The Gardener at work

The 15th of March 2009

During the week as I was looking out of our windows I stood in awe seeing the new buds pushing their heads through on the trees. I enjoyed the beautiful colours and shapes of flowers starting to fill our garden. The pots on the veranda looked like flower bouquets!
As I was praising God at the evening for the pleasure He brought to me from my own garden the heavens just opened. I was dressed with the most beautiful flowers of all shapes and colours and flower petals rained on me! I worshipped my Father for His goodness, mercies and love. In my spirit I experienced what He was showing to me. All the flowers have different shapes and colours they are so specially created by our Lord and so are we much more worthy than the flowers. All people of all kinds of colour and nations are important and valuable to Him.

Matthew 6:28-34

Do Not Worry

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

God brought John 15:1-8 to my mind and I knew I will be making a little bouquet of flowers the next morning before church and give this short testimony to encourage the people. Father God is my gardener and he is pruning me, taking away all dead branches to stimulate knew growth, to His glory.

John 15

The True Vine

1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

After the service, Lois’ (a friend of mine at church) father of over eighty years said to me he also believe that God wants to tell me I am His friend according to John 15:9-17 He encouraged me to give my testimony and know that God is making a way for me all to His glory. What a blessing to have wise people shaped by their life experiences speaking into ones life.
Love and Joy Perfected
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

I love God’s Word. He is good and His loving kindness and mercies endures forever.

Our picture...what love!!!

I write and share this because I don’t want to forget it!
The night of 24 Feb 09 as I was preparing to sleep I was praising and thanking God for giving me and every one else who chooses Him; eternal life, healing and blessings.
Then I vividly saw Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, praying and asking the Father to take this cup from Him…Read Mark 14:33 – 36
He was praying as a human; wrestling in Himself and pleading with His Father. He was sweating blood and as I looked at Him, I realised that we have no idea what He went through that night. He knew what was coming and what He will have to go through to accomplish the redemption plan even set before the creation.
Luke 22:41-44 (New Living Translation)
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

The Father’s will was the ultimate to Jesus. Jesus did nothing on His own; He only did what he saw His Father was doing.
John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

As I was looking I saw Father God bringing out of His bosom a photo and showing it to Jesus. Father asked Jesus: “Will you do it for Elmien” and Jesus answered, “Yes my Father, I will go all the way for Elmien.” Then I saw Father God bringing out more photos and Jesus said: “Yes, yes, yes my Father!” Father produced such a large photo as I watched this sea of faces was rolling by and Jesus said: “Yes Father, yes I will.” I saw God before the creation speaking to Jesus and planning the ultimate atonement for us. He saw and knew us even before the creation. What love!!! I knew this love we cannot comprehend with our human reasoning.

While looking I realised anew that Jesus has paid the way to the Father through uttermost obedience and He did it for everybody in the world, not one of us are excluded. He loves us so much that our picture is in His heart. It is our choice to know Him.

Do not be discouraged keep focussed on Him

After a few days of the 4th chemo treatment I came down with diarrhoea and vomiting. I lost weight rapidly. The oncologist stopped my chemo I am taking twice a day at home. It was a two week ordeal and by then my weight dropped into the forties kg.

In all this time my husband and children stood by faith and encouraged me to keep on eating and taking in fluids. It was not easy but I tried to keep my focus on the Lord and His Word. I kept praying and speaking God’s Word to my body, knowing that His Word is true. We experienced a breakthrough.

The oncologist decided to give me another 10 days break for my body to level out. In this time I experienced my taste and appetite return and we set goals to improve my weight. I ate well and gained weight back into the fifties kg. I praise God all the way!!! Why…because He is my source of life!

The last weekend of March my husband and I had a lovely long weekend in York. Oh it was so cold and windy. I was all dressed like an ‘Eskimo’ but we decided to visit this old city on Friday what an experience. We went to York with the purpose to attend Andrew Wommack’s Word teaching conference sponsored by a church in York. It was like LeRoux said, “A celebration of healing for us remembering all God’s goodness in our lives”.

I had the 5th chemo on the 30th of March and I am doing remarkably well. I felt so good that I went to the office to help with some of the accounting and purchase ledger.

Yesterday in the early evening, we attended the Portsmouth Business Prophets monthly meeting, after many months. It was such an uplifting and blessed time together sharing God’s goodness and listening to some of the challenges small businesses are faced with. We could encourage, pray and share God’s Word with each other. Let us not forget to speak to our mountain, check our words to be inline with God's word,which play such a major roll in our lives, and believe in God and also in Jesus. It was such a great blessing to me and LeRoux to be there. Thank you to all of you.

I want to remind us of Psalm 103:1-5

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

What are His benefits to us? To show the impact of the word I replaced from verse 3-5; ‘who with He’

3 He forgives all your sins, He heals all your diseases,

4 He redeems your life from the pit (or death, grave), He crowns you with love and compassion,

5 He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

It speaks so directly to my spirit!

Inspired by the life story of a history maker.

I read a book, ‘The life of Smith Wigglesworth’ by Jack Hywel-Davies. His life story inspired me and demonstrated God’s goodness and grace.

Smith Wigglesworth was a tough, forthright Yorkshire man, plumber by trade and ran a successful plumbing business. He could not read or write but his loving wife taught him to read using the Bible. According to the writer that was all he read. God got hold of him and changed him. He was baptised with the Holy Spirit. He travelled all over the world preaching the Good news of Jesus’ salvation and healing the sick. His tenacity and dedication to God strikes one.

What blessed me was how he demonstrated and taught on faith. He said, there was only one way to the glories of Jesus and that is by ‘faith’. One can have zeal without faith.

Zeal was demonstrated by the disciples when Peter (Acts 12:1-18) was thrown in jail and they prayed fervently to God to intervene. As God miraculously released Peter from prison and Peter knocked on the door of the disciples to let him in they could not believe it was Peter at the door. They were zealous but lacked faith.

He taught that lack of faith was a lack of feeding on God’s Word. When we are taken up with the glorious presence of our living Jesus, our faith in God will become alive within us. The only way to accomplish that will be to know God and we can only know Him through His Word.

We cannot go by feelings that I will go to heaven but I know that if I confessed Jesus as the Son of God and believe in my heart (inner being) I am saved. To help us understand; read this wonderful Word of God.

Romans 10:9-13; 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
I know it because God’s Word says it and I believe God’s Word.

Jesus our friend forever, John 15:14 -15; 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

I just wanted to share this with you.