He is intentional

One thing I have really learned the past year and a half, is that NOTHING in my life is haphazard. Why? Because I believe that GOD IS INTENTIONAL.

I didn't discern it in the moment, but looking back over my life and especially the passed months; I see the different times in which God carried me or went ahead and paved the way. I would like to share one such situation with you. 

I got my current job when I wasn't looking for one. 

When I graduated last year, I wasn't so keen on starting to work full time. In fact, the only job I was looking forward to ,was my summer job as an activity leader at a language summer school. I had worked there the previous year in the English department and I absolutely loved it. However, this time I was going to work in the Dutch department although I had applied for the English one. When the company organizing the summer language school offered me the possibility to work for the Dutch department, I was very hesitant as Dutch is my second language and I wasn't sure if I could manage to converse 24/7 in it. Normally, the company only hired native speakers for their different language departments; so this was an exception for them also. I accepted their offer and on  the 31st July 2017, I started my first day as a Dutch department activity leader. 

For four weeks, I was immersed in Dutch and eventually I improved in it myself. It was during those 4 weeks that I applied for my current job. One day, I was on LinkedIn and randomly liked a job vacancy post by a recruiter. After I liked her post, she messaged me privately and asked if I was interested in applying for the job since it fitted my profile. So I applied. A few days later, I had a telephone interview with her in Dutch; and sometime later, a formal interview with the hiring manager also in Dutch. Both interviews went smoothly and I spoke with such ease and confidence. Sometime later, I got the news that I was hired and after signing my contract, I started work on the 31st August 2017. 

So where is God's intentionality in this situation?

For one, I believe God opened the opportunity for me to work in the Dutch department so that I could be more prepared for my job application. My Dutch was good enough before the summer school; but if I didn't use it by being placed in the English department, it would have deteriorated in those weeks just like any second language that isn't used often. Indeed, I wasn't at the summer school only to improve my Dutch for my application; God's intentionality showed itself in many other ways but this is one that really stuck for me. 

Further, I see how God is using Dutch to prepare me to learn German; which will soon become one of my main languages of communication. He is also using my current job to get me in the workforce in Germany by giving me the opportunity to apply for a job in Germany within the company. 

So, all I am saying is that nothing is in vain. I remember being frustrated about not getting the opportunity to work for the English department; but looking back I see that it wasn't for nothing that I got the Dutch department offer instead. 

I'm sure that you too can look back on your life and see His hand guiding and leading you. 

Be confident, dear reader, that no matter what you face; He knows and He's in control. I know I shared something positive, but even in the difficulties He is able and He wastes nothing. I have a testimony coming up about God's intentionality also in difficult times. He is the God of the hills and valleys. 

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. - Proverbs 19:21

Check out this beautiful song by Travis Green: Intentional

Blessings,

Twisile x

Fighting the Right Way

Confession.

I struggle with perfection. 

So much so that I spent most of last year hiding my mess from God. I found it hard to go to God with my struggles. My (inner) battles. I was convinced He didn't want to see nor  know about them; that He wanted me to have it all together. I thought I had to fight alone, which I tried a couple of times and every time I lost miserably; even if I started on a good note, it was never long before I failed. It didn't matter how determined I was or how much preparation I had, the result was always the same. Failure. My continuous failure took away whatever willpower I had to continue fighting and so I gave up.

 But now I realise that I was believing a series of lies. 

First, I was convinced that God didn't want me to share my mess with Him but I realise now that with intimacy comes vulnerability. If I was in close fellowship with God, which I wasn't, I would have known that He wanted me to tell Him about my mess and ask Him for help. Just as we tend to open up more, the more we know a person, so it is with God. The deeper our relationship with Him is, the more likely that we'll share our very hearts with Him. 

Secondly, I thought I could conceal my struggles but now I realise that there is no point in hiding anything from God because He knows and sees it all (Hebrews 4:13, Psalm 139). Inside of hiding things from God, we should be taking these things to Him and asking Him for power to overcome them. Praying for conviction also otherwise our hearts become hardened.   

Thirdly, I assumed that God didn't understand me nor my struggles but now I realise that He knows my frame. After all He made me. God knows both our strengths and weaknesses. I know that I need His help and for me to think that He doesn't want to help me is very wrong; after all Christ came at a time when we were utterly helpless (Romans 5:6). Without His strength, if we don't rely on the Holy Spirit, we will eventually fail. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to overcome the power of sin through Christ (Romans 8:2).

Finally, although I knew that God's love for me was unconditional, I believed that He surely couldn't love the mess that I was. But God loves us so so much. I found and still find this the hardest truth to grasp fully. God's love for the individual is so vast! When I lost my battles, I somehow thought that I had let God down and that He probably didn't want anything to do with me. I was a failure after all. However, He loves me despite my faults. He loved me when I was His enemy and His love for us all was revealed in Jesus' death on the cross (Romans 5:8). If He loved me so then, what more now that I am His child? God's love for me isn't a blank cheque to sin as much as I want, it's actually the contrary. His love for me should motivate me to love Him back, and that means keeping His commandments (Romans 6, John 14:15-26; 15:10-17; 1John 2:5).

So to make a long story a bit short, God is teaching me to fight the right way. With Him. We are not meant to fight our battles on our own, don't make the mistake I made. Invite Him in. You can only kill a Goliath with a stone when you know whose you are and Who is on  your side!

This song by Steffany Gretzinger: Out of Hiding (Father's Song) summarizes what I just wrote perfectly. I also love this song by Positive on a similar theme: Two Man Army. Last but not least this beautiful sermon by Kim Walker Smith (I didn't even know that she preached??!!): The Art of Vulnerability. Check them out!

