Sandra

There are many people around me who think that God does not exist. As if He is a fairy tale or a fable, and the Bible is a storybook, and you probably recognize it from your own environment. Yet it also strikes me that even though they do not believe (Yet 😉), they do keep an eye on us. They observe how we behave, what we do, and how we do it and as soon as we make a “misstep” or react “not in a Christian way,” it is evidence for them to show that the entire Christian faith is a charade, not real and not sincere. /*! elementor – v3.22.0 – 24-06-2024 */ .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 he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23 There are plenty of people who are not sincere, unfortunately, also among Christians. God showed me a long time ago that believing in Him and actually following Him are two completely different things. There are plenty of people who believe in Him but do not follow Him. Following Him means taking up your cross (Luke 9:23) and dying to your own flesh. Surrender your life completely to Him, be rooted in His Word, hear His voice and be obedient to Him in everything He asks or sends you. When you say you believe in God, but act completely different, I can understand the unbelievers in the world become skeptical and keep an eye on us. Waiting for something they can catch us on and show that that crazy belief is hypocritical or fabricated. I didn’t realize that I was also being observed this way, by my own child, of all people…LOL. A memory of an elephant Before I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Redeemer, I had a pretty short fuse, or rather, no fuse at all. In the event of any setback, a nuclear reaction and explosion immediately occurred. In addition, I had the patience of a three-year-old, and I liked to proudly show everyone who bothered me the “most beautiful finger” on my hand (read: my middle finger). I was impulsive and could swear like a construction worker. Sigh, yes, really ‘ladylike’. Praise the Lord for taking care of me . Although I no longer react or behave like this, it is apparently still fresh in my children’s memories. Apparently they have the memory of an elephant! Some time ago, I had an argument with my youngest son over the telephone. Just the fact that we had an issue upset me so much that I just didn’t know how to act or respond. My boys (Sem, 18y and Daan, 16y) are both very easy-going, sensible, sweet, hardworking and social boys. Of course everyone is proud of their child, but honestly, mine are both so easy and sweet that I like to brag about it, LOL. I never have to make a fuss or get a rude mouth, they have never or hardly had puberty, they always ask if they can help me with something, and they actually always do what I ask of them without (much) complaining. Then perhaps you now understand why I was so surprised that my youngest son, Daan, and I had a disagreement this time. I was so surprised that I really had no idea how to respond to it, and out of powerlessness, and from my flesh, I raised my voice at him and “freaked out”. Smartly and out of nowhere, he responded, “I thought you wouldn’t do that anymore because of your faith”. Say WHUUUUTTTTT??? This made me even more pissed off, and we hung up angrily. I had some time to think about this: “What a big mouth that child had!” “What is he thinking? And then attack me for my faith! The nerve! As if you can’t get angry as a Christian, hello…I’m still human; no, the last thing hadn’t been talked about yet.” All went angrily through my head until the Holy Spirit started speaking to me: “In the Spirit, you have already received everything, including all the parts of the fruit of the Spirit, and what is part of this fruit? Right, patience. So you do have that patience, and you also have the same patience that Jesus has. In principle, your son is right; only you reacted in your flesh, and you must crucify your flesh. I want you to straighten this out with him.” OUCH! Not nice, but truth. Show Jesus In the Spirit, we have already received all the parts of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Now we have to renew our thinking (Romans 12:2) and learn how we can draw from that source that contains all those beautiful parts: Love, patience, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness and self-control. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23 Another revelation for me, firstly that it was a lie in my thinking that “I am only human”, of course I am human, but how I react and solve things is a completely different story. Getting angry is one thing; there is also such a thing as parenting and righteous anger, but raising your voice and losing patience is another story. I had to give in to that smart-aleck teenager of mine right away. Yes, we are still humans, but how do we allow ourselves to be guided? Are we led by our flesh or by the Spirit? And if we unexpectedly allow ourselves to be led by our flesh, how do we solve it? Do we leave it for what it is, angry in our ego and in our flesh? Or do we listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and come back to it, start a conversation or offer an apology so that we

When I was a little girl, my family and I used to go to church. All I can remember about that was that the pews were hard and cold, and my mother gave us a mint during the service. I was about twelve years old when my parents divorced. My father (and that whole side of the family) disappeared from our lives, and we stopped going to church. To the sadness of my grandpa and grandma. (my mother’s parents). They loved the Lord very much, and their entire lives revolved around God. Grandpa had been an elder in the church for years and also visited people’s homes who needed spiritual support. And grandma helped keep the church clean. Mom didn’t have an easy time with three growing small children, but fortunately after a few years she met my dear stepfather, who lovingly took on the role of father. Yet, God remained far out of sight in our family until about fifteen years ago. /*! elementor – v3.22.0 – 24-06-2024 */ .