out loud and in company, I was not that far yet. It helps that I naturally do not care much about the opinions of others, but if that were the case, or if you did not yet know your identity in Christ, it could easily cause a blockage in your faith life through what people say to you from their own flesh. You might start to have doubts about whether you are doing everything well enough and whether you have received the Holy Spirit at all! It’s not a good thing, if you ask me. /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 25-07-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} How God used my friend I think it is so beautiful how God directs things again, because after a long time, when I became more confident in my faith life and when I was more aware of who I actually am in Christ, an unexpected moment came when I was visiting my dear friend. We where sitting at her kitchen table, and we expressed our concerns about our children to each other.  We decided to pray for her four children, and for my two boys. A beautiful, spontaneous and powerful moment. Two mothers who came to God and laid their children at His feet. She prayed so powerfully, and after that, there were no more words to add. As if “reading” my thoughts and fears about praying out loud, she stopped her prayer without an “Amen”. There was silence for a moment, and we sat holding hands in this silence when suddenly, out of nowhere, I started praying and the words that flowed over my lips continued to steam. I don’t know exactly how long we prayed together for our children, but it was long and it was powerful! We closed in tears and a “big” AMEN! I was so grateful because it was such a big stumbling block for me. Into the deep “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” – Luke 5:4 Shortly afterward, I faced a big challenge; at least for me, it was a big challenge at that moment. We were evangelizing with our church in my town. A wonderful evening! We went through the streets walking and singing with a large group, a microphone and a big fat music box. My pastor has a wonderful voice and attracted many people to his cheerful singing! We stopped here and there for a moment and then continued walking while singing. The end point was at the large market in the middle of the city center. Here we sang some more songs, and suddenly the pastor came to me and said, “After this song, you can say a prayer over your city”.  I shook and said; NOPE! But he smiled and nodded; Yes, “it will be fine”, he said. It reminds me of the Bible verse in Luke 5:4, in which Jesus tells Simon (Peter) to go into the deep and let out his nets there. I also felt thrown in at the deep end at that moment, LOL. Sometimes we have to go deep to follow Jesus, only then will we experience His power because through our weaknesses, He is strong and we don’t have to do things alone (2 Corinthians 12:10).  Back to my moment of terror, LOL: I said a short prayer to God, and thought, “Okay, I’m just going to do this now!” I had crossed the threshold with the step I had taken moments earlier, in the safety of only my dear friend. With this still in my mind, I had no intention of taking a step back again. For my ways only go upward (Deuteronomy 28:13), and that was also the case in this situation. “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” – Deuteronomy 28:13 So the moment he handed me the microphone, I took a step forward. I closed my eyes

I often hear people say, “If God exists, why doesn’t He do anything about all the war, death and destruction?” The most terrible things are blamed on Him. Although it touches me to the depths of my soul, I somehow understand it. I, too, lived a life without God for a long time and really understood nothing about God and the Bible.  Isn’t He Omniscient and Omnipotent? Why, then, does He not do anything about all the misery in the world? Well, without the help of God and His Holy Spirit, it is hardly possible to understand how spiritual things work. But see the world as a very big ship. We are all on this ship; there is illness, misery, poverty, quarrels and wars on the ship, but we have nowhere to go! Worst of all, it’s also going to sink! So one big box of misery. But God sends a rescue boat! Hallelujah! Lots of people get on the lifeboat, but most people, for whatever reason, don’t trust that boat. They chose to stay on that big ship. That sinking ship is the world, full of its misery. You’re in it, and without God, you can’t get rid of it. Jesus is our lifeboat! The only question is, will you get in? The lifeboat that can take you safely to the other side. It seems scary and unreliable on that big open sea, but do you dare to take the step? /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 25-07-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} Our free will Look, we can’t put the blame on God, as He already offered us a way out; Jesus our “Lifeboat”.  