What lies have you believed about battles? What truths has God shown you? Leave a comment below!

Blessings 💜

Three & Free Indeed!

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. - John 8:34-36 

 Three years ago today, I got baptized and decided to take my walk with Christ seriously :)!
I have had ups and downs, overflows of  living water and dry spells. It hasn't been a problem-free, cherries and roses 3 years. However, it's still the best decision I have ever made, I don't regret it!

A wise person once said that you can't met the real Jesus and stay the same, having Him in my life has indeed changed me for the better. And I am sure that many fellow believers can agree with that! The Gospel changes everything! And definitely for the better!

The song, Thank You Lord by Israel & New Breed, is my celebration song  for this wonderful occasion!

 If you, my friend, are still doubting about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, doubt no more. Believe! His arms are open wide, ready to welcome you to a new life full of adventure! Delay no more. Now is the time for salvation.

Head Over Heels

I love shoes and I don't know exactly why but there is just something about shoes that I can't wrap my mind around. Through my love for shoes, God recently taught me a lesson which I will now share with you.

Last week Saturday, I went to Antwerp to buy some things for my family back in Zambia and also to collect some items for my mother from an aunt. So I went to the shopping street but unfortunately, I didn't find anything for the family (I eventually got some things from Leuven) but I found these lovely shoes in Zara. I didn't plan on buying anything for myself and since I didn't want to buy them spontaneously, I took a picture sent it to some friends to get their opinion on them. Sadly since no one was online, I decided to leave them and I got my mum's items and headed back to Leuven.

Hours later, my sister and a good friend replied to my picture, they said the shoes were gorgeous! But I was now in Leuven, so I decided to check for the shoes online...however they didn't have my size online but the shops in Brussels did. Guess what I did? I went to Brussels despite the fact that I had organized a dinner in two hours, the trip to and from Brussels would take the same amount of time. That meant that I would be late. So I postponed my dinner to 8pm and off I went to Brussels. I eventually got the shoes with the help of a friend I met in the shopping street.

Now what is the lesson I learnt? When I was on the train to Brussels, I realized how big a leap of faith I was taking. The website said the shoes were available in Brussels but it was sales and the chances of finding them were slim and on top of that I had changed my schedule for a pair of shoes.

I realized that that's what God wants from us too. Those leaps of faith. The Bible makes a lot of promises but the difference between the website and the Bible is that the promises in the Word of God are true. What He says, we will find sales or no sales. Remember that "it is impossible to please God without faith" (Hebrews 11:6b). Faith "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1) is one of the major necessities of Christian living. It is by grace through faith that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8) and we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith, faith and more faith.

God wants us to make time for Him, and to go to great lengths for Him. I made time to get those shoes, I changed my schedule and I even had to get on a train for 30mins ONE WAY plus the walk to the shop. Faith needs time, it needs to be worked out, it's an investment. For faith without works is dead (James  2:17). This is not a work OR faith issue but a faith AND works.

Yes I am crazy for shoes but I should be even more crazy for God. My prayer for you and I is that we will take those leaps of faith according to His promises and make time for Him and go to greatest length to find Him. I promise, we will not leap to disaster but to a greater reality!

God bless!

It's Too Late, Lord.

"When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.....Jesus said, 'Take the stone away.' Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Jesus, “Lord, there must already be a stench. He’s been dead for four days.”
 - John 11:32,39 (GW)

 I learned something from Martha and Mary again! If you haven't read the previous post, click here Eliminating the Unnecessary. 

Sometimes in life we give up and lose hope easily. This loss of hope can also affect the way we view God. Let me illustrate this with Mary and Martha. 

Lazarus, their brother, had been sick and had just died. When he was sick, they had sent a message to Jesus; they knew that if  He came, He would heal him. They knew Jesus was a healer, He had healed many people before. He had healed the royal officer's son, the paralyzed man at the pool and many others. But the issue was that, when Jesus finally came, Lazarus was dead. Mary and Martha had given up. It was too late. Their brother was gone. We can see that that's what they thought because:

1. Although Mary had deep reverence for Jesus ( "she knelt at his feet"); she said to Him, "Lord, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE..."
2. When Jesus asked for the stone be rolled away, Martha said " There is a STENCH. HE'S BEEN DEAD FOUR DAYS". (Emphasis added).

They had lost hope even in the Lord. But you know what Jesus told Martha? He said “Did I not tell you that IF YOU BELIEVE, you will see the glory of God?” (v.40). Jesus had already told Martha that her brother will rise again but she did not believe and so she limited God (v.23-24). But that didn't stop Jesus; He went on ahead and shouted “Lazarus, come out!” and guess what? Lazarus came out! He came back to life, still wrapped up in his burial clothes (v.43-44).

When I read this, I had been reading Ephesians and the Spirit revealed something to me. I remembered this verse: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions" (Eph.2:1,4-5).
   
 We all have many loved ones, friends and family, who do not know the Lord. We all have things that we might be giving up on. Lost causes so to say. Things that HAVE BEEN DEAD MANY DAYS, MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS. But you know what? We were all dead once.I was dead for many years, I stunk way more than Lazarus, people might have given up on me but that didn't stop the Lord from calling out to me. And He shouted "Twi, come out!" and I came out of that dark and rotten place and stepped into life and into light.

I want to say to you, don't give up. Don't lose hope. Don't let your view of God be changed by your current situations. Maybe your health, finances, relationships, spiritual life or whatever it is, is dead. Despite all this, you must chose to remember that He has victory over death and nothing is impossible for Him (1 Cor.15:55; Luke 1:37).