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CHUTZPAH!
2010 - 5770
A YEAR TO RISE UP !
“And let us not lose heart and grow weary
and faint in acting nobly and doing right,
for in due time and at the appointed
season we shall reap, if we do not loosen
and relax our courage and faint”
Galations 6 vs 9.
C/R - Micah 7 vs 7 & 8.
Chutzpah ! It is one of my favourite Jewish words. It means “someone who never gives up” ! S0meone who has the nerve or the guts to keep going. This is what we are going to have if we want to survive the coming years….
So many things happened in 2009 – The good –the bad and the ugly. If I have to grade this past year I would have to say it was the second worst year in my life next to 1987. But in the same breath I have to say that God has done marvellous things. I have seen the Hand of God move in miraculous ways ! When all hell was breaking out round about me – God would just come along and drop a pearl here or a diamond there…. Just to let me know that He still cares, that He has everything under control and that I was safe in the palm of His Holy Hand.
I would like to say at the outset of this letter that I really feel that we as believers need to re evaluate our walk with the Lord.
We need to get order and balance back into our lives concerning the things of the Kingdom. We have become so passive, we have forgotten our roots and foundation. Things that we did when we first got saved has just become a thing of the past. Let me tell you those were the things that made the difference. Talking in tongues, pleading the Blood, spending time on our knees praying for others, anointing with oil, doing spiritual warfare, laying hands on the sick, confessing and declaring the Word, in other words “doing the ridiculous” Sorry to say we have become too sophisticated for that nowdays. Scared that we will look silly or offend someone.
Our 2009 word revolved around the word ‘death” and I saw that come to pass in a number of ways. Many things had to die to make way for new life….. one of those things is for us to die to our timidity and RISE UP with Tenacity !
The definition of the word TENACITY is – Courage – persistence or purpose – to stick with something when things get tough ! In other words you need to have the courage to fight.
I have seen how Satan has tried to hinder my walk with the Lord by causing all sorts of things to come my way. The one thing I have learned is this – If we are to survive we have got to learn to RISE UP – fight and take our rightful place. We are entering a time of warfare like never before. Satan has come to rob, steal and kill and we need to be on our guard, ever vigilant and ready to take authority. He is not playing games with us – he is serious! The word says – …. Woe to you O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in fierce anger (fury) because he knows that he has only a short time left” Rev. 12 vs 12.
His aim is to move us off the road that we are on. That road that leads to an eternity in the presence of our King Jesus. We have come too far to opt out now.
There is a scripture in Matthew 11 vs 12 that says “ The kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force. I have heard many interpretations of this verse but I like to think of it like this. We are under attack and we need to advance and not retreat ! People who are always on the defensive nine out of ten times, lose the battle – it is those who are on the attack that win. !
I have seen how PERSECUTION AND FALSE ACCUSATION is rising up against God’s remnant. I use the word remnant because I have become so disillusioned by people who call themselves “Christians” so I want to rather use the word remnant or believer. I don’t know about you but have you noticed how Satan is using those who are close to us as well as those who are in the world to come against us. It has been my experience this year to see this become rife. I am comforted with this scripture : Gen. 50 vs 2o: As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good…. People you thought you could trust, people that you have known for a long time, people you don’t even know at all, your own family – so I have decided that the best way to handle this situation is to become like an Armadillo.
These little creatures are delightful. They are hard on the outside and soft on the inside. They have an armour-like skin. The armour is formed by plates of dermal bone, covered in relatively small, overlapping epidermal scales called “scutes” composed of bone with a covering of horn. Additional armour covers the top of the head, the upper parts of the limbs and the tail. The underside of the animal is never armoured, and is simply covered with soft skin and fur. When threatened they sometimes roll themselves into a ball. They have short legs but can move quite quickly and have the ability to remain under water for as long as 6 minutes. Because of the density of its armour, it will sink in water unless it inflates its stomach and intestines with air, which often doubles its size and allows it to swim across narrow bodies of water. They have claws for digging and finding food. The only place they are vulnerable is on their stomachs.
So what have I learned from Armidillo’s ?
- They are tough on the outside but soft inside. We need to be tough but remain tender inside. Keeping a balance and weighing everything with the Word.
- When trouble comes our way – do not retreat – roll yourself up in God’s Word, stand firm, using the Word as protection. Keep quoting scripture and declare the Word.
- It does not matter what your disability is – with God’s help you are more than a conqueror.
- When things really get tough – we will be able to go under water so to speak – God sustains us and makes a way – He gives us the strength and super natural power to overcome and get to the other side. Sometimes He will let us look like giants in the eyes of our enemy. Double our size ! He terrifies Satan on our behalf.
- They use their God given claws – we need to use the Word as our claws – David was a prime example.
- Never lie down on your back - Never let the soft part of your belly be exposed. You will lose the fight !
The other word that comes to mind is RELENTLESS! What does it mean ? “Not to relax one’s severity or yield to compassion
To stick with it even when the going gets tough – persistence or purpose – determination – steady – ceaseless intense – never slacking but continuing always at the same intense level. Then I looked up the history of the word and it said “It has no present only the past rushing into the future.”
Our race is not a sprint – it is a marathon – as Paul says….”But one thing I do, it is my one aspiration: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead I press on towards the goal to win the supreme and heavenly prize which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. Phil 3 vs 13 & 14.
Everything around us is trying to get us out of the race. The world system tries to ware us out with all it’s demands. People are harassing us everything just seems too much to cope with and many are just throwing in the towel.
