Sandra

Miracles and signs should be considered normal for a Christian, it should be an everyday thing. A life with Jesus is truly a great adventure, I have come to realize that. No day is boring or the same. Every day God speaks in some way. Beautiful, special, bizarre or supernatural things happen daily. One day it is “WOOOAAWW-things” and other days smaller or funny things. God is a God of detail and will often show His greatness not only through grand, spectacular miracles and signs, but also through smaller, almost unnoticed things. Keeping your eyes and ears open for His presence is therefore necessary. What I have noticed is that miracles and signs are often a result of obedience to what God asks of you. And what He asks can sometimes be very crazy things, LOL. The year of crazy things In the summer of 2023 I got out of a relationship and remained single until early summer 2024. I took that time to recover, but especially to build my relationship with God. I have written about this before (https://comeseeaman.com/the-author-of-your-love-story/ ) because a very special time began then. God gave me a promise very soon after the relationship ended: He had someone for me, a man after His own heart and a Biblical marriage. As the year went by, I healed old wounds, built my relationship with God and waited quietly for God to bring me the man He had promised me. June 29th, 2024, He made our paths cross and so the rest of the year became a year of “crazy things” and lots of adventure, LOL.After our first date together, we stepped into a tsunami of confirmations and blessings and therefore knew immediately ‘you are the one’! A bizarre sensation! Within a few dates we knew, we are getting married! We started working towards this on every level. Preparations for the wedding day and our future together were made, and he officially asked me to marry him 😊. We knew right away that we would live in his house, this house was not yet “finished” and so we started to build it together to make it completely our home. The idea of ​​leaving my safe “Jerusalem”, I postponed for a while. It was a house that I had also received from God in a special way seven years earlier after a very difficult time of a divorce. In this house and in this place I found my peace and was allowed to start over with my children. Even during and after a relationship where I got in to after my marriage, I held on to this house for years. This was my safe haven, my place, my home and giving that up for someone was a “no-go” for years. And when this relationship also ended in the summer of 2023, I praised God that I still had my own safe home. However, with the meeting of the man that God had given me in the summer of 2024, everything was completely different. We knew immediately that God wanted us together and if we wanted to go on this new path with God and with each other. Letting go of my own house was a logical next step. We wanted nothing more than a life together and with God. So, that day arrived. Together we sat behind my laptop and filled in the details online to cancel my rent. Pressing the send-button did not go by itself, LOL. But eventually I took the plunge and sent the form with which the cancellation of my rent became a fact. I cried like a little child, and my sweet husband comforted me with the words: “this is also a step of faith”. Once I caught my breath, I discovered that I had just given up my house for someone I had known at that moment for only fourteen weeks!! And I immediately calculated that we would know each other for twenty-four weeks at the upcoming weddingday!  Reckless and thoughtless With our human peanut brains, it can seem like God asks us to do the craziest things sometimes. I mean, marrying someone you’ve known for twenty-four weeks is pretty crazy, right? LOL. From a worldly perspective it seems reckless and thoughtless, but our God is not of this world, and He leads from a completely different dimension. Following Him is anything but reckless and thoughtless, but rather ordered, things are accompanied by peace and quiet and never chaos or strife. Even though what He asks of you seems idiotic or not at all smart to your human mind, you still have a deep peace inside, and you know in the depths of your soul that what He asks of you is not so crazy at all.Exciting, yes! But crazy, no. Like little children “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” – Mark 10:13-16   Jesus also describes here that we as adults may also be like children and come to Him. Children are pure, honest and sincere, open and often have no fear. They trust a person without question. Trust is a sign of surrender, of faith that the other has the best intentions for you, and children can follow someone in complete trust. In this way we may also come to God; pure, honest and sincere, open and without fear, following Him with complete trust in Him. When you read the stories in the Bible, you see that God sometimes asks very strange things of people there too. Things that you sometimes really don’t see the connection or link with the human mind. Things that the world

