PLEASING MY HEAVENLY FATHER

I NEEDED TO KNOW THE BIBLE

Within 2-3 weeks a Catholic priest came to the door trying to befriend me. I guess some friends knew that life was really hard for me, because there had been much violence, and they had called him to visit me. Another minister also came, but I didn't click with any of these people. Then the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door and they said something that I wanted to hear. The man said to me, 'Would you like to study the Bible?' As soon as he said that I said, 'Yes,' because I had heard God speak and I knew that I needed to understand the Bible, so I wanted someone to teach me.

I then started attending their meetings every Sunday in the Kingdom Hall in Glen Eden (Auckland, New Zealand) with a lovely family and they came over every week and we would do a study with them. As I was reading the Bible, they kept saying to me 'Betty, you mustn't read the Bible on its own. You must always have us here to explain it to you or you must read it in conjunction with our Watch Tower and Awake publications.' I wanted to honour them but my heart's desire was to find the God who had spoken to me. I continued to go to the Kingdom Hall with them and they were a tremendous witness in their whole lifestyle. But as time went on I continued to read the Bible on my own and really pray with all my heart.

One of the things they repeated to me was this: 'The Jehovah's Witness teaching is the truth,' but I kept praying to God saying, 'God, reveal Your truth to me. I need to know Your truth!' That became the absolute cry of my heart, 'Oh God, show me Your truth!' and those were the words I went to bed with every night.

On a Tuesday night they had a study time and Thursday was a practical night where people got up and practiced going to someone's door and what would happen, so they role played, teaching the children and the people how to do their witnessing. I looked at all these things and thought, 'Something is still missing,' so I continued to read the Bible on my own and I loved it.

The Holy Spirit was showing me that there was more and He kept showing me the fact that I could have a personal relationship with Him. When I shared this with the Jehovah's Witnesses, I was told that only their leaders in America get this revelation and that we have to study the Bible in conjunction with their teaching. They are the only ones who can get the true revelation. I remember thinking, 'But that's not right, that's not fair.'

Then they would continue to say to me, 'Every other church is of Babylon and they will all be destroyed!' But I remember thinking 'That can't be right,' because God had one special person in my life. This special person was my godmother. She was a Christian and I knew she loved God, so I knew that she would not be destroyed. God kept reminding me of her and I continued to persevere in prayer saying, 'God, show me Your truth!' 

GOD SPOKE TO ME AGAIN

Then I had two dreams. On the first night I saw the stars falling from the sky, hitting and crashing into the earth. I saw smoke, flames and people yelling, screaming and running in all directions. I had never dreamt in such vivid color like that before and this was in absolute brilliant color. The second night I had the same dream but in the midst of the dream I grabbed my children's hands and said, 'We have to run for the mountains, run for the mountains.' The stars were crashing and hitting the earth and it was so terrifying.

Just at that point when I said 'We have to run for the mountains' and I was hearing the same thing as the night before, all the screams and the yells, a time of absolute terror, then the Lord called to me audibly again and all He said was my name, 'Betty.' The sound of His voice was so amazing I woke up out of the dream and sat bolt upright in bed and just started weeping because I knew that it was the voice of God, the same voice that had spoken to me when I was driving my car.

The sound of His voice was vibrating through my whole body and it was so tremendous and amazing that I just said to God right there, 'Okay God, I give You my life and I give You the lives of my children. I hand everything over to You.' I didn't know that at that time I was being 'born again.' I was just surrendering and giving everything over to God. I didn't sleep for the rest of that night; I just wept and cried before God and I was also thinking that I was going to die.

EYES OF FIRE

I had some friends called Lyn and Frank Parker, and Frank rang up that morning to say, 'Betty, I need some help on the farm, can you come up?' I thought 'Okay God, I must be going to die.' From the dreams I was thinking that I was going to die, so I got in my car that Saturday morning and drove up north from Auckland. I was praying all the way that God would protect us and when we got up there I was quite amazed that nothing bad had happened; no accidents. That night Frank and Lyn had a youth group that came to their place for a barbecue. The young people were out in the paddocks playing soccer and I thought, 'God, that's what I want for my children!'