He gave His Son, and He let Him be born with the mission to die the most gruesome death there is, the cross, for us. He was mocked, spit on, tortured and nailed to a wooden cross all to save us, to give us a way out of that miserable sinking ship and to become our lifeboat. We also have our own responsibility and our own choice whether we get on His boat or not. Calling out uncritically that everything is God’s fault and thus ignoring His sacrifice on the cross is not very fair, and the way out is right in front of you. We are responsible for our own choices and actions. God did His part; we must do our own part. God created us with free will so that we could enter into a relationship with Him out of that free will. That is love. Without free will, it is not love, but slavery. You cannot force your partner to love you and stay with you until death. That’s not love, and I don’t think that’s a relationship you want. If I had to force someone to be with me, I would think in advance; never mind. Well, that’s how it is for God, too. That’s the reason He gave us our free will in the first place, to have a relationship with Him, based on love. God IS love; therefore, He does not interfere with your free will, and does not force Himself on you. He will try to get your attention all your life, as, for example, the fact that you are reading this now is no coincidence, but at the end of the day, it remains your choice to go for Him or not. To get on His lifeboat……..or not. We can also use that free will for bad things. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who allow themselves to be seduced by money, power, lust or whatever, causing them to abuse this free will and do the most terrible things. This causes wars and all other troubles. Not because God wants it, but because it is people’s choice to make bad decisions.  “Then He can do something about it,” you might think again. He has already done that, several times. When you read the Old Testament, you see that God tried for hundreds and hundreds of years to help and convince people to return to Him. He was constantly trying to show people that they were not doing well, but the man was, as usual, stubborn.  Ultimately, God had no choice but to send Jesus. That was, and still is, the only lasting solution to all misery. He changes us from the inside out. He works with your heart so that you want to do His will more and more and look more and more like Jesus. You will increasingly hate the things He hates and love the things He loves. Jesus is the light of the world and light drives out darkness (John 1:5, John 8:12).  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”- John 1:5 Cycling on the sidewalk God has given us His Word, the Bible, with enough boundaries, wisdom and guidance to live a good and happy life together with Him. These are not rules, as people sometimes say: “Oh, if you are a Christian, you are not allowed to do this; you are not allowed to do that.”  But it’s not like that; think of it as a little child who wants to ride a bike outside. It wants to take the big road, but that is obviously not very smart. What are you doing? I assume you are saying, “No, you can cycle on the sidewalk, but you are absolutely not allowed to go on the road”. That child sees no danger and can think, “Mom’s stupid rules.” But you and I know as adults that these are boundaries based on love. So it is with God. He loves us; otherwise, He would not have given us His Son. From that love, He gives us boundaries to build a safe and happy life with Him. A child who learns boundaries from his parents, knows who he is, where he stands in life, and where he stands with his parents. He will also be

You know what I love so much… flea markets and thrift stores! Over seven years ago, the father of my two boys and I separated. It was a painful process in which we caused each other and ourselves a lot of misery and pain. It also took a while until I was finally assigned a house where I could make a new start. Because there was not enough budget for me to redecorate the whole house, I discovered the flea markets and thrift stores, and that is where my love for “meuk” (Dutch for rubbish😉) was born. “Meuk is fun” as we say in the Netherlands, which doesn’t sound very nice in English because it doesn’t rhyme, LOL Anyhow, I have now lived in this house for seven years and feel very blessed here. And although I have, of course, been settled for a long time and have all the comforts of home, my love for the flea market and thrift store has remained, and I therefore love to wander through all the junk in search of that hidden gem, LOL.  A while ago, there was a large flea market in the town where I grew up, which is an hour’s drive from my now hometown. My family all still live there. My mother, sister, and I had agreed to spend a day exploring the flea market in search of that hidden “pearl”. It was a super fun and enjoyable day, but the pearls were disappointing 😊. Yet, for some reason, the flea market kept reminding me of Jesus and His love for us. /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 25-07-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} A pearl in God’s hand We all have a backpack, trauma, misery, naps and dents of life have left its mark. Discarded or put aside by people. But to God we are still a pearl (Matthew 13:45-46). Precious and valuable enough to lay down everything to buy us, save us, take us and carry us in His hand. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” – Matthew 13:45-46 His eye sweeps the world, looking for the one who opens his heart to Him. In His eyes, we are all precious; we are His creation. In His eyes, we are not rubbish but valuable treasures. No matter how many dents we have, God can always use us if we make ourselves open and available to Him. Be available to God We see in so many places in the Bible that God uses precisely those that people would probably ignore. When we look at the story of Joseph and Mary, for example. They had no fame, prestige and money. We can read in Leviticus 12:8 that God commanded the women who had given birth to sacrifice a lamb and a young pigeon or turtledove. But if the woman could not offer a lamb, she could offer two young pigeons or two turtledoves. When Mary gave birth to Jesus, she offered a small sacrifice (Luke 2:21-24) so we can see that they did not have much to spend, otherwise they would have provided the lamb. Yet God chose them to be Jesus’ earthly parents. He brought the most valuable thing He had to these people. He does not look at appearance, as we humans do, at position, origin or diplomas; God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). When we make ourselves available to Him, willing to be used by Him, He makes us useful. God sees your potential I look around my house with all the “junk” I found at flea markets and thrift stores over the years, and I’m still happy with all this stuff. It takes me back to the past-things that my grandparents also had in their house. They are treasures and pearls for me. When we choose Jesus, God no longer looks at our mistakes and sins from before. Then, when He looks at us, He sees Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:11), and He will not be able to take His eye off us (Job 36:7). It doesn’t matter where you come from, who has cast you aside as rubbish, or what you’ve been through. With Him, you will find your value again, and He will show you what you mean to Him; a pearl added to His treasury. I want to encourage you to open your heart to Him and stop trusting in, and listen to people (Isaiah 2:22, Psalm 146:3) but rather in the One who made you. People can sometimes see us as ‘junk’, but God sees your potential.

Prosperity Gospel, perhaps you have heard of it? It all sounds very negative and ‘not from God’, but perhaps we are missing the point? I am convinced that God is a good God, a good Father who wants to take care of us in all areas, and I certainly believe in the area of our finances.  There was a time when I struggled to truly trust God with my finances. I wanted so badly to learn and experience how God really wanted to take care for me. But at that time being a single mother, I found it terribly scary and wanted to keep control over “my” money.  As my dear friend told me, “You’re throwing out anchors,” and she was right, I didn’t dare to trust God 100%, and I always made sure I had a backup plan.  /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 25-07-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} More month than salary The word “prosperity” may trigger a spontaneous allergic reaction in some people, but when we examine what God intended it to be, it is so beautiful! His purpose is that we, as His children, may be a blessing to others, so that He will be honored for that.  God blesses us with our gifts, talents and qualities, and He blesses the work of our hands (Deuteronomy 28:12). We can use the money we earn from this to bless others by, for example, sowing seeds in a beautiful ministry or your church, helping people who have less to spend, or paying for a stranger at the cash register. God will show you who you can bless. In the meanwhile, God will make sure you don’t fall short in anything!  I recently learned that we are “blessed to be a blessing, to have bread and seed, enough and extra”. (Genesis 12:1-3, 2 Corinthians 9:10–11).  I also was allowed to learn from Jesus in Mark 6:40–43. He fed so many people with what at first seemed like too little. But what exactly was He doing there? He took what He had, lifted it up, thanked God for it, and blessed it.  And what did God do next? He multiplied it! Enough and extra came; Jesus and His disciples were blessed to be able to bless the crowd of people too!  “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.”- Mark 6:41 WOW! That was a revelation right there! First of all, I could just be grateful for the money I had, the food I had in the fridge, and even the gas in my car. Even though in the natural, at that time, I had more month left than salary, LOL, I continued to thank God for it and to bless what I had, so God in turn could continue to work and ensure that I was not lacking in anything! the cheerful giver The next stumbling block that I had to tackle within myself was giving with a cheerful heart because God loves the cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). I can tell you, I always gave, but I didn’t give very happily, rather out in fear and always safely within my budget.  That had to be different!  I prayed, and asked God to teach me this, because I also wanted to give happily! And again, because my heart was open to learning and growing, God led the way. I became more and more confident until one day God put an amount on my heart to give to the church which was quite a large amount for me at the time. I said, “Okay, Lord, even though I can’t miss it and it ‘hurts’, I will do it anyway. I choose to give with a joyfull heart and I choose to trust You, because Your Word says You will take care of me and I believe Your Word above my circumstances”.  