Two Mountains and an Unshakeable Kingdom

In the last month or so I felt a mountain rising.  At first I felt it rising in myself, then I saw it rising in my family, then in my friends and then it was displayed on a lamp pole as a local paper’s headline.  The headline said  “SA in the grip of fear”  (“Land in die greep van vrees,” Die Burger, 2 December 2015) .  When I saw that headline I thought:  “What a declaration over our country” little did I know then that things would get even worse for South Africa in the next couple of weeks.  As I was standing at the foot of this mountain, it was so big so wide so solid there was no way I could see a way around it… nor over it… nor under it… In the picture though there was a lake in front of the mountain with a perfect reflection in the water.  As I was standing at the foot of the mountain I could look to my right and to my left… and the reflection made it difficult to discern what the real mountain was and what was only the reflection, yet I knew in my spirit that one had to be a counterfeit.  Over time as I was praying I believe the Holy Spirit showed me that the name of the mountain is “fear”.  I started discovering subtle things that causes fear that I was not even aware of… and then there were the not-so-subtle-fearful-things in my life.  Likewise I could see and hear the same kind of things featuring in some of my friend’s lives.  Sometimes we fear without even realising it and some of it is so real.  The Word says what we fear will happen to us, fear steals our joy. I know it is sin and that God has not given us a spirit of fear but one of love, power and a sound mind. 

Then one morning totally unexpectedly the Lord led me to Heb. 12:18-28. To my surprise this scripture spoke of two mountains.  One was a mountain of fear - the watery reflection or counterfeit of the real mountain the other the mountain of redemption, mercy and encouragement.  In Heb. 12:18-20 the Lord clearly stated that we have not come to the mountain of fear…       

¹⁸ For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the wilderness] to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to gloom and darkness and a raging windstorm, ¹⁹ and to the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them. ²⁰ For they could not bear the command, “If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned [to death].” ²¹ In fact, so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, “I am filled with fear and trembling.”

 

But that we have come to Mount Zion that is the mountain of mercy, this is the real mountain, the mountain where He is the righteous Judge, where we are surrounded by an heavenly host of angels and righteous men.  A cloud of witnesses (Heb 12:1) that encourages us to finish the race, to face the fear, to draw near to our faithful, merciful, graceful God in boldness and in faith. We came to a mountain with a mediator, a new covenant, and the blood of Jesus that cries out for our redemption…

 

 ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], ²³ and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], ²⁴ and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

What an amazing discovery to make that in one chapter in the Bible so clearly two mountains are mentioned – even mentioned in the context of fear.  I kept reading and discovered more…

Heb 12:25-28

²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those [sons of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to] him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven? ²⁶ His voice shook the earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the [starry] heaven.” ²⁷ Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.

I discovered that the Lord is speaking to me and that I should not refuse to listen to him.  He is speaking through my circumstances, finances, through the signs of the times, through my thoughts and emotions.  All the things I experience as things that causes fear, through all of it the voice of  God was resounding in my spirit.  He will shake heaven and earth to remove all those things in my (our?) lives that can be shaken, all those things I put in place or create for myself that are still of this world and that needs a final transformation, all of it will be shaken – so that only those things that is of God’s Unshakeable Kingdom will remain.  Suddenly in the spirit I saw my picture of the real mountain and the counterfeit reflection again and I realised that if that world is shaken the reflection would move.  The counterfeit would become full of ripples and waves as the water moves and one would easily discern the real mountain from the reflection.  What will remain will be an unmistakable steady, solid knowing, the assurance of the presence of His Unshakeable Kingdom never to be mistaken for the reflection again.

Therefore, since I am an heir of this Unshakeable Kingdom, let me listen, heed to God as He speaks to me about the things that still can be shaken, and let me show gratitude to him offering pleasing service and acceptable worship to him.  For my God is indeed a consuming fire, to be worshiped in reverence and awe… and with those words one final revelation, the final puzzle piece fell into place.  The name of the real Mountain of Fear is the Unshakable Mountain of the Fear of the Lord… where worship is brought to Him – the righteous Judge - in reverence and in awe…

© Author:  HG Venter 2015

 

The thing that happens at Shechem...