Later that night a dear pastor called Eric Best came round to share the Word of God. I hadn't told anybody anything about the dreams because I had been in a place in my life when I didn't trust men particularly, so it was all kept in my heart. Everybody came into the room and they were singing praise songs and it was so wonderful that I thought, 'Wow, this is just so awesome, I love it,' and I picked up the song just like that and started singing.

Pastor Eric Best was across the room and when I looked at him I felt like his eyes could see every sin in me, everything I had ever done, so I tried to get away from those eyes. I put my head down and closed my eyes, but when I did that I could still see two eyes staring at me like burning coals. I thought, 'Oh no, is he a man of God?' because at that time I thought that he must be of Satan. I didn't know the Scripture about the Lord's eyes being like blazing fire (See: Revelation 1:14). God was really revealing Himself to me and it was quite beyond my understanding. I went into the room that night and I cried before God. I confessed everything that I had ever done. I confessed on my knees in the room, but still didn't tell anybody. 

On Monday morning we went into Whangarei and Frank brought me a Thompson Chain Reference Bible and I knew that this Bible was from God because I had only been reading the Jehovah's Witness Bible up until then. I had been coming up to see Frank and Lyn from time to time and we would get into discussions about the Bible, but I was always able to counteract what Frank said because of what the JW's had taught me. But that day I knew that God had given me this Bible and I knew it was from the Lord. I just sat there and wept in the back of the car and said, 'God, I know this is from you.'

JESUS HEALED MY SON

A short time later my small son, Peter, was in my arms and pus started running from his ears, and he was really unhappy and crying. He had gone through surgery on his ears about two weeks prior. Back in Auckland I went to the specialist who said, 'Your baby will need to have another operation.' I had no more money in the bank and was totally devastated. I got down on my kitchen floor and I said, 'God, please give me the money or heal Pete!' And God instantly healed him. I took him back to the specialist and he said, 'Well, yes, these things do happen sometimes.' From there I knew the greater reality of God.

The JW's continued to come around and they tried to get me to come back to the Kingdom Hall. I told them all the things that God had done in providing me with a new Bible, but when I told them about how God healed Pete they would say to me, 'Be careful because Satan does those things too.' They were saying that Pete's healing was of the devil, but I knew in my heart it was of God.

I went invited to my JW's friend's place for a meal. I was a little bit afraid of them trying to pull me back with the things that they would say, so I was really fasting that God would give me the strength to stand. When I went for this meal the wife started speaking to me and trying to convince me I was making the most terrible, terrible mistake, and I was causing my children to be damned. We'd be lost forever and as she kept talking like this I felt really ill in my stomach and I had to leave. I think that was again God's way of protecting me from hearing what she was saying, so I had to get out of there with my children. I really prayed after that.

FINDING A NEW CHURCH

Crying out to God I said, 'God, please show me where we're meant to go to church if the JW's aren't the right place.' Within a few days a lovely lady from Social Welfare came to talk to me. I was doing a painting and inscribing some Scriptures on the bottom. This lady said to me, 'Oh, you're a Christian' and I said, 'I think I am.' I wasn't sure and I told her of all that had been happening. She said, 'I know where there's a good church,' and she gave me the name of a pastor from a Baptist Church.

I prayed that God would give me the boldness to ring this person, because I was really fearful and terrified of men at that stage and didn't ever want to put myself in a place where I could be hurt again. So I said to the Lord, 'If this is of You, please give me the boldness to talk to this man and please don't let him judge me or say anything about the JW's.' One thing the JW's kept drumming in all the time was that the other churches are of Babylon and are all going to be lost, so I prayed, 'If this man is really of You, don't let him say anything against others.'

I rang up and got Pastor Bridges. I told him my name and that I had been studying with the JW's for a year, that someone has given me this phone number and that I want to come to church. He was so excited and said, 'Yes, please come' and told me to introduce myself when I came. The children and I turned up and again I prayed saying, 'If this is really of You, I want my children to enjoy the church.' We got there and it was a lovely service. The church was full of the Holy Spirit and when we went in the people were clapping their hands, lifting up their arms and dancing around. I thought, 'Wow, this is amazing' and Paul said to me, 'Mum, this is an amazing church. Let's come back here.' 

