11 Lesson learned in 2011

1. When you make God the foundation of your life, and you entrust Him with everything that concerns your life, then NOTHING can move, shake, break or kill you!!!

2. We never ever stand alone...there's always someone vouching for us, cheering us on to get to the finish line. we can't afford to give up on ourselves!!!

3. there are no shortcuts to any place worth going, and there's no easy way to develop good character... dreaming allows you to begin with the end in mind, but living is what happens between the beginning and the finish line. BE A DREAMER, but even more than that, BE a LIVER OF LIFE!!!

4. Some things in life can wait...the race is not against the clock -but everything has a time and an appointed season...like my dear mother once said: time is not a speedway between the cradle and the grave...so be patient, it will get you places!!!

5. Never underestimate the power of prayer: pray before the battle, pray during the battle, pray after the battle and pray during a time of peace, pray in every season!!! never ever cease to pray!!!

6. Family is a gift from God, no matter how bad things get, never give up hope on your family. Love them, pray for them, talk to them and talk with them!!! No one will ever be perfect, but love them any way!!!

7.  Even when things are not going that well in your life, celebrate with the people in your life that have something to celebrate, do not forget to pray for other people to prosper as you pray for your own prosperity... God is able to bless us all!!! He won't give your blessing to someone else!!!

8. The love of true friends speaks for itself... it is seen in truth and honesty, loyalty, sacrifice and most importantly time!!! trying to be a best friend to everyone only results in you spreading yourself so thin that you can't even be a good friend to one person!!!

9. People that are willing to walk your spiritual journey with you are for keeps...cherish them and pray for them too!!! thank you to my homecell for a great and interesting year!!!

10. Ntate Nelson Mandela (& his fellow comrades) was wiling to die for freedom because way before '94 he had found freedom within himself, that's why he believed that it was a cause worth fighting for.Your dream has to be alive within you, even before the rest of the world can see it manifest...because when days are tough, the dream will keep you going!!!

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·      11.   gold has to go through the harshest conditions to be made pure and of great value... life will test you, it will burn you, melt you and change you... and it's okay!!! whatever you go through in life doesn't define you, all that matters is the finished product!!! hold on, God is with you throughout the whole process!!!

Thus says the Lord

I couldn't sleep tonight, the heat is just too much to bear. So I decided I should read a little scripture to make the best of my time, and I came across the story of Elijah and Elisha in the first four chapters of 2 Kings. (please read them to get a good idea of what is going there)

It's an amazing piece of scripture, and what stood out for me were the following verses:
 2 kings 1:16-17 the he said to him, "thus says the Lord: ...therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die". So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken.

2 Kings 2:21-22 Thus says the Lord: I have healed this water, from it there shall be no more death and barrenness. So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

2 Kings 3:17,20 For thus says the Lord: "You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water so that you, your cattle and your animals may drink"...Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly the water came by way of Edom and the land was filled with water

There's a few more of these kind of verses in the 4 chapters, and what I saw was that, without a doubt, whatever God says will be shall be.
In John 1:1-3, 14 we understand that the foundation of the world was built on the word of God:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."
And the Word became flesh (Jesus) and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Furthermore, Isaiah 55:11 reads: so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to Me void.
But it shall accomplish what I please
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

WOW!!!

What awesome knowledge to understand the power of the word of God.
God has built everything that we have come to know on His word. He said, and it was - even at creation (Genesis 1)

The Bible is full of things that God said, His word in pure form and I think now that we understand what power there is in His word, we can begin to declare His word in our lives and in the lives of the people we have been called to reach in order to see it become alive in all of us.
We can even begin praying for our countries, for Africa, for the world, for our leaders... just by declaring what the Lord has already said, making it specific to our lives!!!

There's one specific scripture that I declared throughout the year, which made a huge difference in my life...Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye"
Every time I felt I needed direction, I would loudly remind God of this promise that He made through His word, and I would ask Him to lead me as He has promised. And then I would continue to blindly follow Him. I applied this to my studies, my job, relationships. As a result I found myself within His will, and even when I went out of His will He always led me back to where I was supposed to go because I continuously declared His word in my life. He had to honour it.

I am grateful to have a God who honours His word above everything.
I am grateful for Jesus Christ, who is the Word in flesh!!!
I am grateful that the word of God will not return to Him without having established what He has sent it to us to accomplish.

"this Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. That you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success"
Joshua 1:8