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} Okay Jesus, I want to get to know You I left home and started my own family. By the time, my eldest was two years old and the youngest was almost a year old, I became interested in seeking God. I had so many questions, and they were finally answered in the “Jip and Janneke” language (a Dutch saying for a straightforward and childlike explanation😊). Finally, everything became a bit clearer. I also wanted to know Jesus, and it was explained to me how I could invite Him into my life. With a childlike faith and quite uncomfortably, I got down on my knees and said: “Well okay Jesus, I also want to get to know You and invite You into my life. I believe that You are the Son of God and You died on the cross for my sins and rose again the third day.” I then experienced an indescribable feeling of supernatural peace and joy passing through me. That same day people asked me “What’s wrong with you?” referring to a huge smile that never left my face. That same week, God answered a prayer in a special way. I was perplexed! “So it’s all real! You really do exist!” Unfortunately, I found myself in an environment that was not stimulating for my new life that had just begun. I was alone in this, and didn’t know anyone else who also believed, the people around me offered a lot of resistance, thought it was strange and did not accept it. I wasn’t allowed to talk about it or say anything about it. There was just some kind of ban on it. I tried to find a church, but didn’t know where to look and didn’t know anyone in my area who could help me. I slowly let go of Jesus. Looking back on everything that has happened over the past fiftheen years (and that’s a lot, LOL), I see; I might have let go of Him, but He was not letting go of me! God’s hand is on you God promises in His Word, He will not let go of what He has started (Psalm 138: 8) even though you are so far away, He will not let go. He had His eye on me and did not give up on me! “The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures foreverdo not abandon the works of your hands.” – Psalm 138:8 Tough years followed, my stepfather passed away from a terrible illness. I ended up getting divorced from the father of my children, which was very difficult for everyone because we had been together for over twenty years and had two beautiful sons. These were turbulent years in which I made many mistakes, hurt others and had to endure a lot of pain myself. Yet, when I look back, I see God’s Hand. In a very special way, I was assigned the house where I could make a new start with my boys and with which I am still blessed. After years of not working because I was a stay-at-home mother for our boys, I suddenly had to go back into the business world, but in no-time I went from one job, to a better job, to an even better job. And in addition, I received many beautiful “little” winks from God. Though, I had not realized it yet, God was with me and leading me. The Holy Spirit led me into forgiving the people who had hurt me, so that I did not become bitter and did not hold grudges. They could scream, kick, spit or gossip, but it didn’t bother me. I was able to forgive them again and again, and again, without difficulty and without leaving any bitterness or resentment in my heart. I thought it was special, but I didn’t realized how it was possible. Now I know how it happened, or rather, WHO made that possible that I was able do so. Re-choice for King Jesus At a job where I worked at that point, I met a sister in the Lord who invited me to the Sunday service at her church. I accepted her invitation and met up with her the following Sunday. Not only that, but I remember how welcome I felt among the people in church. I was welcomed with open arms, God’s presence was palpable, and there during that service, years have passed since my first encounter with Jesus, I once again made the choice for my King Jesus!  And this time I decided, I would grab Him with both hands and never let go. No matter what people would say, no matter who would make fun of me, no matter who would walk away from me, I would hold on to Him! This was four and a half years ago now, and it’s far gone, The Best Choice of my life! Much has changed after my “re-choice” for Jesus. I was baptized, and

A while ago, I was reading Deuteronomy 1:8 and something struck me. God spoke to the Israelites through Moses and said that He had given them the promised land. But at that time, the Israelites were still in the land of Moab. “See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers-to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-and to their descendants after them.” – Deuteronomy 1:8 This promised land was far away from where they were at that moment. In addition, they first had to get there, and when they did, they would even have to conquer it because the land was still owned by others. This required a major step of faith on the part of the Israelites! They grumbled, complained, and argued (Deuteronomy 1:26-27), but Moses reminded the Israelites that God had been faithful and provided for them all along the journey (Deuteronomy 1:29:31). He would also ensure that the land He promised them would come into their possession, and they would gain victory. /*! elementor – v3.22.0 – 24-06-2024 */ .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} A better covenant As I read this, it reminded me of the fact that our walk with the Lord is not very different from that of the Israelites, and we, like the Israelites, can sometimes have difficulty trusting God and standing on His promises. Today, because of the sacrifice Jesus made, we live under a much better covenant and are back under the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:13-14), which is the same blessing the Israelites had. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” – Galatians 3:13-14 When reading Deuteronomy 8, that realization hit me even harder. Wow, but wait a minute; this means that all of God’s promises He made to the Israelites and Abraham apply to us too! Error in my head!  This is of course fantastic news, but there is also a responsibility on our part, because although all these promises have already been made, we still have to take action ourselves. Nor was it cast into the bosom of the Israelites; they still had a long journey and a battle ahead of them. Same, we must learn to discover what all those promises are, so we know what is ours.Jesus accomplished so much on that cross! It is much more than just salvation, which in itself is, of course, an indescribably great gift. It strikes me that there are many Christians who are not or not fully aware of what was released when Jesus went to the cross.Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to say that I have all the wisdom (although we all do have the mind of Christ😉; 1 Corinthians 2:16). We are all on our way to our promised land, just like the Israelites, and during that journey we can learn to renew our minds so that they align with God’s Word (Romans 12:2). You can only learn this journey of discovery into all promises and blessings by spending time in the Word and with God, and by following good Biblical education. It is not without reason that God has appointed teachers in the fivefold ministry. I want to encourage you to look for them and accept them with both hands. It will bless you. Yes, and Amen! Back to the Israelites. God chooses to work with us and through us. So it is up to us to trust Him and take steps of faith. Man! I still find that exciting sometimes. Apart from their complaining and grumbling😃, what example were the Israelites in this. They had to cross that desert first and then fight to conquer that land! It was a long journey, and yes, they resisted; yes, they struggled and rebelled (that’s how not to do it, LOL). But eventually they arrived in that promised land, and God did what He said would happen – the land became theirs! The taking of the land was not all done overnight; it happened step by step and started with the taking of the city of Jericho(Joshua 6:1-16). “Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days” – Joshua 6:1-3  God gave them possession of the land before they saw it in natural. This required faith and trust, and step by step, the country became theirs. We can also discover, step by step, which promises are already ready for all of us, and there are so many! From our salvation and eternal life to health to life in prosperity and freedom, and many more, Hallelujah! Discovering this, just like the Israelites in the desert, is a journey in itself. I want to encourage you to discover what belongs to you and not to become rebellious, like the Israelites, or to doubt all these promises because this could unnecessarily extend your journey to your promised land to forty years, LOL . Take them with both hands! For all God’s promises are Yes and AMEN! “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:20 Taking back what is yours Accepting and believing God’s promises is the first step. Then you can go on a journey with Him and little by little take over your promised land. The enemy is the one who has usurped your country for himself all this time, but Jesus defeated him on the cross!  Now it is up to you, together with God, to drive him out! It’s your land! Even if you don’t see it yet! Even if you don’t see that

It was a hard learning process for me to hear God’s voice, and sometimes I still have trouble with it. I often wondered why it had to be so cryptic sometimes, couldn’t He just communicate more easily by giving the answer on a silver platter?  It could sometimes feel like a treasure hunt, one big mystery. And often I felt like I was wasting a lot of time trying to figure out what God actually wanted to say to me, or what direction He wanted me to go. Fortunately, things are getting better now, but that took time. I once heard a sermon in which it was explained that you only learn to recognize someone’s voice naturally when you actually know the person. In a crowded room, you can immediately recognize the voice of your partner, who you have been with for years, among all those different voices. I thought it was a nice comparison. It is the same with recognizing God’s voice. All kinds of voices can talk to you throughout the day; from your partner, your children, your parents, your colleagues or the stranger at the checkout. But it is an art to pick out God’s voice among all those voices throughout the day. We only learn this by spending a lot of time with Him. Looking for silence helps with this, because the noise of everyday life obscures His voice. /*! elementor – v3.22.0 – 16-06-2024 */ .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} Custom care relationship God does not shout; He always speaks in a soft and loving tone.  So, learning to hear His small voice among all the sounds of a screaming world, took me some time. I have discovered that God speaks to us in all kinds of ways, and it does not have to be the same for everyone. I often compare it with how I speak to my children. Likewise, I also approach my eldest son differently than my youngest son. The band is a bit different; my eldest is all grown up, and the youngest is still a fun teenager who doesn’t take life too seriously yet . The fact that my youngest and I are very similar doesn’t help eithter. Quite often, it causes us to clash. My eldest son finds it quite amusing to watch as my youngest son and I are engaged in a veritable “well-or-better battle”, in which the Holy Spirit always has to remind me to be quick to listen, but slow to speak, LOL (James 1 :19). But anyway, that’s besides the point 😉 Anyway, this means that I approach each one in a different way. Logical, actually. My dear friend recently said very beautifully: God has a different relationship with everyone; you can see it as a  “customized care relationship”. And this is so true. God approaches each of us differently, so it can sometimes be challenging, but when you think about it, it is beautiful! Because therefor, we don’t have to ask our friends, our pastor, or our mom what God wants us to hear. Through this, God teaches us to build our own relationship with Him so that we also learn to recognize His voice. Every relationship takes time to build. You have to get to know and trust each other. We may also take the time to learn to hear God’s voice. Pray like Gideon I have been walking close to God for about 4 and a half years now, and I can say that it has taken me that time to really learn to understand Him well, and of course, sometimes I still have doubts. When I continue to have doubts about a certain situation, I sometimes ask God for clear signs, and then I ask, “Okay, Lord, I really don’t know what You expect from me. Will You give me a lot of peace if I have to take this step, or will You give me a lot of anxiety when I shouldn’t do it?”  