BREAKING FREE FROM THE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS

The JW's don't let you go easily. They kept coming back and they would send elders around to try and convince me that I was doing the wrong thing, but God continued to show me wonderful revelations in His Word. When they came to the door, not long after I was saved, they were pressing me again and sending their top-notches that can really preach to try and convince me to turn back. I just started praising the Lord for the wonderful things He had done and I shared my testimony. I kept praising Jesus, lifting up my hands in worship and they just fled from the property. They literally ran as I praised the Lord Jesus.

A woman who was also a very staunch JW came to the door and she was really firing at me. I thought, 'God, what do I do? What do I do?' The Lord showed me to ask her to leave, as I had every right to tell her that she was trespassing on my property. So I asked her to please leave because she was verbally attacking me, telling me again what I had done and how my family and I were going to be destroyed. That is why there is much fear for someone who has come out from these kinds of cults; you come under tremendous attack. It was interesting that the Lord showed me that when you're under this kind of attack and they won't go, you simply have the right to tell them to leave. What I have also done again and again is share my testimony, so that seeds of faith and the truth can go into their lives.

That was my journey in and out of the Jehovah's Witnesses. It gave me a fervent desire to seek God in His Word and I have such a heart for the people who are caught up in false cults because they are caught in with tremendous fear. I have compassion for these people because I know they are sincere, yet they have been deceived. I've had occasions since to talk with some people who are on the outskirts of the JW's that have been in there all their lives. They don't break free because of tremendous fear, for you're told all the time that you're causing your whole family to be condemned if you leave.

I was crying out to God to show me where they had gone wrong and then I had a vision where I saw all these people, heaps and heaps of people who were going up a path around the mountain, looking for the door, but they were going up the wrong path, instead of taking the straight path to Heaven through the door that Jesus has provided. Jesus said, 'I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved' (John 10:9). 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14:6).

I loved those people. They were so genuine and they believed that what they were doing was right. But they didn't have the Spirit of God and they were listening to what their leaders were saying rather than seeking God's face for themselves. The Bible was saying one thing and they were saying something else. We must lead people to Jesus so that people can have an intimate and personal relationship with Him. 

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS' NAME

After I was saved the Lord began to teach me in the area of strongholds and demonic spirits. When I lived in Holman Road in Auckland, I'd been praying for my neighbors and for the area with another friend. We would get together regularly to pray and pull down the controlling spirits that the Holy Spirit was showing us were controlling the area around us. I would also continue to pray in my own time in this way, pulling down, binding and setting the captives free in the spiritual realm so that they could receive the truth of God.

Within a very short time, the lady across the street became a Christian. The man living next to her was dying of throat cancer and I was able to share with him. I don't know if there was any outcome, but after our prayer over the area there was an opportunity to share with him that I had never had before. Also, some Christians moved in that week and the teenage boy whose family lived next door to me gave his heart to the Lord. It was amazing and the Lord showed me that things can happen as we take authority in Jesus' name against the spiritual forces of darkness.

THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE FOR THE SALVATION OF MY MOTHER

I learned the truth of our spiritual battle through my experiences with both my mother and my son. My Mum had a bad drinking problem and I used to go to her place and share with her. I would share so much and she would be receiving it and weeping, but then it was like 'click'; there was just a 'quick, change the subject' blockage that came up. It was her switch-off point and I thought, 'God, what is happening here?' I knew it was more than just her.

I had been really praying and interceding, binding the stronghold of alcoholism and confessing the sin of my family line, for my grandparents were sly-groggers. There was a hotel on their property which burnt down and then they sold alcohol from the house and were considered to be sly-groggers. Each one of their children has been tremendously bound by alcohol, so I felt that I had to come before the Lord on my Mum's behalf and confess our family's sin of alcohol addiction, the sin of disobedience against the law of the land, and whatever else the Holy Spirit showed me.   

I kept crying out to the Lord for my mother until I knew in my spirit it was done. God had heard my prayer and in the spiritual realm the breakthrough was secured. I had become so cross with the enemy's works that I prevailed in prayer to break this thing and about two years before she died she did give up alcohol. When she first gave up the alcohol she still hadn't come to know the Lord, but the addiction had been broken from her life and then I continued to share with her. I saw the Holy Spirit touching her and she would be weeping, but then this block would come and I couldn't get any further, until one particular day when my aunty came rushing out to tell me that my mum was having heart pains.