Have you ever wondered if what we do on land, matters?  Well I have, and maybe the story of Shechem provides us with some insights and answers?

The very first time that we read about a place called Shechem in the Bible, is in Gen 12:6-7

“Abram passed through the land to the locality of Shechem, to the oak or terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.  ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your posterity. So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, Who had appeared to him.

The Lord appeared to Abram in the vicinity of Shechem, and it was here that God promised him that this land will one day belong to his generations to come.  It was a place where Abram built an altar to the Lord and worshipped Him.  It was a place where God met Abram and where he had a special encounter with God, that included a promise from God not for Abram alone, but also for his generations to come. It is a place where God revealed his long-term vision of giving land to his chosen people.  Surely this place must have been a place of special significance for Abram, after having such a profound encounter with God.

So if this was God’s intention for Shechem and the rest of the land – to belong to God, to belong to God’s people, to be the land on which there would be an altar meant for worship of the one and only living God - God surely meant that there would be good things in stall for the town and its inhabitants? So what happened in history after this day at Shechem?

We find the next reference to Shechem in the Bible in Gen 33:18 to Gen 34: 31.  Jacob arrives in the vicinity of Shechem, pitches his tent there and buys a piece of land from the people of Hamor.  He builds an altar there, and he calls it El Elohe Israel – literally that means “God, God of Israel”.  Then the unthinkable happens at this place: Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, goes out with the daughters of the land and when Shechem, Hamor’s son, the prince of the land, sees her, he takes her and rapes her.  Now the Canaanites were the descendents of Noah’s son Ham.  Canaan was Noah’s grandson and we know that Ham also displayed a sexually perverse spirit when he violated his Father’s privacy while Noah was drunk and naked in his tent. So this perverse spirit seems to still be present in the Canaanite lineage.  However, in spite of Shechem’s wrongdoing, he decided to do the “right” thing and marry Dinah.  Gen 34:3 says that he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to her and asked his father to arrange for him to marry her.  Jacob and his sons were rightfully grieved and angry when they heard what happened to Dinah (vs 7) but then Hamor and Shechem spoke to them and offered to take Dinah as his wife and bring any dowry they may require of them.  They even offered them the freedom of the land to live and trade in it and to live with them together as family and in peace.  Shechem pleaded to receive favour in the eyes of Jacob and his sons (vs 8-12).

However, in vs 13 the Bible says that Jacob and his sons spoke deceitfully to Hamor and his son Shechem, because he defiled their sister.  Well, perhaps they thought that Shechem’s sin gave them the right to sin against Shechem, to take revenge.  Their bitterness and unforgiveness drove them to commit a terrible sin.  They convinced Hamor and his people to get circumcised.   In vs 19 the Word says Shechem did not delay to get circumcised and the Word adds that he was more honourable than his entire father’s household.  He convinced the leaders of Shechem to be circumcised… and all of them did!

On the third day, when the men were all in pain, Simeon and Levi, took their swords, attacked the people of Shechem, killed all the males and took the women, children and all the livestock and material possessions for themselves.  At first one may think that Shechem got what he deserved, and that Simeon and Levi defended their sister’s honour, until one realises that circumcision was the sign of the Hebrew’s covenant with God.  So what they actually did was to bring Hamor and Shechem into the covenant of God - they became blood-brothers.  They used the sign of the covenant to deceive Hamor and his people but not only that, they rose up against a brother with whom they were in covenant.  Jacob did not take this news well,  and it is really in Gen 49:5-7 where we see how seriously he disapproved of this conduct of Simeon and Levi when he spoke these last words to them:

 

Gen 49: 5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel]; their swords are weapons of violence.6 O my soul, come not into their secret council; unto their assembly let not my honor be united [for I knew nothing of their plot], because in their anger they slew men [an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites], and in their self-will they disabled oxen. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”

 