Sometimes we don’t fully understand things, but then the ‘art’ is to simply choose to trust God. I thanked God, blessed the amount and transferred it. Then I let it go and didn’t think about it anymore. Within one day, that money came back to me via another special route, and not only the amount I had sown, but many times more! And there it was again: “Blessed to be a blessing, bread and seed, enough and extra!” With that came a deep realization and awe for God: the world is burdened by high costs, energy, groceries, taxes, everything is becoming more and more expensive, and for many, it is no longer feasible.  But we serve a God who rises above this world and economy, and in Him, we are completely free from all worries about rising costs! Sunday is coming The topic of finances has been a learning process for me for a number of months now, and God is slowly releasing me from all old thoughts and patterns and fear of not having enough. Small but also very large hurdles have already been overcome. For example, God has made me realize that I need to stop a certain income stream. It gave me stress, uncertainty and was more like a curse than a blessing. Being apart from that would give me more peace. But, despite all that, it still was a huge step of faith for me. Because I am so hungry, and because I know that I know that I know that I know (no, this is not a typo, LOL) that God’s Word is truth, also in the area of finances and prosperity, I also took that hurdle, followed His lead, and stopped that income flow. I want to receive all the blessings and promises that Jesus accomplished on the cross. So, I trusted God would fill that gap….and He did! At the time of writing, I have arrived at the point; give your tithes. This was the biggest obstacle for me the area of finance. Just when I thought I had seen

When you look at the state of the world, you cannot deny that time is short and Jesus may return soon. The enemy rages like a roaring lion, looking to kill and destroy (1 Peter 5:8-10) and that is evident from what you see around you or when you watch the news.   By the way, I strongly advise against watching the regular news or watching too much television at all. It’s better to fill yourself with a good sermon, the Word, a good book or teaching than all the junk that television brings, but that’s just my opinion, LOL.   In any case, you somehow get the idea that what is happening now is not very encouraging. You see so clearly what is going on and the decay of the world that you almost have to do your best not to see it.   And not only in distant countries but also close to the brothers and sisters around me, the spiritual battle is great. I experience it myself; the spiritual struggle and tension are palpable. /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 25-07-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} Jesus, the hope of glory There’s something in the air. Something ominous, and at the same time, that ominous feeling stirs up hope in me! Looking forward to Jesus and knowing what lies ahead. He is our hope of glory and the way out of misery. The Bible teaches us to be watchful and alert because our salvation comes like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44).   Until then, we’ll just have to put up with each other here for a while.   We need each other, and the time will come when we need each other more than ever. The closer we get to Jesus’ return, the more this will become clear. The Roman soldier A Christian life often reminds me of a Roman soldier and how these soldiers used to prepare for a battlefield. The equipment of a Roman soldier corresponds to the equipment as we read in Ephesians.   “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:13-18   Now Paul wrote these letters to the church of Ephesus thousands of years ago, and all these years the people have needed this armor every moment of the day, but still, I think the more we get to the return of Jesus, the more we become aware and make use of this weaponry.   The Roman soldier made sure that he entered the battlefield armed and trained. He was armed with a lot of armor, He wore sandals with iron spikes and a helmet on his head. His weapons were a sword, a dagger, a spear and a shield. Before the soldier was ready to go into battle, he was trained. They swam, practiced recognizing commands and signals, trained in fighting with swords, practiced throwing javelins, learned to use stone slings, learned to ride horses, practiced carrying a heavy load and learned archery.   When all this had been mastered, he was sent into the battlefield, armed and fully equipped. The comparison with the Roman soldier is instructive for us because we too must be trained in using our spiritual armor. The armor we have received from God. Not a care in the world When you are in a season where everything is going calmly and smoothly, you might sometimes forget that you are actually on a battlefield. You lean back, unsuspectingly enjoying the peace and quiet…not a care in the world, you would think.   And that’s okay, we should certainly relax and enjoy when we are in a calm season, enjoying God’s peace and presence. I just think that we should not forget who we are dealing with and who wants to rob us of that calm and tranquility. When we learn to recognize the attacks from afar, and we are awake and sharp and alert, we are already two steps ahead.   Don’t be surprised when the enemy attacks you, he is always watching and hunting; looking for who he can crush; that is a result of living with Jesus,😊 LOL. But before his storms and attacks come, we need to make sure we are trained in God’s Word, that we know who we are in Christ, that we know our authority, and that our armor is not only in order but that we are already wearing it. “The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came” – R.A. Torrey The Roman soldier did not simply put on his helmet on the battlefield and gather his weapons. He made sure he was trained and fully dressed in his uniform to attack the enemy.   Fortunately, God has given us everything we need to resist the enemy, and he only has the power over us that we give him. Hallelujah!! We need our brothers and sisters Besides the armor, we also need each other. And the closer we get to the end, the more we will need each other. Making sure we stay in prayer and connected with each other is crucial for