I went rushing into the room and she said to me, 'I want to die. I just want to die.' An anger rose up within my spirit and I said, 'Mum, you cannot die yet, you haven't received Jesus as your Lord and Savior.' I felt to battle against those spirits and I really took authority against them. Then I said to her, 'Mum, do you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?' and she just cried out, 'Yes,' so I led her to the Lord. But it was really a battle all the way for her soul, right to the end. She made a commitment and lived about another three weeks before going home to Heaven to be with the Lord.

I saw the evil of spiritual strongholds that bind someone's life up so much that they can't even receive the Word. She would receive part of the Word and then switch-off, like switching a light off. You could literally see it in the spirit and I knew there were evil spirits holding her from receiving the truth. Praise God, that Jesus has been glorified. She came to the Lord, her soul was set free and from that I've seen others in the family come to the Lord as well. I can't name the spirits, but I know that as I took authority in the name of Jesus, binding every demonic power that was stopping her from receiving the truth, she was released to receive it. We really are in a spiritual battle for the souls of those around us. The Lord also taught me about this through a spiritual battle with my son.

THE DEMONS OF BOB MARLEY AND DRUGS

When Paul was 13, he went off the rails and got in with some young friends that were into Bob Marley, and then he got into drugs. I didn't know that there was a real spiritual thing behind Bob Marley. I was very naive and I didn't know the signs in those days, but once he got into that sort of thing he soon stopped coming to church and he started stealing.

I didn't know what was happening at the time, but I now realize when I look back that a lot of the things that started then was to feed the habit of drugs and for many years he was on drugs and heroine. I was in court with him every couple of weeks, being alongside him, loving him and praying for him. That's why when I see the young ones in broken families, my heart cries out, 'God save them, turn them, turn these families from that terrible way of life which leads to destruction.'

When Paul was in the boys' home his heart became very hard. He hated me so much because I was standing against the drugs and the Bob Marley worship. I had gone to see him a few days earlier and he was just so hard that I was weeping before God. Standing at my kitchen sink, I was crying out to God asking what I could do and at that time there was a tremendous storm going on outside.

A banana palm was blowing all over the place and them a little sparrow came and landed on a leaf of the banana palm. Its feathers were all bedraggled and it looked a big mess. I've never seen a sparrow like it and then, as it sat there, it began to sing an amazing song and I knew God was saying, 'Praise Me. Praise Me.' Earlier I had said, 'God, how can I praise You with what's going on?' and that's when He bought this little sparrow that looked all bedraggled.

I went from the sink and went into Paul's bedroom and I started praising God and thanking Him for the good things I could think of. About two hours later it was like I was somewhere up in the heavenlies. The Lord had really lifted my spirit as I was praising and worshiping God. 

The next day I went and saw Paul and something had broken in the spirit. When he saw me, he said, 'Mum,' and just hugged me. He wept and said, 'I'm so sorry.' It was like God had broken something in the spiritual realm during that time of praise. My dear Paul came back to the Lord, but his whole life was destroyed by drugs and his liver and kidneys were so badly damaged that he was given only a short time to live.    

The Lord gave me a vision of a lighthouse, but the lighthouse wasn't up on the cliff.  It was right down on the rocks and I thought, 'Lord, that's really amazing!' The waves were sweeping all around it, but it was on the rock and it was really firm. The Lord spoke to my heart saying, 'You are that lighthouse and you will guide many shipwrecks into safe harbour.' I praised the Lord, but I didn't know that the lighthouse down on the rocks also represented what I was going through with Paul and within a week he died. But this gave me a passion for the people who are lost.

When my dear Paul died, I knew a part of the suffering for those who are lost in sin and it was like the seed fell to the ground so that it could bring forth much fruit. I know very well that part of the death of my son has been the birth of my work amongst young people. When I see their lives I cry out, 'God, save them! Do something!' and I guess I've been that 'something' that God used in this area; to speak His truth and to love them. As a result of these children's clubs, there'd be more than a hundred young people who have come to know the Lord. There's been a reaping of souls because of that seed falling into the ground. 