In Gen 35:1-4 we read how God commands Jacob to journey from there to Bethel.  Before he leaves he purifies himself and all that were with him.  No doubt that this included the women and children of the people of Shechem who now lived with Jacob and his sons.  They probably contributed to bringing the idols into the camp.  However, it is interesting that Jacob buries the idols under the terebinth tree… where Abram first built the altar… there he hides them.  God does not want us to have hidden idols in our hearts or our land, he wants us to destroy them, to ask his purifying fire to completely obliterate anything that challenges His place as God, the God of Israel, in our hearts.  Did Jacob cleanse the people, but continue the defilement Simeon and Levi started on the land with this action?  Let’s continue to read… 

In Joshua 17-21 we read that Shechem became the property of the tribe of Manasseh and both a city of refuge and a Levite city.

In Gen 37:12-17 we read about Shechem when Jacob sends Joseph to his brothers feeding their flock in Shechem, they departed from there and he finds them in Dothan, which is about 21km from Shechem – and once again we see brother rising against brother in the vicinity of Shechem.  Joseph’s brothers first plot to kill him but God uses Reuben and Judah to stand against this plot and instead of killing him, they sell him into slavery. Years later when he was reconciled to his brothers, he asked that his body would be brought back to Israel, and in Judges 24:32 we read that he was buried in the plot of land that Jacob brought from Hamor – at Shechem.

During the times of the Judges we read of two occasions where Joshua led the people to renew their covenant with the Lord – both these times it was done at Shechem (Joshua 8:30-35 and 24:1-27).  In Joshua 8 he once again builds an altar there to the Lord and in Joshua 24:26 he took a large stone and set it up under the oak (the terebinth tree) that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.  Shechem was clearly intended as a place where the people of the Lord would enter into covenant and would constantly be reminded of the covenant He made with them.  It was a place that would remind them of their relationship with El Elohe Israel.

 

However, in Judges 8:31 - 9:1-57 we read another tragic story of brother rising against brother.  Abimalec, the son of Gideon’s Shechemite concubine, convinces the people to make him king instead of having the 70 sons of Gideon reign over them.  He kills all but one of his half-brothers on one stone after he made this agreement with the people.  Jotham’s prophecy over Abimalec and the people, that they will one day raise against each other, happens after three years and both Abimalec and the people of Shechem die. 

After the death of Solomon the people gather at Shechem to inaugurate Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as their king.  (1 Kings 12) The people asked that the yoke that Solomon put on them be made lighter and Rehoboam’s elders advised him to do so, but the younger men advised him to increase the load on the people.  Rehoboam chose to increase the yoke, in effect further enslaving the people, just like Joseph was enslaved in that area.  The result was that the Kingdom was divided – bother and brother were divided against each other with Rehoboam as king over the one half and Jeroboam king over the other half.  Initially Jeroboam made Shechem his capital.

In Hosea 6:9 we read that the people of Shechem had descended into such a spiritual degraded state that the priests – the Levites – were robbing the people on their way to the city of Shechem.  The city that was supposed to be a city of refuge, a place of safety and the city where there was an altar to the God, the God of Israel, a city for the Levites, has now become a place where the priests rob their brothers… brother against brother once again.

The city was eventually destroyed by the Assyrians and after the exile it was not occupied for about 150 years.  The Assyrians resettled people into the area who worshipped YHVH, but we know that they continued to worship their own gods as well (2 Kings 17:24-34).  It became a Samaritan city.  When the temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt, the Samaritans sent people to go and help to rebuild the temple, but those building the temple refused their help.  This resulted in a longstanding rivalry and opposition from the Samaritans against the rebuilding of the temple.  After Alexander the Great destroyed the city of Samaria, many of the Samaritans fled to the foot of Mount Gerazim and built a temple that became a rival to the temple in Jerusalem.  In 128 BC John Hyrcanus destroyed the temple on Mount Gerazim, futher adding to the rivalry between the Samaritans and the Hebrews.  This seems to have destroyed the city completely until the Roman empire rebuilt it and named it Flavia Neapolis.  Today it is the city of Nablus, has predominantly Muslim inhabitants and is governed by the Palestinian National Authority.