I can tell you, He has answered immediately every time I asked. I love how you experience a supernatural peace or a very strange, persistent unrest. One of the other ways that I sometimes use when I don’t know what God wants to tell me is to ask for a sign. My friend and I always call this “the Gideon prayer” LOL.          Pray like Gideon. Gideon asked for a sign from God several times in Judges 6, and God answered him, (Judges 6:36-40). Our Father wants to talk to us and give us advice when we’re stuck, so keep asking for help. That does not tire Him.  “Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.”  Judges 6 36-40 No worries Take the time to build your relationship with Him. Seek the silence of His presence and begin to recognize the ways He speaks to you personally. Search the Word for it will always line up with His Word.  Are you currently running into something and just don’t know what to do? Keep asking, He is your Heavenly Father and wants to answer you in everything, even the seemingly minuscule things. You can ask Him for peace or restlessness, or try a prayer like Gideon. No worries, He

I can still remember so clearly what life was like without Jesus. I mainly looked forward to the worldly fun stuff; vacations, drinks, trips and weekends. There were always fun things planned during the weekends, but on Sunday evening I thought, “Arrggghhhh, back to work tomorrow”. I looked forward to holidays and trips, weekends away or drinks. But all these things come to an end and before you know it you are back in the daily grind, looking forward to the next outing planned. Without anything planned, days, weeks or months could be boring. I could wake up in the morning in a fantastic mood only to see it disappear like snow in the sun when someone bothered me on the road or things went wrong. Now I have learned that happiness belongs to the world; it is subject to how we feel, what or who comes our way, or what happens to us. I can give you a brand new car today, and you will be completely happy. But if I decide at the last minute that I should not give you the car after all, but would rather give it to your neighbor that you are not a fan of (😉), then at that moment I have taken your happiness away from you. Look, in a life without Jesus, you are dependent on how things go in your life or even on other people. It comes from the outside. God, in contrast, gives us Joy. Joy is something completely different from happiness. Because joy is “heavenly happiness”. An incomprehensible and supernatural joy that can delight you in the worst of floods. Even if I give that car to your rude neighbor, you can be joyful 😉. He fills your heart with His joy, Heavenly joy! God’s joy is not dependent on circumstances. It is dependent only on God Himself who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). A Christian can have great peace and joy even in the midst of terrible problems because his faith is in God. /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 26-05-2024 */ .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} That dreary Monday morning When I think back to those worldly moments of “happiness” when I did not yet know Jesus, I can now say; What a superficial emptiness! Frightening actually because your “happiness” can also be stolen! Circumstances can change; your own emotions are as changeable as the weather; you can get sick or depressed; other people can ruin your “happiness”; your marriage can fail; loved ones can leave you; you name it! Now that I know Jesus, I wake up with joy in my heart, even on the most boring, drizzly autumn Monday. Just for the simple fact that I have Jesus in my life, every day with Him is truly an adventure! You never know what or who will come your way or what He will ask you to do. So you never know how the day will go with God. Every morning I thank Him for the new morning, and I give the day to Him. “Lord, guide me again today. I am Yours, and I want to see more of You in my life and less of myself. Let me speak when I need to speak, and be silent when I need to be silent (especially that is an important prayer point for me, LOL 😊).” When you pray this, prepare yourself, because even that drizzly Monday can suddenly turn out bizarrely wonderful, and if not, you will still be joyful simpley because of His precense.   God’s joy is given to you by God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and flows from within you outward. Jesus promises us that this Spirit will never depart from us (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Romans 8:38–39, John 15:4); we are even sealed with Him (Ephesians 1:13–14). Meaning this inexhaustible, supernatural and incomprehensible joy cannot be taken away from you by anything or anyone!!! No matter what happens, whoever stands in front of you and shouts ugly things, no matter what is taken from you, that joy will remain in you until the end of the world and will be your strength in every situation (Nehemiah 8:10). Out of this world I have lived without Jesus for fourty years and with Him for four and a half years now, and I can tell you, a life with Jesus is really out of this world!  It is so supernaturally beautiful that I could write five hundred blogs about it, LOL. It has brought me so much, and I have never spoken to anyone or heard a testimony of anyone who regrets following Jesus. If there is anyone who has regrets, I wonder who they met with. That could not have been the case with our King Jesus. An encounter with King Jesus will not leave you unchanged; you are guaranteed to fall in love with Him, and you will never regret it! Do I never have a bad day? Never is a strong word, but I honestly can’t remember when I had a bad day. Of course, there are times when you are disappointed about something, something doesn’t go well, or you would like to see it differently, or you meet an annoying person 😊, but I have learned to shake it off by tapping into that source of joy God gives me trough His Holy Spirit!  Try not to look at your circumstances, but let His presence be the joy in your life and tap into the infinite source of the Holy Spirit. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Therefore, enjoy this new day (Psalm 118:24), give the day to Him and surrender to His guidance.  

