Good day, I know it has been a long time since I wrote. However, with everything that happened in the last week in the Garden Route here in South Africa; I really feel I have to share this.
If you have no idea what this is about; you can check out “Knysna fires” and “Cape storms” on the news… This has been going on for about a week and is now on the turn around.
So in everything we saw, the Body of Christ had one clear goal… When disaster struck every church in town started working with a common goal… Help those who have suffered in Knysna… A single goal brought everyone together, yet what was needed for this? Why did it need a natural disaster to awaken it?
The Beginning of the Storm…
Let me start from before the fires and the Cape storms… As I heard that a storm will be hitting the Western Cape of South Africa; I started feeling a stirring in the Spirit which said this is going to be bigger than just a storm… And that this storm will push from the physical to the Spiritual realm; and many will have to start making the choice… Are they all in, or all out…
The Word of God mentions a similar situation… We should choose, are we going to be hot or cold, because anything lukewarm will be spat out. I started thinking about this during last week and it was as if it opened up to me…. You get those who rejects God, those who are on fire for God, yet there is this one group that falls in the middle… And then it opened.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25 NKJV)
So I started to think about this and it was as if God showed me that some of the “hearers of the Word”, were hearing and proclaiming, but their life are fruitless… Yes, I said fruitless… Basically think of an apple tree, that knows its a apple tree, YET IN THE ENTIRETY OF ITS LIFE, IT NEVER BARES A SINGLE APPLE… One would think something is wrong with this apple tree…
So with the storm prediction, I already knew the Spirit side will be starting with the physical storms, yet not end with it… So when everything started, Cape region in chaos, and short after we hear there are fires…
The FIRST Cleansing
Looking at the word of God, the storms remind me of the first cleansing you find… Most of us have heard and know the story of Noah, Yet God said: “Never again will I destroy the world with water” (Gen 9:11)
But then we go further, the Israelites are stuck in Egypt in bondage. Moses goes to them, and frees them (now full story is in Exodus in the Word of God, plagues and all). They get away and splits the red sea… Goes through, but the Egyptians are right on their tail, and with the Egyptians in the split water and the Israelites on the save side, the next big cleansing happens… The past of the Israelites have been totally wiped away…
Do we need cleansing?
Now we all need to be cleansed, we were all born in sin, prideful, refusing to believe we are the cause of any pain or suffering, but when we look into understanding that there might be something I can change, then we should wonder… If we deal with the hurts of our own life
, will we be able to love better?
I have been at a place where I blamed the world for where I was, and I do not have many friends, because many people who get to know me in happy times, have never seen my worst side, and when that comes out I am no longer welcome in there lives. Note this happens fairly much in my life, not many stay long… I do believe that much can be done in my life… And with God I will be cleansed and restored to the fullness of who I was created to be. I will definitely not have the biggest social group, but those who are there, will never forsake me… and they are there when I need help, and I am there for them…
What about the fires?
Who is there for those who are stuck in the fires of life? So let me get to the fires now, because I saw this as an interesting picture.
So fire also cleanses and purifies, but what if I say in communities there are raging fires, like with Knysna where they struggled to contain 26 different fires 5 days ago, but these are not cleansing, but destroying lives.
And each fire is fueled by the other fire… Fires of alcoholism, causing fires of Poverty, causing fires of debt… And this brings forth that same hopelessness which we see in the people who just lost everything in Knysna (and the surrounding areas).
The Difference?
But what is the difference here, I do not see churches working together to help people who are stuck in these fires. And I must ask, why not? I am part of a group of people in town who wants to see lives change, and we started going into the one community (I will start sharing about this later and start posting videos we take of what happens in the communities). First time we did a small block among 5 people and we looked down to see the work to still be done, and we knew… The harvest is ready, BUT WHERE ARE THE WORKERS????
In many communities churches go in weekly, but everything stays the same… WHY? If we represent Christ, shouldn’t we see change in these areas?
We have now started to dedicate time weekly to go to this community so we can get one community at a time sorted and geared for the future… God has not given up on anyone, who am I to judge someone by where they live and what they have…
Are we going to wait for all the destruction to be completed before we become the firefighters God has called us to be? This is not a way to guilt trip you into going, I do not expect you to do it. I would like you to talk to God about this… AND feel free to contact me if you want to become a part of this. We are situated in George and we have a heart for missions, going to hospitals, communities and the streets to show people that God loves them.
I am also in contact with people who do training and if the need arises, we can organize something to equip you and your community. Even if we are only able to put you in contact with people close to you, who can help you in this regard.
We want to see communities equipped to help one another, and that we can see the fires in every community cleared and that the people are save to live life to the full… and free from the bondage we do not know about…
But this is not just for the township communities, but for every community… I have seen that alcoholism and poverty goes hand in hand, even in the most upper-class of communities… These blazing fires are set, not because of our background, although it might have an impact, but because of our hurts… I have heard people say that they drink to forget, this means that there is a pain or a hurt that they are trying to hide, which they are ashamed of… This exact reasoning is why there are cutters and drug addicts… Cutters and drug addicts are feeling better in the moment; but when the reality is back, they are more hurt, and it becomes worse from there….
So I am going to ask: “WHY DO WE NOT SEE THE PAIN IN OUR BACKYARD, BUT WE RUN FOR THOSE WHO ARE PUBLICIZED ABOUT?” Let’s get communities out of physical and emotional pain while there is supposedly nothing to do… And then we go to the REST of the world…
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8 NIV)
Our Jerusalem is our home town/current town and it goes out from there to the whole world in stages….
I would like to thank you for reading this post, but before I finish I need to say thank you to a couple of people…
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