 

The thing that happens at Shechem, brother against brother, continues to happen… while God intended it as a place of covenant, a city of refuge, a city of safety, a city for the Levites, a place where there is an altar – although not THE Altar – but nevertheless an altar to El Elohe Israel, The God, God of Israel.

And… I wonder why? … and I wonder would it make a difference if Simeon and Levi pitch up at Nablus and repent of their covenant violation in Gen 33?    

Reference list

Biblehub commentary, Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, http://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/37-17.htm 

Jewish virtual library, Archaeology in Israel:  Shechem (Nablus)  http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/geo/Shechem.html  

Nablus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nablus 

© Author:  HG Venter 2015

What is the size of your battle?

 

Am I the only one or do you also sometimes feel the size of your battle is overwhelming?  Do you need a battle strategy?  Well there’s a story in 2 Chronicles 20 about King Jehoshaphat, whose battle was seemingly overwhelming.  The story starts with some messengers who came to bring King Jehoshaphat the news that a great multitude was gathering against his kingdom, and Jehoshaphat feared.  He feared because the multitude was overwhelming and they came from beyond the sea.  Beyond the sea?  Hmm… I wonder if they were drawing supernatural power from the water spirits.

It is in these circumstances that Jehoshaphat decides to do 7 things:

1.        He seeks the Lord (vs 3)

2.       He proclaims a fast (vs 3)

3.       He calls on the people to come to Jerusalem – and they came! (vs 4)

4.       He asks for help from the Lord ( vs 4)

5.       He stood in the midst of the assembly (vs 5)

6.       He and the people gathered in the temple, before the new court (so they gathered in a specific location – the temple)

7.       And where everyone could see and hear him – he spoke to God. (vs 6)  In other words he publicly acknowledged his dependence on God.  He did not pretend to be strong before the people, he did not pretend to have all the answers, and he did not try to look good in the eyes of the people.

Then he starts speaking to God.  And he asks God a few questions – like a prosecutor would ask questions in court.  However, his questions are not really demanding an answer from God.  Rather  the questions remind him and the people  who their God is.  If we look at the context of this, we see that Jehoshaphat takes his case to court and pleads his case before the Righteous Judge of all.  In vs 5 it is already stated that he stands in the new court, in vs 11 he asks God to bring judgment on the enemy… 

So here’s what he asks:

1.        Are you not… our God in heaven?  (vs 6)

With this question he calls on the identity of God, His sovereignty, and the ‘our God’ calls to remembrance the covenant He has with His people.

2.       Do you not… rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? (vs 6)  Once again this is an acknowledgement of God’s supremacy over all the kingdoms of this world – but also over the kingdoms of the spirit world.

3.       Is there not… (vs 6) power and might in Your hand so that no one is able to withstand You?  This is a declaration and acknowledgement of God’s power over all.  Not only is He supreme in who He is but He is also the all-powerful One!

4.       Are you not… (vs 7) our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land….

In vs 8-9 he says – on grounds of the above, when we face disaster, we will stand in the temple and in His presence and You will hear us and save us!

In vs 10-11 he introduces the enemy to the court of heaven, he tells God who are attacking them,  the unrighteousness the enemy commits, and then he calls on the Righteous Judge of all to judge the enemy with the following words:

5.        Will You not… judge them?

Immediately after he asks for God’s judgement on the enemy, he goes a step further – he declares his inability, his powerlessness against this multitude, he acknowledges that he does not have an answer, a plan or a strategy,  in other words he declares his dependence on the Righteous Judge of all to make a judgement in his favour by saying:

“For we have no power against this multitude that is coming against us,

 nor do we know what to do”.

And then he declares that his trust is in God by saying ‘our eyes are on You’ we look to You, we focus our attention and our faith and our trust solely on You, God, for an answer in this situation!