Sometimes you can pray so long for a breakthrough that it seems like God isn’t hearing you. Do you recognize this? You can become frustrated because there seems to be no end to the situation you find yourself in. So I was in such a situation and eventually discovered that I was the problem. Ai! For a very long time, I was praying about a difficult conflict I was in with another person, and it just didn’t seem to end. I prayed, and I prayed, asking God over and over to move that person (in the right direction for my benefit, of course, how selfish) or to make them less stubborn, but absolutely nothing happened! I really didn’t understood it, and God only gave me cryptic descriptions that I could interpret so broadly that I didn’t get much further with them, such as ‘be patient’. Well, you can elaborate on that in many different ways. But it didn’t get more specific than that. Months and months went by and nothing changed, and the person turned out to be annoyingly stubborn to me and wouldn’t move. Very annoying! Until I decided to fast. Not even for that reason, but because I wanted to give the beginning of the new year to God, I decided to fast my first twenty one days of 2024. And let me tell you, I’ve tried fasting before but never lasted longer than a few days, where it was nothing more than starvation, headaches and irritability. I didn’t experience all those beautiful stories of people who had a fantastic time with God during their fast; to me, God seemed miles away. Anyway, you can read about that process in my blog “My struggle of fasting and praying”, from a few weeks ago. This time, I had a wonderful time with God, wonderful breakthroughs and insights in all kinds of areas, and then suddenly it happened! On this issue, God suddenly taught me something that made me think to myself, “Mmm, I didn’t see that coming.” All those months that I had prayed, begged, irritated, broken everything in Jesus Name (because of course the enemy was also blamed for the fact that nothing happened) and waited without results, and then God taught me that there was still a part of my heart where a wrong attitude was hidden. It was hidden so far away that I myself didn’t even know it. Was it bothering me?? “I don’t think so. Huh, oh wait…………” /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 26-05-2024 */ .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} Wake-up call Well, that hit hard! Of course, I had to repent of that and express to God that it indeed still needed to be cleaned up, and I asked Him for His help. Immediately that afternoon, I had a revelation about this issue, and God told me; “Now that this has been exposed, you can take the next step.” While all along I thought the person had to move, it was accualy ME who had to move, but first something had to be cleared up, and then I could take that step. If I had not freed my heart first, I would have taken steps with the wrong attitude. And because I was the one who took a step instead of the person, God got the glory because this person certainly didn’t expect this decision on my part, LOL. Then suddenly, I thought, Of course! God is going to work with ME! He helps us to change more and more into His image; we can pray and ask Him all kinds of things about other people, and of course nothing is impossible for God, but first, He goes to work with us! How could I have missed that all those months? I really felt like a donkey for a moment. But hey, that’s why I’m human, and God is God. Pray like David When you find yourself in a situation where it seems like nothing will ever change, I want to challenge you to ask God to examine your heart. As David prayed,  “search me, Lord, and know my heart” (Psalm 139:23).  There may be obstacles in our own hearts that can create blocks to receiving our blessings. Be prepared to receive an answer that may hurt for a while, but be open to learning and growing because eventually He will show you exactly what is hindering your growth in Him. By dealing with it and cleaning it up, you will be able to move forward again, together with Him. He can then take you to your next step. From glory to glory!  (2 Cor. 3:17-18)

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”- Matthew 16:24 Following Jesus; what exactly does that mean for our lives? At first, you will have to make some sacrifices. Look at Simon and his brother Andrew (Matthew 4:18–20). They left everything behind when Jesus called them to follow Him. James and his brother John, they to left their boat and father and followed Jesus. Their obedience to His call changed all the history! It will cost you something; either letting go of old patterns, a certain lifestyle, worldly pleasures, your feelings, your own future plans, or your opinion (deny yourself, Matthew 16:24). But they can also be relationships, people or even family members. This is what the Bible means by “dying to self” (Luke 9:23–24) and “taking up your cross” (Matthew 16:24).  I no longer live, but Christ lives in me……(Galatians 2:20). It is a process, and it is different for everyone. One will go faster than the other, or in a completely different way. Our walk with the Lord is different and very personal for everyone. Although this does not make the Gospel very tempting, following Jesus is still the best choice you can ever make in your life! You can know that when He asks you to give up something, it will always be for your own good. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 Jesus stuff According to this society, you have to have everything in order according to the standards of the world. If you go against the flow, people will say you are out of your mind and try to get you “back in line”. But our God is not of this world, and His plans for you are far better than we could ever imagine or wish. We must break free from the old patterns and systems of this world and recognize that we are no longer of this world (John 15:19). We must learn not to look at the world system but at God’s system (Romans 12:2). We can only look ahead to a limited extent. We may all have plans in our heads for our future, dreams and wishes, but we must dare to let go of all that if He asks us to. Now that we have chosen Jesus, we belong to Him. People will say you’re going too far with this “Jesus stuff” (as I was once told). But Jesus Himself tells us that following Him will actually cause unrest and commotion. He did not come to bring peace (Matthew 10:34–39). That heavy cross That cross can be so heavy, and sometimes may look impossible to take up. I have personally experienced what it’s like to lift