CALLED TO REACH THE CHILDREN

When the Lord called me to start a children's ministry, the area we had moved to was really down trodden and negative things were often spoken about the place. When we said that we were moving there, we heard all the stories, yet we knew it was God who had taken us there and it was the place God had appointed to us to live. I felt in my heart that I was to go out and walk the streets and pull down the strongholds. At first I saw that there was tremendous fear and a lack of trust in the people.  

The area had a lot of state houses, a lot of drug problems, violence, hurting lives, no teaching or direction and a people really lost without God. A field often needs to be ploughed up before the seed is planted and that's why I felt I needed to walk the streets and just pray through, pray through, and plough it up with prayer. First - pull down the strongholds, prepare the soil of the heart with love and then plant the seed of truth, and God brings the increase when we are obedient.

As I kept walking the streets and praying, I started to see a change. We would take to each household a flyer for the children's program each week, to get alongside the families and get to know them. I also saw it as an opportunity to claim the ground, for whenever I went I claimed that household for the Lord. That has been one of the keys in breaking down the strongholds in the area. It was said to Joshua that wherever he put his foot, God would give him the land, and that's one of the things I have claimed as I've gone out (See: Joshua 1:3).

I received three prophecies, all very similar, that our hillside will be ablaze for the glory of God. I've held onto those words in my heart and I've spoken them out over the area and we're seeing the strongholds being broken down. I had been involved with women's work, which had been a success and then God turned me right around for doing children's work and I thought, 'Lord, I haven't done anything like this.' I felt that I couldn't do it, but I had a willing heart and said, 'Lord, you'll have to do it through me.' I knew that I couldn't do it on my own, for when the Lord put upon my heart about starting this work I was quite over-whelmed.

There were a lot of children coming around and I thought that there needed to be some teaching around here for the children. Some friends came around and said, 'Betty, you need to start a children's work,' but I didn't feel that I could start it. When the Lord was first stirring my heart, I went to my Pastor and I shared the need with him. I thought there needed to be a young man to get it established. My Pastor said to me, 'Betty, God usually gives the vision to the one He wants to do the job.' That was a little bit of a shock, so I went home and started praying earnestly, 'God, if You want this work here, show me what I have to do."

I felt that what I had done in the past with children wasn't going to reach these young ones, so I cried out to God. Then I was given some videos of the Bill Wilson way of doing things in the ghettos of New York. As I was watching those videos I wept and wept. I knew that God was saying that these ones needed to be reached with God's love and really nurtured. Within a week I found the outlet for getting the material to teach and the council gave permission to use the community hall.

I've seen a tremendous change in some of the families. In one family there was so much violence and parties, but the three daughters have received the Word. Also, by sharing with their mum, it's been amazing that the whole household has come to a quiet place. Mum has not yet received the Lord, but she is now seeking God. There are so many things like that I've seen, that the Holy Spirit has done.

PROVIDING SPIRITUAL FOOD

The Lord gave me two dreams that were very similar, about little babies dying in their cots because they weren't being fed. So I thought, 'God, how do I meet that?' At that time the Lord was showing me that the young children coming to the club still needed to be fed and no one was feeding them. This happened over the school holiday period when the little ones weren't able to feed themselves. With all the Bible verses they know and their Bibles that they do read, I feel that they are in a better place now, but during that holiday they still needed feeding.

The Lord showed me with my own children that when they get to a certain age it was up to them how much of that Word they receive. I was doing a daily devotion with them each day and one of them was rebelling and not 'eating,' to receive from the Word. The Lord showed me that I was responsible to prepare the spiritual food and deliver it, give them the opportunity, but it was up to them how much of that Word they received. 

God reminded me of a calf because I'd grown up on a farm. When you first start to feed a calf, you put your fingers in its mouth, then you draw its head down into the bucket. As you gently lower its head into the bucket, then it starts to suck the milk through your fingers and it drinks on its own. The Lord showed me that we can't get the calf and shove its head down and force it to drink, it's only going to choke and splutter, and it's the same for these young people; their responsibility is to drink for themselves. You can only do so much and then there's an accountability where they have to drink of God's Word themselves. Whereas, with the younger ones there's much more responsibility to continue to feed them at their level.