Then the Judge speaks through his Holy Spirit and He answers Jehoshaphat and says:

1.       Do not fear nor be dismayed because of the great multitude

2.       The battle is not yours but it is God’s

3.       Go down against the enemy

4.       They will come up against you

5.       You will find them at the brook before the wilderness (the water again)

6.       You will not need to fight the battle

7.       You have to position yourself

8.       You have to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord

9.       Do not fear nor be dismayed

10.   Go out against them the Lord is with you

It is true that in every battle there are some things we have to do but the real battle is the Lord’s He is the stronger covenant partner who will fight for us!  The battle is His the victory ours so we need to not fear nor be dismayed, we need to be obedient to what He tells us to do – we need to position ourselves and go down to the enemy, we need to stand still and see the salvation of God!

Note Jehoshaphat’s reaction when he heard the verdict from the Judge: 

1.       He bowed his head with his face to the ground (and all the inhabitants of Judah followed his example)

2.       They worshipped the Judge – the sovereign God of the covenant

3.       The Levites and the Korahites praised with voices loud and high

The very next morning they went out to the enemy and Jehoshaphat exhorts the people to BELIEVE in the LORD YOUR GOD!

Then he positioned the worshippers in front of the army as they went out to meet the enemy – worship is the strongest form of warfare – so he worships God as they move towards their position.  And they praised the beauty of God’s Holiness, and His mercy that endures forever!  When they began to sing – the Lord ambushed the enemy and the enemy fought against each other, destroying their own army.

When Israel arrived at the appointed place, they found the enemy dead – and they gathered the spoil for 3 days.  After those three days they assembled in the Valley of Blessing where they blessed the Lord!  Then they returned to Jerusalem with joy, rejoicing over their enemies with all their musical instruments.

The result was that they had peace all around because all the nations that heard that God fought for them feared the God of Israel!

So let us take our battles to court and appeal for justice to The Judge on grounds of the blood of Jesus who already overcame the enemy for us.

Runaway wildfires and guarding the garden...

As most of you know by now, the Cape Peninsula was ravaged by runaway wildfires this week, destroying large parts of 'fynbos'. 'Fynbos' is the smallest, but most diverse floral kingdom in the world – one of God’s very special gardens.

It is interesting to note that in the Bible a garden is a place of intimacy with God. Adam and Eve were created and lived in perfect intimacy with God in the Garden of Eden, in Psalm 23 a garden is the setting for our beloved psalm about God’s provision and care for us as the shepherd, in Revelation we find the tree of life in the garden of heaven, and in Song of Songs the garden and the vineyard is portrayed as a place of intimacy. However, not only is the garden a place of intimacy for the Bride and Bridegroom, the Bride becomes the Bridegroom’s garden. She is His place of intimacy, and He is her ultimate place of safe, loving intimacy.

In Genesis 2:15 we read the following:
And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it. 

God gave us dominion over the garden – the place of intimacy, firstly to tend it. Intimacy has to be ‘tended’ - we have to pay attention to Him, seek Him, seek His face, actively long after Him, talk TO Him not just ABOUT Him. Passivity is the number one enemy of ‘tending’ our intimacy garden. Intimacy is not born out of passively wishing that it would ‘dawn’ on us. It is an active process of engaging with the Bridegroom, constantly, continuously. 

The Second aspect God gave man dominion over in this scripture is to guard and keep the garden. The words guard and keep carries the inherent meaning of protection. If the garden is the place of intimacy, it means that we have to guard our intimacy with God. Can it be that this is the first place where Adam failed? That he did not GUARD the garden, that he did not guard their intimacy with God? Maybe just took it for granted? Got accustomed to God walking with them in the cool of the evening? What did satan do IN the garden? How did he get there....? Disguised himself as an innocent ordinary animal, yes, but... why did Adam not discern the danger, or that the serpent was of a different spirit to the rest of the animals in the garden? Why did he not kick him out of the garden before he could tempt Eve? How did he manage to breach the borders of the garden and walk undetected into the core of their intimacy? Why was he granted a hearing? Why did Adam allow it to even speak? I don’t have the answers....