a heavy cross and leave something behind because God asked me to do so. It took me three years to finally understand what exactly God was asking of me regarding the relationship I had been in for over six years at that time, and that was to let go. It was not what He wanted for my future, in fact it was sinful. He was so patient with me and kept pointing out to me that it was not the right thing. Until finally there came a time when I really had no choice but to give in, and trust God. I experienced so strongly; it was Jesus, or that relationship because it was at the expense of my growth with God. As difficult as it was on the one hand, my choice for Jesus was very easy. I couldn’t take it anymore, I had tried and pulled on the relationship for years, there was never really peace in me but a continuously recurring feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction. At one point, God clearly showed me that the time had come to let go and move on. I had to take up that heavy cross and continue my journey with Him. Even though it was hard, He stood by my side. I left the relationship behind, pursued Him and immediately received a promise from Him, He had something much better for me in the future! This is the God we serve! He will never ask you to give up or sacrifice anything if He doesn’t have something better for you. He loves you and wants your happiness. Not only that, but He knows what is good for us much better than we think we know for ourselves. So what matters is that we trust Him, surrender to Him and dare to let go. Even though it hurts us at the time and even though His promise of better things is still far out of sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), have trust and faith in God. Yes and Amen! “How much do you trust me?” He asks you. I personally noticed that the thing I was most concerned about was the area where I trusted God the least. The world has taught us to read the “small print” under a contract carefully and never just sign anything; don’t just trust something you put your name to! But our God is always faithful, good and loving. He is always the same (Hebrews 13:8), and He will never lie to us (Numbers 23:19). What He promises you, you can insist on because it is the Truth. In principle, we do not have to read His contract; there is no disclaimer with Him, no “yes, but”. Just yes, and Amen! I always see a blank contract in front of me. Jesus sits across from me at the table and says, “Do you trust Me with your life?” and hands me a contract. I look and see that it is completely empty! Only a space at the bottom of the page for me to sign. “Yes Lord, I

It strikes me that there are so many people; fellow Christians, of all people, who continuously judge other brothers and sisters or ministries. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that is the assignment Jesus gave us; to condemn each other. Sure, everyone is allowed to have an opinion, but is it to the benefit of God’s Kingdom if we make everything public? Everything must be announced immediately on social media about how terribly bad this ministry or this person is and whether it is a false doctrine or not. I personally believe, it’s a good thing to keep each other alert, and warn against false teaching. The Bible often warns us about false prophets and heresy (Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24:4-5, Matthew 24:24, 2 Corinthians 11:4). Jesus also indicated that at the end of the age more and more false teachers would arise (Matthew 24:11), but should we do it this way? I often see entire witch hunts, people and ministries are publicly shamed. Is this the way? Or is it better to first silently bring your doubts about a pastor or ministry to God and ask Him for wisdom, insight and discernment before we blow things off the roof. How we deal with it is what counts. Mind you, we are ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, people pay attention to us and how we interact with each other and the world around us. We must consider how it appears to unbelieving people. We have a mission to share, and to show the love of Jesus for each other and the world around us. And by that I don’t mean that we have to be ‘yes marbles’, love is above all proclaiming the truth, but I do believe in gentleness and remaining in peace. We must realize, we were all sinners that have been saved by grace. Unfortunately, I have often heard from unbelieving people they find Christians ‘hypocritical’; “They gossip about each other but then go to church on Sundays.” They can’t reconcile that (neither can I by the way 😉). And can we blame them? Those thoughts and statements don’t come out of the blue. This does not draw people to God, but rather it repels people. I have seen it happen around me that people renounce their faith because of how Christians treat each other. We can expect these things from the media and the world, they do not know the love of God. They live in darkness, but we, children of God, should know better, right? The Holy Spirit lives inside us! /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 08-05-2024 */ .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} The Pharisees and Judases in our midst We must remember, Jesus Himself was also labeled as a false teacher, and how did He deal with the Pharisees and Judases in His midst? His life’s work, His mission, was not to expose false prophets. It strikes me that many Christians make it a true life’s work. Entire social media platforms are being set up to expose the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’. The “evidence” comes from media articles, short TikTok videos or short quotes. But it also strikes me that those who criticize the most have often not seen/read/visited anything at all about the person or ministry they accuse. We can only sincerely criticize when we have investigated this ourselves, right? With our Bible next to it, having listened to or attended several sermons and, above all, pray about it. We could cause real harm to our brothers and sisters or ministries, when we shout harmful things into the void without thorough research and prayer.  