Owner’s Manual
Thank you Jesus for helping us through another year, for providing every day and in every area of our lives and for never leaving us to deal with the world alone.
It is amazing how great our God is! He is always with us, always showing us the way, closing doors where it’s needed and opening new ones so that we can achieve what He has in store for our future. Many people sometimes question this, but we humans can so easily forget what our Lord has done for us. When things go well we praise God and we live in thankfulness, but when we go through a storm, we so quickly forget what He did for us when things went well.
The bigger and longer the storm last, the more we forget and lose faith in Jesus. The Israelites did exactly the same. God would do so much for them, but the moment God went “silent”, they got upset with God and even turned against Him. The truth is that even though God goes “silent” on us sometimes, He is still with us, ready to catch us when we fall. There is a powerful saying: “The teacher is always quiet during a test”. It is also important to keep Heb 11:1 in mind during these times: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”.
When we don’t hear God’s voice when we go through a storm or ask God for a breakthrough in our lives and it doesn’t happen, don’t give up! It doesn’t mean that when we don’t see things happen that it isn’t going to! Keep the faith! When we lose faith, we might not receive what we asked for. When Jesus walked on the water, He called Peter to get out of the boat and walk towards Him. Peter did get out and walked on the water, but then he lost his faith and started to sink. You see dear reader, when we lose faith, we could easily fail.
We just started with a new year and many of us will be setting goals for 2017. In order for any goal to work, we first need to make sure that we do our part. There is a powerful saying: “Do your best and God will do the rest”. Set your goals, do your planning on how you going to achieve it, do everything possible to ensure that you follow your plan, consult with Jesus, fast, pray and keep the faith!
Things will also not always go according to plan, which is fine. Sometimes our plan is not God’s plan and when that happens, adjust your plan, don’t just give up. When things do not go according to plan for you in 2017, when challenges come your way, when your finances are not doing great, when you face health issues, when you are attacked by the enemy or when things at work is not working out, follow my 5-point solution below, as this will surely guide you to succeed in 2017.
When you purchase a new product and struggling to get it to work, you will surely read the Owner’s Manual to try and figure out what is wrong or how it works. When the product breaks, you will surely return it to where you bought it from to get it fixed. Why? Because you trust that by sending it back to the company who made it, it will be fixed!
God created us and He knows everything about us, He knows how we function, what we need, when we need it and how much we need. When we can’t make sense of what is going on in our lives, when we need fixing or need guidance, why not turn to our Creator! The great news is that we also come with an Owner’s Manual and it’s called the Bible.
Here is my 5-point plan for making things work for you in 2017:
- Read your Owner’s Manual every day (your Bible). Did you know that the Bible offers guidance for everything in life? Yes everything! Read it, study it and speak the scriptures over your life.
- Pray regularly. When I say pray regularly I don’t mean every now and again, I also don’t mean once a day, I mean every day throughout the day. You don’t always have to close your eyes when you pray and you don’t always have to pray out loud.
- Fast when needed. When we fast, things really do happen, because we call Jesus into our present situation to come and take control. Every time you crave for whatever you fasting on, pray and call onto Jesus to take control.
- Take communion on a regular basis. Communion should be part of our lives! Jesus died for us on the cross to set us free, to bring us good health and to provide in abundance. When we have communion, we do it in remembrance of Jesus and why He died for us and we call Him into our current situation.
- Stand in faith. With faith, ALL things are possible and remember, don’t give up if things do not go your way immediately! Be patient. God is always on time, never early and never late.
Well, this is it from me for now. I pray that you will have a blessed 2017 and when in doubt or facing challenges, consult with the Creator and don’t forget to read your Owner’s Manual. I leave you with these scriptures and speak them over your life for 2017: 2 Deuteronomy 31:8 – The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Jer 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jaco van As
Managing Director
Jesus to my Rescue
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