What I do know is that in Song of Songs the Bride is the Bridegroom’s garden as a garden enclosed in holiness, she IS the place of intimacy. Guarding, in principle, means to be alert, watching, expecting to detect and stop the enemy BEFORE he enters the garden. Only the Bridegroom may enter, the enemy shall not enter, not even breach the periphery of the borders of your garden.... let alone come into the core thereof. The garden is holy, you are holy, we are holy, and I am holy. We move, live and have our being in him, in his righteousness we walk with him, dwell with him in the garden. The Bridegroom can only dwell in a holy, consecrated, sanctified place of intimacy. 

What are the consequences of not guarding our intimacy? James 1:12-15 says: 12” Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Temptation is not sin and need not be confessed, it needs to be endured and overcome. We need to withstand and earn authority over it. Protect, guard the borders of our garden. Watch for the first signs of smoke and extinguish the fire right there and then. When we play with fire, allow it to catch the wind, it births death, it becomes a destructive runaway wild fire that destroys our intimacy with HIM. It destroys us, for we are his garden... 

Oh Lord, let my vineyard be before me... let me tend and GUARD and keep the garden of our intimacy.

Scriptures:

Song of Songs 1:6
They made me the keeper of the vineyards
But my own vineyard I have not kept.

Song of Songs 4:12
A garden enclosed

Is my sister, my spouse,
A spring shut up,
A fountain sealed.

Song of Songs 4:16
Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden
And eat its pleasant fruits

Song of Songs 5:1
I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse;

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.

1 Peter 1:14-16
[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. 5 But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. 16 For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

Song of Songs 8:12
My own vineyard is before me.
You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,
And those who tend its fruit two hundred.

2 Peter 3:10-12
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish (pass away) with a thunderous crash, and the [material] elements [of the universe] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
Since all these things are thus [in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities,
While you wait and earnestly long for (expect and hasten) the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved, and the [material] elements [of the universe] will flare and melt with fire?

Acts 17:28
For in Him we live and move and have our being.

Free 2b Face to Face

 

Free 2b Face to Face

Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

So often we talk about walking in personal relationship or in other words in intimacy with our God, but what are we really talking about?  What does a personal relationship with God really look like on a Monday morning?  Does our redemptive gift play a role in how we experience our intimacy with God?  How do I overcome my battlefield?  Is warfare intimacy?  What needs to happen for us to experience reconciliation and closure when we sinned so that we can return to intimacy with our Father?  Over the years I have asked these questions myself and I have heard many of my friends ask the same questions.  Towards the end of 2014 the Lord gave me the word from Isaiah 43:19.  In the second half of the verse he says he wants to make a way in our wilderness and he wants to bring rivers into our desert.  I understood it as to say that he wants to pour out the living water of His Spirit into the dry and desolate places of our hearts.  Into those areas where intimacy and personal relationship with him is not yet a living stream of water bubbling from his throne.  What a promise and what an expectation to have of 2015 that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords wants to bring life to the dry and dead places of my relationship with him!  In the first half of the verse he said he would do it through a new thing and that we have to be careful to know and give heed to it as it springs forth inside of us. 

This became the vision and mandate of our brand new weekend course Free 2b Face to Face.  Thank you so much to Lighthouse Ministries in Struisbaai who assisted us with the pilot weekend.  There were many highlights during the weekend it was an eye opener to listen to people speaking about how they experience their intimacy with God the Father, Jesus the King, Bridegroom, Saviour and Son of God as well as with the Holy Spirit.  Fascinating testimonies came from the activities and God gave us a task to fulfill.  We had to fill a big bottle with scripture and send it off to sea.  Somewhere there is someone who has a divine appointment with a message from God in a bottle!  One young man wrote a song, another spoke about how God showed him he is a lump of clay in Father’s hands, one lady made a heart and “filled” the heart with scripture God gave her, another brought herself as an instrument of worship and warfare and a living sacrifice to him.  He is so faithful when we draw near to him no matter in what way – he draws near to us.  He draws us unto himself.  We give Father all the glory and honour for a wonderful weekend in his presence!   

Below you can have a look at the weekend program.  Feel free to contact us at Free2bme777@vodamail.co.za  should you be interested in attending or organizing one of these weekends.