A while back, God put it on my heart to write about this topic.  Phew…I thought, that’s quite a thing. Of course, I write all my blogs from my own experiences, my own pitfalls and victories together with God, and so it is often personal stuff that I share with you, and I have no problem with that at all, all for the honor and glory of His Name, even if I have to “bare my buttocks,” as we sometimes say in the Netherlands.  But this topic…I had to swallow it for a moment. It’s quite sensitive, and I don’t want to judge people who might be in a similar situation right now. But God’s Word is truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).  /*! elementor – v3.22.0 – 26-06-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32 Yet, I have taken some time in prayer and even in fasting to determine whether this is really what God is asking of me and how I am going to put things into words. Because it is a difficult and sensitive subject, it will also be a somewhat longer blog than you are used to from me so far, so grab a cappuccino, take seat 😉…,and let me just start at the beginning.   Before I made the choice to follow Jesus, I was in a relationship. Both completely in the world, and God was nowhere to be seen in our lives. We lived apart at that time, each in our own house. We also had our own friends, outings, lives and even vacations apart from each other. So “living apart together” (LAT), as they say “hip”. I had been in this relationship for a few years by the time I chose Jesus, again (I did that about 10 years earlier; read more about that in my blog, “My first encounter with Jesus”). So, while in this relationship I gave my life to Jesus and grew more and more with Him. My then-partner didn’t want to know anything about God. He thought it was all fine with what I did and that I went so completely for God, but he himself didn’t want to know anything about it. God created us all with our own free will, and He will never change that, including the will of my then-partner. The choice for Jesus must come from your own free will and from your own heart. No one can force this on you, not even God. The fact that you miss an incredibly great and beautiful opportunity when you do not choose Him and thus place your eternity in the balance is a story in itself. God’s Word is enough Well, fast-forward. While I was in this relationship, God showed me more and more often that this relationship was not what He wanted for me. I kept putting it away, but I couldn’t get away from the constant dissatisfaction inside me and the “gut feeling” the Holy Spirit gave me. There was never peace in the relationship, and in my spirit, I felt that this was not the way, although I initially pushed that realization away for a very long time and made up all kinds of excuses. We lived separately, we both had our own houses and were not married. Actually speaking; sinful in God’s eyes. I can still remember being in a Sunday service with beautiful worship. During that worship, God spoke in my Spirit: “Do you know what my Word says?” I immediately knew He was referring to this relationship with a person who does not love Him. In the Spirit I said “yes, Lord, I know Your Word.” “You just have to do what My Word says,” God said. From that moment on it took another year before I took the step to actually end the relationship. Meanwhile, God continued to speak about this patiently and in love all that time. I now know, but at that moment I didn’t want to believe it, and put it away for a while. Joined together The Bible warns us many times about a relationship with an unbeliever. Or rather, not having a relationship with an unbeliever. Not because we are “better” or they are not worth it. That’s not what it’s about at all. One is not better than the other, but we do live in completely different worlds than unbelievers.  This is a completely different story if you are already married and one of the two becomes a believer during the marriage. The Bible says very different things about that. But the focus in this blog is mainly on the unequal yoke outside of marriage between a believer and unbeliever. I have experienced firsthand that God’s warnings about having a romantic relationship with an unbeliever while not married are, of course, true, as is the rest of His Word.  “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”– 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Imagine two animals who are joined together at the neck by a wooden yoke so they can pull a plow. They are two animals of the same species, joined together to accomplish a certain job. They’ve been trained to respond