A LACK OF SHEPHERDING

I was raised by my grandparents and I went to Sunday School. No one else in the family were Christians, but the lady that willed my grandfather the farm was a real godly lady and she used to walk to church every Sunday. My grandfather would tell me stories of her and it planted the seeds in my heart. Some friends said to me one day, 'Don't go to Sunday School; it's boring.' So because of pear pressure I stopped going to Sunday School and went off with them. After a few weeks with them I realized that this was boring and it was more fun at Sunday School. I went back to church, but the Sunday School had been stopped due to insufficient numbers.

My grandparents passed away when I was ten. As a child my godmother told me about the friend that I could have in Jesus and she lead me in a prayer, but she also died. I went to live with my mum and step-dad and made another commitment to the Lord as a teenager. I went with a youth group to hear a preacher and I wanted to go forward when it was the altar call and my heart was pounding but I was too afraid. 

On the way back I was talking to one of my friends and I said, 'You know, if we were to go again tomorrow night, I would go forward.' We went back the next night and I thought, 'I am going to do what I said I would.' So I went up the front and made another commitment to the Lord. But I was from a non-Christian home.

My mum was a strong drinker and my step-father was a very angry man who had wrong desires. All those times I had made a commitment to the Lord there was no one to teach me and I never went on. No one took me on and consequently I went back into the world and got lost again. As I grew up, I made a lot of mistakes, did lots of dumb things and got my life into a complete mess, but I had a desire in me to study the Bible and I was looking for someone to teach me the Bible. That's why I know that it's not enough to just lead a child to the Lord; you've got to shepherd (disciple) them, you've got to teach them and train them in the way they should go. It's so strong in my heart that you have to teach the children and you have to teach them at ground level. They can't sit in a church service and learn at an adult's level. They've got to be taught at their level of understanding.

The grief of my heart is when I see children that have grown up in Christian homes, but they don't know the Bible and they've never been taught to read it for themselves. They are not being taught of the ways of God. Some parents think it's enough to just show them the lifestyle of being a Christian, but that's not enough. They have to teach them at their level of understanding and realize what God is saying in commanding us to tell the next generation of the good things He has done. 

I teach the children to pray for their families and we have noticed a difference. I hope that they will continue to pray for their families and know that they are not alone in the battle. There is much healing among the youth that needs to go on. There's a whole lot of wrong thinking and wrong concepts. We're battling a mental stronghold and we've got to try and teach them that they can move up with Jesus. They don't have to be someone who thinks, 'I'm never going to get a good job. I'm from this community and from this family.' We have to show them that in Christ, they can attain all the good things that God has for them. There's a renewing of the mind that has to come there. They have to know that God has a plan for them and we have to tell them that God does have a plan and a purpose for their lives

TRUSTING GOD

We went through times when we had hardly any funds for the children's work. My pastor told me to bring all the receipts of the hire of the hall and the other things we needed and initially we did this but I didn't feel easy about it. Then the Lord said, 'I want you to step out in trust with Me now.' So when we went through times of hardly any funds, I had to ask God what to do. When our funds were so low the Lord always bought me back to the promise that He will supply all my needs according to His riches and glory, and He showed me that it wasn't Him withholding the funds. The Lord does not withhold any good thing from those who love Him, so then, know that it's the enemy who's trying to take from you.

The Lord showed me to start praising Him and thanking Him for the funds and as I have done that, there has been an inflow. When there has been a lack I've had to go to the Lord each time and ask, 'What's the block, Lord, what's happening here?' God did continue to supply through the generosity of the church and others, but that has also been a wonderful lesson through which God has taught me to trust in Him. We have to keep seeking His face to know what the next step is. I don't have all the answers. I just keep listening to my Lord and Savior and pray, 'Lord, what do we do now? What is our next step?'

FEELING THE HEART OF GOD

When you really fall in love with the Lord, you really want to know His heart's cry for the people that are lost and that's the key for me, to really know the feeling of God's heart. That's what He showed me for the area where we are. His heart for those people, the children, and that is what has driven me to the place of prayer and intercession; a longing to please Him and to see His kingdom come here on earth as it is in Heaven and a desire to see the fullness of what He wants. We need to be so in love with Jesus.