“Be proud of yourself, follow your heart, love yourself”. These terms dominate the media pretty much every day. I continue to find it fascinating how God’s Word is so opposite to the world!  The words “pride,” “self-love,” and “follow your heart” all sound very loving and wise. Yet, according to God’s Word, it is anything but that. God’s Word teaches us to be humble, not proud, and most importantly, not to follow your heart (Jeremiah 17:9). Pride is not of God (Romans 12:16, 1 John 2:16, Proverbs 11:2). For everything in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the Father but from the world. – 1 John 2:16 Humility is the exact opposite of the worldly path of exalting oneself at the expense of all others. God’s Kingdom is based on the principle of “humility for honor” (Proverbs 29:23). Jesus shows us this clearly. He was humiliated and written off by the world like no other before He could then receive all the honor from God the Father. Jesus is our example in everything, He is a ‘master’ of humility! God’s kind of love is selfless, as also evidenced by Jesus’ own actions. Pride is the only reason that conflict arises (Prov. 13:10).  The world teaches us to take good care of ourselves, “you have to take good care of yourself because no one else will do that for you” is the standard response here in the Netherlands. Yet, the Bible teaches us to put other people before ourselves and to serve others. Something I am still learning about myself. I sometimes find it difficult not to get tense and make sure my children and I have our ‘food and drink’ first before I give (I am learning 😊, Praise God). We may know that God always takes care of us, as a child of God you never have to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34).  We are blessed to be a blessing to others, and in the meantime God will make sure that we do not lack anything (Matthew 6:25-31). The world teaches you to “look at what you can get and what you have”, while the Bible teaches us to “look at what you can give and how you can be a blessing to others”. Pride “Pride” is a term you hear all the time, the entire month of June is even named after it! But when we read God’s Word, it is something that God detests (Proverbs 8:13). It is what brought down Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:17). What I found fascinating to learn is that pride does not necessarily have to be haughty. Pride is not just a form of “look at me being great and good,” pride is actually also when you put yourself down.  When God’s Word says that you, with Christ, are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37), yet you say “well no, not me, I can’t do that”, you are in fact proud #sorry 😉. Because when God’s Word says you can; you can! With this form of so-called humble (trying to be) (consciously or unconsciously), you place your own “I”, your insight, above what God says about you, and so you are in fact proud.  If God’s Word says something about you, then we may, in all humility, accept that as the truth because God’s Word is the Truth. Everything that deviates from that is pride, because you put your own truth above Gods. This was an eye-opener for me too! I myself was also sometimes inclined to look at myself negatively; “oh no, I can’t do that, that’s not for me”…..but God taught me I was being proud. I put my truth about myself above what His Word says about me!  The Bible is a mirror of how we may look at ourselves, through God’s eyes. So we may just accept what He says about us, this is the Truth and not what the world says about us or how we look at ourselves. Do not follow your heart What I find absolutely ‘beautiful’ is the term ‘follow your heart’. What a cliché that is. Cliché and cheesy. It sounds pious and when you throw this out into the world, everyone will agree. The world just doesn’t teach you that your heart is deceitful. That is only what God’s Word teaches us (Jeremiah 17:9). Our heart cannot be trusted at all, so to trust your heart, to follow your heart is the stupidest thing you can do, LOL! Your heart can feel one way one moment, but a month later, you will think completely different about it.  Why are there so many broken families? Everyone just follows their heart; if it doesn’t go well, we just break up. One moment you are in love and everything seems great, until those rose-colored glasses come off, and you see each other’s shortcomings. One moment the grass seems greener on the other side or with the other employer, you follow your heart and after a while it all seems not to have been the best decision. Now, making mistakes is human, of course, but when we let God, and not our hearts, guide us in every decision, you will find that this will save you from many pitfalls. Your heart is often guided by emotions, and emotions can be as changeable as the weather. God’s Word and God’s character, on the other hand, are an unshakable foundation. Unwavering, unchangeable and reliable I want to encourage you, let God’s Truth and God’s Word be the guideline in your life. Let every person and the world be a liar, but what God says about you be the truth (Romans 3:4). Give your heart and your dreams to Him. Involve Him in every decision, both big and small, then you will see, He will give you direction. He will ensure you stay on the right path to reach your God-given destination. Do not go along

Sometimes it can seem like there are not that many of us Christians. At least, when I look at my surroundings, as a Christian, I can sometimes feel like an ‘odd one out’, as a Dutch proverb says, when you have the feeling of being an outsider. Most of the people around me, sadly don’t believe. Family, friends, acquaintances and colleagues… in fact, most of them unfortunately do not know the love of Jesus (yet😉). The media likes to go further by saying that the churches are emptying out. Yet, I know in my heart and in my head these are lies and I recently experienced that too. Let me take you through my experience with “Opwekking”! In shock “Opwekking” is a three-day Christian “festival”, so to speak 😊. Since 1971, this event has been organized in the Netherlands during the Pentecost weekend, and thousands of Christians come together. I had never been there before, but it had been on my wish list for a long time. Every year, there was something different on the schedule that made it impossible to attend… until Pentecost weekend 2024! Completely unexpectedly, my friend and I managed to get tickets for the second day of “Opwekking”. Of course, I had often seen photos and videos from other years on social media, among other things. But you just don’t get a complete picture of the event, as I also found out that Saturday, the 18th of May. After a car ride of an hour and a half, I arrived at the site, where many volunteers where ready to guide the masses of cars to their parking spots. This is where I got the first shock, LOL. Once the car was parked, I walked with the crowd towards… yes, where exactly? I didn’t really know 😊. My friend was waiting for me at the entrance and had already texted me, “Just follow the people”. So, like a blind sheep, I just followed the people. We met at the entrance and walked further into the terrain together, and the closer we got, the more overwhelmed I was! What A Crowd!! Hallelujah!! I seriously didn’t know where to look and as my friend walked happily chatting next to me, every word she said went in one ear and out the other. I walked with her like a headless chicken, LOL. There were tents all over the immense site where all kinds of seminars were given for young and old, for families or for children. There was something for everyone. I didn’t know where I wanted to go first or where to start. But first…coffee I really had to take it all in; I was not prepared for this: thousands of Christians in one area (Officials indicated +/- sixty thousand visitors spread over three days)!!!  First a cappuccino! We got one from one of the many food/drink trucks, and sat down on the large lawn.  The immense cross reached high into the sky adding a shade in the grass. It was a sunny and warm spring day. Beautiful worship filled the terrain, and tears filled my eyes. What a glorious image this must be for our Lord from His throne in heaven! So many of His children, enjoying each other and His Word. I quietly said, “Lord, so many people have gathered together for You! A tent full of hundreds of books about You, so many written words about Your goodness, Your faithfulness and Your love for us. So many lessons to learn and dreams about You.” Jesus lives! I was really touched. Thousands of people danced and sang along with the worship at the top of their lungs, including many young people. What an encouragement I found this! Seeing so many teenagers dancing and singing for their Savior, praying together and for each other, and enjoying His presence.  The youth are our society for the future, and what do we want our society to be like in the future? If we want a society with Biblical values ​​and norms and where God has a place again, we must start with our families, our children. Seeing all those young people like that gave me hope, and after seeing everything that day, the lies of the world also disappeared: The church is more alive than ever! Faith is still current! The Bible is the most read book And JESUS ​​IS ALIVE!! This is what the world needs: God in our midst. God in our society. I want to encourage you: you are not crazy, LOL; you are not the only “Jesus freak”. There are thousands, millions with you! On that one single day, in our little country, the Netherlands, I was allowed to see a small glimpse of the fact that there are many, many brothers and sisters. Even though, like me, you may sometimes feel lonely…. You are not alone!