Remember; death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Words have power! The last time I checked the Bible, Jesus commanded us to go into the world, preach the good news of The Gospel and the Kingdom of God, lay hands on the sick, and cast out demons (Mark 16: 15-18). However, when I look around, I see that some brothers and sisters Bibles say: “expose ‘false teachers’, make fun of them, and post them on your Facebook page for the whole world to see.” I personally think it is quite serious and not Christian, especially when ministries and people are dragged through the mud regardless of whether it is correct or not. I think it is very important to keep each other alert and warn against false teachers, but let us be very careful with it. Let us take it in prayer and first discuss our findings behind closed doors with fellow brothers and sisters, consult our Bibles and consult God. James 1:19 teaches us to be quick to listen, but slow to speak. Sometimes Christians are diametrically opposed to each other and unity is hard to find. The Bible also teaches us; “The tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). So it is not very complicated, look at what the person/ministry does; is Jesus preached and recognized as the Son of God who came to die on the cross? Do people come to faith? Are they baptized and baptized in the Holy Spirit? Are hands laid on the sick and healed, and demons cast out? These are primarily the broad and most important lines. Trying to keep people happy I personally think, there are many churches who are mainly busy with ‘petting heads’; hold a “feel-good Sunday services”. I think many churches have fallen asleep and therefore become powerless, and I think this has been happening for years; it has crept in, so this is what people are used to. As soon as ministries go radically for God’s Kingdom, as we read in Acts, followed by signs and wonders, that goes against the hairs of a lot of people; because they are not used to it anymore! But when the cat’s hairs are being stroked the wrong way, we should not start stroking along with the hair, but instead turn the cat around! So, don’t adjust your message

Jesus chose twelve outsiders that no one would ever have chosen, and changed the entire history of the world with them! They turned everything upside down (Acts 17:6)! I find it such a beautiful story, how Jesus chose His disciples. All people who would not have chosen the world to ‘win a war with’, but outsiders, not-quits, simple people or some even the dregs of society at that time. The people of that time must expected the Messiah, whom they had been waiting for hundreds of years, to arrive with a very impressive array of army commanders and soldiers. Men with prestige and fighting skills, kings or people with a lot of force. But the opposite happened! He chose the broken-hearted, normal, hard-working simple men. Because these normal men simply obeyed Jesus, and followed Him, history has completely changed, and they helped save humanity from destruction. They helped Jesus start His ministry, and therefore people’s lives are still being completely transformed to this day. Jesus looks at the heart, and of course He already knew who would obey and follow Him. That is why I find the Bible texts Ephesians 1:3-4 and Romans 8:29 so powerful! “I am very grateful to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He has given us in Christ all the wonderful spiritual things that are in the heavenly places. For He chose us before He made the world. He wanted us to belong to Him and to be perfect in Him. He loves us very much.” – Ephesians 1:3-4 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” – Romans 8:29 How special it is that the Creator of heaven and earth knew before the earth even existed who would love Him and be obedient to His calls! Paint the picture When I try to paint a picture in my imagination of how Jesus and the group traveled from place to place preaching the Word, I secretly laugh; Jesus in front, who also had the appearance of a normal man. Following Him closely are a group of people of all backgrounds and appearances. Big and small men, Matthew the tax collector, Simon the Zealot, fishermen and farmers. In addition to His twelve disciples, there were also some women who faithfully followed Him, including Mary of Magdala, the woman who did not have the best reputation and carried seven demons before she met Jesus (luke 8:1-2). When I think about this, it brings a smile to my face.  We now know how the story will go and how powerfully these men and women will be used by God, but imagine what it must have been like for the bystanders at that time. When you see such a group approaching where the Leader claims to be the Messiah, followed by a ‘ragtag group’, you must have scratched your head. I love it! Some of them were so different from each other that they were also diametrically opposed to each other. Look at Matthew and Simon the Zealot. Matthew, a Jewish tax collector who worked for the Romans and had in fact turned against his own people, and Simon who had joined an extremist movement, the Zealots, that opposed the Romans. And these two had to find a way to work together. The narrow road Following Jesus is not the easiest path, as His twelve disciples were the first of us to discover. Jesus already warned us (Matthew 7:13-14). By following Him, you place yourself directly on a narrow road and against the current of the world. In the eyes of the world you are strange, different, and they will not understand why you are doing these things. Well, get used to different, LOL. When I look at the twelve men and women who were the first in the world to follow Him, I personally get a lot of encouragement from that. Fortunately, I am blessed to live in a time and continent where I do not experience such persecution as the twelve, especially looking at how their lives ended, but we can certainly learn a lesson from it. It is not always easy and persecution can come in different ways. Do we still stand for our faith, the Truth and do we continue to hold on to Jesus? Are we willing to work together with our brothers and sisters? Can we look beyond each other’s origins or past? Even though we may have different ways of thinking, different backgrounds and interests. As long as we’re all pointing towards Jesus, it shouldn’t matter. He qualifies you Jesus does not look at where you come from or what you have done, how much money, status or prestige you have, personnel or power. He doesn’t choose the qualified, He qualifies the chosen! He knew before the foundation of the earth that He would call you, and that you would answer to His call (Ephesians 1:4-5). You don’t have to be afraid to think you’re not good enough, He makes you good enough. There is no reason to feel unworthy. He chose you for a reason, a plan, to use you as His instrument, and to proclaim His Kingdom. Keep walking on the narrow path, and take comfort; there are many of us! Be encouraged by the twelve special heroes of faith who came before us!