Here are a few things why so many are dropping out of the race.
- They are not prepared to be disciplined.
- Some find the rules that govern the race too hard to manage.
- Not enough training and they can’t take the pace.
- Some find the going too tough and just opt out of the race.
- Some don’t pace themselves and simply burn out.
- Some keep looking at others and stumble and fall.
- Some get injured along the way.
- Some are not even dressed correctly for the race.
- Some are in the race for their own glory.
- Some simply are not prepared to sacrifice the time and effort.
The next word is ENDURANCE. Without it we may as well give up. Timothy says it like this “…As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship – do the work of an evangelist, fully perform all the duties of your ministry…. 2 Tim 4 vs 5-8 then Paul goes on to say “Fight the good fight of faith”
God has equipped us with our weapons of warfare. He instructs us in Eph 6 vs 11 -13.
“Put on God’s whole armour – the armour of a heavy-armed soldier, which God supplies – that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the strategies and deceits of the devil – for we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness, in the heavenly supernatural sphere. Therefore put on God’s complete armour, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger and having done all the crisis demands, to stand firmly in your place.”
There is no excuse for us ! All you need is Chutzpah !
So here comes our scripture “ Micah 7 vs 7 & 8. “ But as for me, I will look to the Lord and (confident) in Him, I will keep watch. I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me.
Rejoice not against me, O my enemy – when I fall, I SHALL ARISE, when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me.”
(Right here you need to turn to 2 Timothy 2 vs 1 – 12) Read !!
Need to put a warning in right here - be careful to guard your hearts as things get tougher.
Nearly done with the bad and the ugly…. Bare with me.
5770 in the Hebrew calendar indicates JUDGEMENT. The number 10 is JUDGEMENT - Surely we are seeing this happen not only in the world but also in “Christian”circles. God is separating…. REMNANT from Christian.
There is a portion of scripture which I only like to read in the amplified Bible because it says it so correctly. Listen to this.
“And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God, behold I judge between SHEEP AND SHEEP, between the rams and the great he-goats (the malicious, and the tyrants of the pasture)
Is it too little for you that you feed on the best pasture but you tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture And to have drunk of the waters clarified by subsiding but you must foul the rest of the water with your feet? And my flock, must they feed on what your feet have trodden and drink what your feet had fouled”?
Therefore thus says the Lord God to them, Behold I, I Myself will judge between FAT sheep and IMPOVERISHED sheep, or fat goats and lean goats. Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust with your horns all those that have become weak and diseased, till you have scattered them abroad. Therefore will I rescue My flock and they shall no more be a prey and I will judge between SHEEP AND SHEEP.
Ezekiel 34 – 17-22.
On the 2nd January, 2010 – Peter and I start our 30th year on the farm. On the 23rd February, 2010 the Chapel will be 25 years old. In this time we have had to deal with every denomination thinkable, we have seen it all, beheld it all and at the end of the day I am saddened to say that 90% of the “Church” is in a bad state. This is my opinion. I would have to condemn them by their conduct, their integrity, the way they do business and the way in which they don’t consider others. I could say a lot more on this subject but will rather not.
I am more convinced that it is the “Church” that makes people stumble more than the world does. That is why we have to keep our eyes on Jesus – keep our hearts right - keep looking for the prize or we will be out of the race.
It is those who are willing to stand up and be counted – those who will not COMPROMISE for the sake of others. Those who are prepared to be PERSECUTED for His Name sake – those who are going to ENDURE to the end. His disciplined ones ! Is it notgoing to get easier – never !! Chutzpah my friend……
So now, in conclusion – is it all bad and ugly ? No, not at all – here comes the GOOD !
To get back to our scripture for the year 2010 – there is a word that gets my attention – REAP ! God is a Rewarder and we shall surely reap. The condition for this is if we do not lose heart, relax our grip - slacken off, in other words “quit“!
The year that has passed saw many challenges but also many blessings. I believe we are going to see miracles like never before. Things that we have been waiting for – for a very long time are going to come to pass. If we thought we saw miracles this year then think again. I have news for Satan, (and by the way he already knows it) the more he robs – steals or destroys – God is going to give it back to us 7 times over.
I decree this word : “What, what would have become of me, had I not believed to see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! WAIT and HOPE for and EXPECT the Lord, be BRAVE and of GOOD COURAGE and let your heart be STOUT and ENDURING. Yes wait and hope and expect the Lord”
Psalm 27 vs13 &14.
Now in conclusion to put everything in a nutshell.
- 2010 is going to be a tough year.
- We need not fear – God will provide and protect.
- We have to be Tenacious – Relentless and have Endurance.
- We need to keep focused on the road ahead.
- It is us who will determine the outcome of this year by our actions, decisions, and most of all our commitment to the Lord.
- We are going to be persecuted but we need to overcome and not be offended by it.
- At the end of the day – God is a rewarder and we will REAP if we faint not.
CHUTZPAH. !!!
Remember, we are not only entering a new year but also a new decade….
Stay strong in the Lord,
Blessings,
Sonia.
This is the scripture God gave Peter and I when we started here on the farm.
“And this is why I am suffering as I do, Still I am
not ashamed, for I know – I perceive, have knowledge
of and am acquainted with – Him Whom I have believed
(adhered to and trusted in and relied on) and I am
positively persuaded that He is able to guard and keep
that which has been entrusted to me and which I have
committed to Him, until that day”
2 Tim 1 vs 12.
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