I remember so well the moment I gave my life to Jesus. That is not so strange, because that was only four and a half years ago. What He has done in my life in that short time is extraordinary….  “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 We can sometimes think that we have our lives pretty much together, I thought so too for a long time. Until I gave my life to Jesus, and He completely changed me from the inside out. He gave me new desires, a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and new dreams. “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 All these new desires and dreams were at odds with the life I was living at that time. Although I still thought my life was pretty much ‘all set’, I gradually discovered that God had very different ideas for my future. “But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.” – Leviticus 20:24 Not only did He change me from the inside out, He also slowly broke me free from this life so that I could build a new future with Him as my rock-solid foundation. It was a process where I only gradually figured out what was going on. He led me on my way to a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8, Numbers 14:8, Leviticus 20:24), a land together with Him where the old has passed away and the new has come. This was, and still is, a process. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 Bits and pieces Our whole life we ​​will be shaped and kneaded, just as the Bible also describes how we are the clay and God our potter (Jeremiah 18:1-6, Isaiah 64:8). Looking back on the past four and a half years, I see how God has also kneaded me and my life. My life, before I knew Jesus, was a hodgepodge of old wounds, bits and pieces from all kinds of periods that flowed into each other, old wounds that I (apparently) still carried, unfinished business and processes that were still ongoing, practical things that I still carried with me from my divorce in the relationship I entered into after this divorce, friends from different periods of my life and the start of my new life with Jesus. “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” – Isaiah 64:8 For years, my life was a jumble of my childhood-formed character/my divorce/past relationships/my new life with Jesus. Work to be done, God must have thought, LOL. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” – Proverbs 3:5 Still, I thought I had it all together at that moment, but don’t lean on your own insight, right?😊 (Proverbs 3:5) I had a relationship, my own house, my job and later my relationship with Jesus was added to it. One big ‘Hallelujah’…. I thought. Although we can sometimes have an image of our life and our future and how good it may seem at that moment, God really knows what we need and what is good for us. He made us, He knows us better than we know ourselves. He is the One who has placed all our gifts and talents in us. The more you get to know Jesus, the more you get to know yourself Living in a broken world clouds our view of all these things. We all have a backpack, pains and traumas, that is inevitable because we live in brokenness. All these things shape and knead you and leave traces in your actions and your character. The image we have of ourselves is often not the true image. It is what is gradually formed in our lives by the things we experience, what people tell us, or the lies we believe about ourselves. However, the truth about yourself lies in Christ, and as long as you do not know Christ, you do not know the true truth about yourself. The more you get to know Jesus, the more you get to know yourself. All your gifts and talents lie in Him. And so we can sometimes think what we want for our lives and how we think what is good for us, the true truth about our lives lies in Him. Seeking and finding Him is therefore also finding yourself. A never-ending process Over the past few years, God has been breaking me away from everything I thought was good for me and showing me that it wasn’t all that good after all. He started working with me; starting with changing all my heart desires, I started loving the things He loves more and hating the things He hates. He shined His light on unprocessed traumas and helped me clear them. Practical matters that were still ongoing from the old life, He cleared for me because it was impossible for me to clear them myself and a miracle of God was needed for that, LOL. He pulled me out of a relationship that I thought was good for me, but ultimately wasn’t good for me at all. He kept my eyes on Him and I became more and more rooted in His Word, and so, slowly but surely, all the old disappeared. Everything I ever knew from a life before my life with Jesus, disappeared. “See, I am doing a new thing!” – Isaiah 43:19

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.