At the time of writing, it is March and spring is slowly arriving in our country. The wind is still fresh, but in between there are glimpses of spring. “March moves its tail” says the Dutch proverb, which means that the weather in March can sometimes change from one extreme to the other. Which reminded me of my walk with Jesus. One moment you seem to be wonderfully in “the flow” and then from one moment to the next you find yourself in a whirlpool of struggle. At least, it seems to come from time to time, out of nowhere. I now have a suspicion where it starts, and it often creeps in. But more about that later in this blog. /*! elementor – v3.22.0 – 26-06-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} Busy busy busy I was also wonderfully in “the flow” during this period. I was very busy with my homework and school days at Charis Bible College, I was doing everything for this blog, in between I was also working on a short course with Billy Epperhart; “Money Masters”, I was reading a fantastic book; “God of Prosperity by Tom de Wal (www.frontrunners.com), our church regularly evangelizes, and I would like to be there too, my normal work continued of course, my children also want something to eat now and then LOL, and then I also have a house that needs a cloth and mop occasionally, LOL. Busy, busy, busy, and I think this is recognizable for most people. Suddenly, what seemed like overnight to me, God seemed miles away! I could no longer pray, and I no longer had the strength to get up at 5 a.m. for quiet time before going to work. The “gate” to God seemed to be closed which was a perfect opening for the enemy to overwhelm me with worry and fear due to all kinds of situations that have been going on for a very long time and for which I am praying and trusting for a breakthrough. Suddenly these situations gave me a panic attack. It seemed hopeless, I was overcome with fear. My head was full of thoughts, and I was convinced that there would never be a breakthrough. The most terrible scenarios filled my head. Days passed and I couldn’t get it out. I have experienced moments like this before and I know what to do; praise and thank God. But this time I was paralyzed. Choose consciously At times like this, it only helps if you consciously choose to take up your cross and go for Jesus again. Even though you don’t hear God, even though He seems to have disappeared, even though you see no outcome or breakthrough. We also have our logical mind, and then it comes down to it; what do you choose? I seemed to be drowning in despondency, in questions, fear and doubts. And even though I was very aware at that moment of what was happening, that I was in my flesh and not in the Spirit and that the enemy had taken advantage of this, it still paralyzed me and I could not get out of that cramp. At such a moment, I know that I have to consciously choose Jesus.  I couldn’t pray, I had no words, so I chose to praise, praise and thank God. I chose to trust Him even though I didn’t see anything happening.  Proclaiming Bible verses works fantastic in such times! So I proclaimed, “I CHOOSE to trust You, for You are not a Man that would lie. I walk not by sight but by faith, I am Your child, and You have promised me never to leave me nor forsake me, Your Word is truth and I choose to believe Your Word despite my circumstances, You have always been faithful, so now You will also be.” (Numbers 23:19, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Galatians 3:26, Deuteronomy 31:8). I started worshiping and just started magnifying Him. When God seems miles away and your situation seems hopeless, we don’t need to make complicated prayers. Thanking Him and magnifying Him is in fact enough. God responds to that, and can change everything with the snap of a finger. At His feet The moment I did this; God spoke quite quickly and the problems disappeared from my mind. He told me to take rest that day. To do nothing, let go of everything, and come to His feet. Although I had a lot planned, I took His advice to heart, I was grateful to receive from Him again. I walked outside into the sun. There is a beach just outside my city, it was beautiful spring weather, so I decided to walk there and sit. Just sit at His feet, talk to Him and nothing else. Resting is Biblical, look at Elijah who had seen mighty wonders of God. Fire from heaven (1 Kings 18:38-39)! But then shortly afterward, he was completely extinguished and asked God to take his life away. But what did God do, He sent an angel who woke Elijah up twice and instructed him to eat and sleep. Elijah did it and then walked in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (1 Kings 19:4-9). For me, that day was somewhat similar, and I witnessed how God redeemed the entire day in a single moment by directing me to simply rest and recharge at His feet. Everything changed from desperation on my part, to complete peace and overview of the situation. The situation itself was still unchanged, but I had changed. God showed me again what was really important. In His presence there is peace despite your circumstances. Pause! When we are overwhelmed by worries and God seems nowhere to be seen, it could be due to various things. In my case, it was because I spent weeks focusing on God instead of with Him. Busy with Bible school, reading books, courses and church, but nowhere did I take time with Him. Jesus regularly made time