We have to come into a deeper place with God. When you are in a harder place you learn to pray in a deeper way and you see results. I've been through a lot of hard things in my own Christian walk, so I've learnt to be on my knees, humbly before God, seeking His face. This is something we have to choose to do. It has to be in our heart that we choose to draw near to the Lord.

When my husband and I went to Fiji for a missions trip, I observed what the Lord was doing with the Body of Christ there. The men would fast for a whole week and in that time they would have teaching in the morning and then teaching in the night, where the whole church came together. The following week the women would fast and have a week of teaching. Then the next week the youth of the church were expected to fast. I saw such tremendous depth of sincerity to love God and please Him. I thought, 'Oh Father, if the church here in the Western world could come to that place, I know that tremendous things will happen!'    

They loved the Lord so much and they gave like the widow with her mite, but they gave of all that they had. They were really hungry for the Word of God and they were being filled. I was touched so deeply just to see that real hunger after the things of God. Just like a sponge to soak up every part. They expected great things from the Lord and the Lord blessed them with tremendous healings and God provided for them. He met their needs in every way and even in the village where we were, someone had been raised from the dead. 

FOLLOWING THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Another simple illustration of the Holy Spirit leading was the dear couple that had moved into the house across the road and I had a beautiful flower, the first one of the bush that had come out. I said, 'Lord, I want to give that as my 'firstfruits,' who shall I give it to?' I heard the Lord say, 'The English couple.' I knew that there was an English couple going to be moving into the house across the road in two weeks time. I said, 'But Lord they're not there!  They're not moving in 'till two weeks.'

I prayed again and the English couple kept coming to my mind. I was rather embarrassed and frustrated by the third time I prayed and said, 'Okay God, I'm going over there,' but I was quite rattled. I couldn't see any activity from my side where I was. I walked across the road and went around the back of the house and there were two, great, big, huge boxes, car case type things, and the door was open, so I went up to the door and knocked and there was the English couple.

I handed over this little flower and said, 'I've been praying and asking the Lord who I should give this to and the Lord kept saying, 'The English couple,' so I bought this flower over for you.' The lady just wept, she just broke down and wept. It was the leading of the Holy Spirit and that taught me a tremendous lesson to just listen.

I have seen in the Word that Jesus ministered to the practical needs as well. When He fed the 5000, He ministered to their practical, physical needs, and then He fed them with spiritual food. To me that is a real principal in winning people for the Lord, that practical love in doing whatever God wants us to do and totally depending upon the Holy Spirit to be lead by Him.

SAVING A LITTLE GIRL

One time back when I was shopping in Henderson, I came out with all my groceries and I had to cross the road to catch the bus. I saw the bus on the other side, but I missed the bus and felt totally devastated. I had prayed that morning, asking, 'Lord, please use me in whatever way You want to today.' But I felt so hopeless and sad because I would have to walk up a steep hill with all these groceries.    

As I came around the corner I saw a big truck coming in to park. Two children were standing inside the front of the truck with their father and then I saw one of the children fall straight out of the opened window and then I saw that little child roll towards the back double wheels of the truck. I rushed forward and caught the little girl's leg and pulled the child from underneath that truck. Praise God, that little girl was saved.

She must have been less than two years old. I prayed over that little girl and the father hadn't even realized what had happened until a woman started screaming, 'She saved the child. She saved that little child.' The father came running around and after returning the child I walked away from there praising the Lord. I had to miss the bus so that I could save that little girl. How amazing is the love of our God for each of us. I often think of that girl and praise God for His hand upon her and I'm sure she was saved for a special purpose. Jesus is wonderful!

EXALTING THE LORD AND GLORIFYING GOD

The biggest dream on my heart is really simple ' to please my Heavenly Father. The words of Mary, 'My soul doth magnify the Lord' (Luke 1:46), expresses my desire to see God so glorified. I wept for His heart for the lost, the down trodden and those that are hurting, and I want to be found pleasing in His eyes. My prayer is that you will also be a person who pleases our Heavenly Father.

'Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God ' this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is ' his good, pleasing and perfect will.'  (Romans 12:1-2)

If you'd like to contact me my email is:  bmayne@xtra.co.nz

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Remember:  All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity.
(Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)