It was on Saturday, the 22nd August. A beautiful, sunny day in winter, with weather forecast showing 18 degrees (if I’m not mistaken), but it felt so hot that we decided to take the kids to the beach.
I did not feel like going anywhere. I just wanted to be alone, as I was going through a season, infact, I did not want to go anywhere until I had heard from God regarding a situation I had found myself in. Eventually, I ended up going as I didn’t want to rob the kids a family time out, as my husband was working the next day. As we got to the beach, I refused to go out of the car. I insisted on being alone and just be. As we were about to park the car my attention had been drawn to a man who was standing by the fence staring at the waves. I asked my husband to take the kids for a swim and leave me in the car, and as soon as they had left, I just felt so fascinated by the place where the man was standing and how he was standing, and at this time he had left. I decided to get out of the car and go stand where he was standing and watch the waves. As I was looking at the waves and far beyond into the sea, it dawned me that the One who created this massive thing in front of my eyes is my Dad. Can you believe that? Not that I didn’t know that, but it felt so real, like someone was reminding of that fact, that the One who is my Father has made all of this, the One who makes the wave move in the way they do, the One who controls them. It was in that moment, when I was lost in those thoughts, that I felt such a nearness to God. I immediately got the song “Nearer my God to thee”. As the waves were flowing, they started to sound like instruments that were being played and the melody was “Nearer my God to thee”, like a song was being played to me. I heard a song. I heard instruments through the flowing waves. The waves were changing to being smooth rather than being noisy and they came with such a blow of the His Spirit to me. His presence was so tangible and reassuring. He felt so near. He was reminding me that in my lowly and confusion, He is near. He is near the broken-hearted. He is near the lowly and all He needs is for us to acknowledge Him and He will make things perfect. In Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart”. Isaiah 43:19 – “He makes streams flow in the desert”. Whatever this time and season might be looking like for you, He is near. He is the Close-To-Us God and He is always speaking even through nature, like He did to me. He is looking to give you those memorable moments of His voice in your time of need. Keep pushing for more of Him in your situation. Blessings to you and your family Ever been in a conversation with someone, then all of a suddenly there’s a silent gap? That’s mostly the case when two people are talking. And I know most of us including myself feel awkward, we don’t know what to do with ourselves, and we want to fill that gap with something,…anything really, just as long as we don’t have to sit there silent looking into a blank space.
One of the things that I’ve learnt in my walk with the Lord is that: in a change of life’s season, there’s often a break between the old season and stepping into the new season. by Siphokazi Khumalo
Hosea 2:14 ““Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” This scripture is one of prophetic words I got from one lady who is in prophetic ministry in Cape Town beginning of this year. Today, I can almost say that kinda sums up these past few days while in the lockdown... ![]() by Steve Haines When you know how gruesome Jesus' crucifixion was, it is hard to understand why I love the cross... But it's not the cross I love, I wish my Lord didn't have to go through what he went through, but He did, He had to. And He did it all for our sake. Ps 103:2 - "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" This weekend, lets remember the price He paid. Let's remember what He paid it for. And I want to touch quickly on what the cross was for, and how now, more than ever (with world wide lockdown), we must remember His benefits. Is 53:5 - "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peacewas upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." This prophetic scripture outlines some of the benefits of the cross: 1. Forgiveness and Cleansing of our Sin and Sinful Nature 2. Peace - both with God and with Life 3. Healing - both spiritual, emotional and physical healing. This is why I celebrate Him. I remember the high price, I remember the pain, the torture, the agony. And I celebrate the victory. And the best way I can honour that price is to walk in Holiness, Forgiveness, Peace and Health. So at this time, when we can look at our personal lives and the live of people around us, we can see that the world right now is anything but honouring God in those four areas. May we this Easter, not forget His benefits by living lives contrary to what we celebrate. Lets honour Him by walking in Holiness, Forgiveness, Peace and Healing. God Bless and have an awesome Easter Weekend, Steve “What do you do for a living?” A question asked by many people when you meet them. But how do you answer that one of the things you do is run a Supernatural Lifestyle School. Believers walking in the Supernatural, this is something I am passionate about. A couple of years ago I had one of our pastors tell me that my school had a “expiry” date as believers are trained in the supernatural.
My response was that this was my goal. I would be over the moon if the majority of believers in South Africa knew how to Heal the Sick, Prophecy, reach the lost and walk intimately with God. If/when that day comes, I will happily close the school and retire! But it begs the question. When did the church stop being supernatural? When I read my Bible, I read about a supernatural God. A God who created the earth by speaking. I read about an Angel appearing to Abraham, about Soddom and Gomorrah being destroyed by fire. I read about Jacob wrestling with an Angel. I read about Joseph saving a nation because he could interpret a dream. I read about a 12 year old boy becoming a King because it was prophesied and he then killed a trained warrior giant. I read about Elijah, calling fire from heaven, causing a drought, raising a boy to life. I read about the prophets who foretold about a Messiah 100’s of years before it happened. I read about a Messiah who comes to the earth supernaturally, born of a virgin. Who was known primarily for healing the sick. Who walked on water, pulled coins out of the mouths of fish, who multiplied food. Oh and lets not forget, who rose from the dead! I read about Apostles, who also raised the dead, “blinded” arrogant people, prison doors opening when they worshipped. Who heard from God and wrote the New Testament. These men and women, commanded cripples to walk, shared the Gospel with the Gentiles because of a vision. Introduced the Gospel to Africa because a voice told a disciple to go to a certain road. I read the book of Revelation, not fully realizing that this was due to a vision. It was given to a man who the Roman Empire tried to kill by putting him in boiling oil but he sat there like he was in a bath tub. So when someone tells me, they are a person of the Word, explaining why they are not “supernatural”, I question, “What Word are you reading?” And when did “Normal” Christianity in the Bible become Abnormal. When did we buy into the lie, that it is not for today or its for a chosen few. I am going to explore this more in the next couple of blogs. What do you think? Write in the comments below. At the beginning of this year I did a lecture at Bible School on the Holy Spirit. A gentleman came to me afterwards, he was fuming, literally shaking because he thought what I had said was blasphemous. What had I said that was so offensive? I had told the class that the Holy Spirit is as much part of the Trinity as Jesus and the Father and that He is often viewed as the servant, but He is also God and is worthy of worship. I love the Holy Spirit, and I have learnt not to apologise for that. I love Jesus and the Father equally and understand that they all have their own role and function in the Trinity. Why do I love Him? Because He has been there for me every step of my life since I was born again, in fact even before that in leading me to salvation. He has been my comforter, He has been my guide, He has encouraged me, strengthened me when I am weak. He has also done amazing things around me, from healing people, to salvations, to turning situations. I have been blown away by His love and power and so when other people are embarrassed at times by things He may do, or when people try and limit Him because they view their wisdom as better than His. I just respond saying, "Holy Spirit, thank you for coming, thank you for journeying with me, Leading me to Jesus and the Father. Thank you for speaking to me." And so this is why I love Pentecost, because like Christmas is to Jesus, Pentecost is a time when I celebrate Holy Spirit and His role in my life. How about you? |
AuthorsAUTHORSSteve Haines heads up the ministry of Daniel Group in Cape Town, South Africa. Archives
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