Today I gave my testimony about Bible college AGAIN, but at the packed 10.30am service (with around 1,000 people!) because Ps Margaret specifically requested that I do it again and that mine be the only testimony regarding Bible college all weekend. Oh man. The thing that kind of threw me was that when Ps Judy told me to do it again, she said I was not to repeat the content, unless the Holy Spirit directed me to do so. She said to pray and ask the Holy Spirit, saying that I needed to give fresh manna, so my words were annointed. Boy, did that make me feel some pressure!
Anyway, so I committed it to God and then decided to repeat some content and add new content, which was not all that easy. Finally yesterday, I finished my speech and presented it today a little differently. I felt last week's was much better. I felt the annointing on that message. Didn't feel anything on this message, but then after I sat down, I heard the Holy Spirit say that God was pleased with me and that I had done a good job. That was all I needed to hear. It touched me so much and I was overwhelmed with tears while sitting there.
The lady next to me, my friend from Bible college (Catherine) told me it was excellent. Also a lady from Thursday prayer (I think her name is Irene?) turned around to give me her nodd of approval. Then Ps Margaret referred to my testimony three times, which indicated she was pleased with what I had said. I left early to avoid other feedback, but Ken's brother Dion called out that it was an awesome testimony as I left the building. Praise God. That was all the encouragement I needed. I dunno why, but just the thought of others telling me it was good made me feel uneasy, afterall, it is God who deserves the glory, not me. So, anyway, here are my notes, bearing in mind I had to promote a new youth ministry unit at the end!
Faith project steps – applicable to any problem you’re facing in your life today:
1. Identify your need. At the time I was doing this assignment, I decided that I would like to change my accommodation. I wanted a new place to rent.
2. Look at what the Bible says about your situation. I discovered that God is El Shaddai – the God of More Than Enough (Genesis 17:1) and that He is Jehovah Jireh - My Provider (Genesis 22:14). God’s Word says that God is able to do immeasurably more than all I could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), that He has promised to instruct me, guide me and teach me in the way which I should go (Psalm 32:8) and that His Word says that when I delight in Him, He will grant me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).
3. Ask God for what you want, being very specific. I didn’t just want any accommodation, but rather, a place of quality and beauty. Therefore, I wrote down a very detailed list of everything I wanted in a place to live, not missing out any details I felt were import. This was what I wrote: “a beautiful apartment, which has all the attributes that I desire in a rental property, i.e. located in close proximity to Victory Life Centre, excellent security with good lighting and a safe place to park my car, lots of built-in storage space, nice kitchen and bathroom with fans, one or two bedrooms with a built-in wardrobe, a separate laundry, well-ventilated open plan living area with adequate room for my furniture, floors that are easy to clean, good landlord and quality neighbors, <$200/week rent and a place that is warm and welcoming to friends needing to be refreshed”.
4. Believe that we receive what we ask for in prayer. In the natural, it looked impossible. However, Ps Anne taught us in a class to declare we had uncommon favor, and since she said that I have been declaring that over my life every day. Every time I came close to doubting or had negative thoughts, I took those thoughts captive and made them obedient to Jesus Christ. Additionally, various teachers convinced me through their personal testimonies that God is a BIG God through whom absolutely nothing is impossible.
5. Thank God as though you have already received what you asked for. Almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day, I said: “Thank you, Lord Jesus that you have granted me the desire of my heart and prepared the right accommodation for me, which surpasses all my expectations. I believe Your Holy Spirit will lead me to it at the right time. I declare my needs met in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen. Having confessed my faith by declaring this statement, I believe that God hears and answers my prayers and that He will fulfill His Word as He promises”.
6. Wait in patient expectation.
I said how after I had finished this assignment, I handed it in, in September 2008 and started to look at rental properties. I looked at so many apartments. Some places had 70 or 80% of the attributes I wanted and there were times when I was ready to compromise because the places seemed quite decent. However, every time I was almost ready to compromise, I felt the Holy Spirit say “no, not this one”, “no, not this one either” ….and after looking at so many properties and feeling that none were the right one, I decided to have a break from looking.
Then come start of the year, a person who knows me, who is not a Christian and who didn’t know about my faith project, came to me. This person bought a duplex some time ago and over the last year has spent considerable time renovating the entire interior of this place. It could easily be rented out at $350 or $400/week rent, however, they offered it to me at a mere rate of $150/week rent. Before accepting the offer, I referred back to my list and was astounded that every single detail was met in this place. The most amazing thing is that this person had no intention of moving out of the property when I started this assignment and only made that decision in December 2008.
I learnt in Bible college that God’s people are destroyed through lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) and I believe they miss out on so many blessings that God has for them because they don’t know how to access them. Bible college gives you knowledge and it teaches you how to extract the Word of God and apply it to the situations you are facing.
Last year my niece was critically ill and rather than accept medical advice that she may die, we learnt how to lay hands on the sick, how to anoint a person with oil, how to use the name of Jesus and pray Scripture over a situation to dramatically turn it around. That’s exactly what God did for me after I applied what I had learnt. My niece was miraculously healed and is still healthy and living a normal life today.
Every day, the teachers put before you a feast of Scripture and last year, every time a teacher highlighted Scriptures that I liked, I went home and wrote them onto a list of Scriptures that I declare over my life every day. For example, Ps Eunice taught us about Daniel and one thing that caught my attention was that Daniel had a spirit of excellence upon him. I learnt that you can claim everything good that you find in the Bible for your own life, so that’s something that I claim for my own life. I thank God every day that He has given me a spirit of excellence.
Ps Peter taught us about Joshua. I noted God’s words to him that if he meditates on scripture day and night and puts it into practice, then he is guaranteed of success and prosperity, so that’s something that I claim for my own life. Ps Judy highlighted some scriptures in Isaiah that say we don’t have to hold on to the shame of our youth, but that we can claim double honor. Ps Jim highlighted a Scripture that says that we can actually claim seven fold restoration of everything the devil has stolen from us. Ps Ginny taught us about the Book of James and pointed out that we can ask God for wisdom and He will give it to us liberally and without reproach, so every day I thank God that He gives me wisdom liberally and w/o reproach to choose ways that are in accordance with His will.
There is something for everyone in Bible college!
For those who are passionate about empowering young people, Bible college also has a special unit for you. It’s a brand new accredited unit that focuses on youth ministry. For just two hours a week, starting this week, you get to study the following life-changing subjects: 1. Youth ministry leadership; 2. Planning and applying youth ministry programs; 3. How to coordinate youth ministry outreach events and evangelism; and 4. Youth ministry in schools.
So if you’d like to ask anything about Bible college, then come down to the Bible college table downstairs and there’ll be someone to assist you.I was grateful that an older lady from college,
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