I have often thought and wondered, Lord, what is Your will for my life? During the first years of my walk with God, this question often occurred to me, but I was still far too busy with all kinds of other things in my life. I mainly lived with one foot in the world. At that point, God was mainly concerned with setting me free from all the things of the world and getting my focus completely on Him, and it was because of all those things that I hadn’t really gotten around to ask myself: What are my gifts and talents actually? Who exactly am I, and what do I like? /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 30-04-2024 */ .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} What exactly are my gifts and talents? October 2023 I ended up in a beautiful church. After a while, I noticed that I felt a little intimidated by the many talented brothers and sisters who were there and what wonderful things they were doing for the Lord. For a moment, I felt like a “not quite”. I really enjoyed seeing how these brothers and sisters are so talented, and how everything they do is a success. Wonderful! But I had a moment when it made me feel insecure, and I asked God, “What do You want me to do for You? What is Your will for my life? And what exactly are my gifts and talents? I also immediately knew that this insecurity was my flesh, and that is no longer who I am in the Spirit. So I took these uncertain thoughts captive and subordinated them to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).  I know who I am, and that is first and foremost a daughter of the Most High, so there is no room for uncertainty in my life. I started to “rethink,” as we say in the Netherlands. Look at things from a different angle. Instead of feeling intimidated by all the beautiful and talented brothers and sisters at church, I thought about using them as inspiration and not feeling insecure. My dear friend pointed out to me that it doesn’t matter whether you can do ‘big things’ for God or ‘just’ be a light at work or in your family. God places you exactly where He wants you and in His time. Everyone is valuable. Of course, I knew this in my heart, but it was nice that she encouraged me with this again. It didn’t take long before I received answers from God to my questions. Relax He showed me that one of my talents is writing and that I am creative, and soon this blog came into the world. It gives me great joy to write about God and to share this with you! Encouraging people by telling them about all my adventures with God is an enormous honor for me! I get to build people up, and I am reminded of it again and again through my own texts, how good God is in my life. But I received the best answer recently at college. There was a guest speaker from France present, and his testimony relates precisely to my questions: What is God’s will for my life? He told us that we didn’t have to do anything at all! We can just relax in His presence because ultimately His will for our lives is to have a relationship with Him, to have intimacy with Him, and to know Him! Everything else is secondary, and flows from there. We don’t have to do anything for God. Jesus says in Revelation 3:20:   “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in, and we will eat together, I with him and he with me.” That is the Lord’s desire and His purpose to make His home in our hearts and our lives. He wants to work with us on a relationship. The creation of all humanity came from God’s desire to be in relationship with us. Of course, we must be grateful for all the gifts and talents God has given us, and use them in a way that glorifies Him. But the core, the essence, is knowing Him. Everything else will flow from this after that. We can relax. Get to know Him, and His character. We don’t have to frantically look for what we can do for God. Because if we simply start building an intimate relationship with God, He will then automatically open the doors where He wants to take us and show us what our talents are, what our gifts are, and what He wants you to do with all those beautiful gifts and talents. We cannot do anything on our own. And when we try to force ourselves to start something, a project or a ministry, there is a very good chance that it will fail. Well, I can tell you, when I heard that, I relaxed a lot! And I also notice it with this blog. I never thought I would do this. Until God laid it on my heart. I then started praying about it and once it was clear to me that this was what God had put on my heart, and I started writing, it flowed. Grow in your relationship with Jesus If you are wondering what God’s will is for your life, or if you are also searching for what exactly your gifts and talents are, I would like to encourage you to initially build and grow in your relationship with Him. Discover who you are in Christ. Andrew Wommack, among others, shares many valuable lessons about our identity in Christ on YouTube. Build your relationship with the Lord. Take time for the Word and prayer, and God will show you with love what He has placed in you that you can use to help build and serve in His Kingdom. If you don’t know what it is yet,