The bridge of faith
"Faith isn't faith until it is all that you have left to hold onto"
Faith is the core ingredient in our life that carries us safely through the troubles of life. When troubled times come you need to know that your faith is sufficient to carry you through safely.
The levels of faith in people varies with some having little faith and others have great faith. The people of little faith are often washed away as soon as a problem arises, while those that have built a solid foundation in the word will stand forever no matter what problems may come their way.
The story of building faith
A young boy, Tom, was faced by a problem in his life. His parents lived close to a large river but on the wrong side of the river. Everything he wanted in life was on the other side. Tom started to devise a way to cross the river.
Unfortunately the river was deep and even though Tom tried to wade across he would barely be a couple of feet into the river and the water would already be too high for him. In fear of drowning Tom had to return to safe land.
Soon Tom learnt how to swim and found that he could easily get across to the other side but only in the months of the year that the river was still. As soon as the rains came and the river started to flow Tom knew that he could not risk the swim for fear of being swept away in the current.
Tom, being a creative young lad, soon came up with a bright idea. When the river was still he swam across again but this time he was dragging a rope behind him. Tom secured the rope on either side of the river and decided that he could hold onto the rope and use the rope to stop him from being washed away when the river flowed fast.
While Tom's plan worked while the river was flowing slightly it was not long before he realised that as soon as the river started to flow a bit faster that he would not have the strength to hold onto the rope and he would be washed away.
Bright idea. If I could build a raft I could stand on the raft and use the rope to pull myself along and cross the river. That way I will also be able to carry things across the river with me and I will be dry when I get to the other side.
Tom's raft worked well but soon the river started to flow fast and just one storm was all that it took to wash the raft away forever.
There has to be a better way.
Tom was not the type to be easily beaten. He was determined to find a way to cross the river safely. Soon Tom had a wooden bridge constructed. He extended supporting poles into the river bed and even though it was a little rickety Tom could walk over the bridge safely even when the water was flowing fast.
One night a storm struck and the river raged. The next morning Tom was devastated to see that his work of art, the wooden bridge, had been washed away. The current had been too strong and had washed the wooden supports away causing the bridge to collapse.
The Final Solution
Tom went out and ordered bricks and cement. he started to build a bridge that could withstand any storm and any raging water. The foundation was solid cement set upon rocks.
The bridge was never washed away again and no matter what the storms brought on Tom could always cross the river without fear of being swept away.
The Bridge of faith in your life.
Faith is the bridge that we have to cross the raging rivers of life. How strong is your faith? Will you be able to safely cross the river when the storm is raging or will your raft of faith be washed away in the storm?
Are you still trying to wade the river or perhaps you are at the raft stage or even the wooden bridge?
Faith is not given to you, it is not earned but rather it is something that you have to build personally.
Cement your faith into the rock of Jesus Christ and build a solid bridge that will carry you safely through even the strongest of storms.
When faith is all that you have left to hold onto you need to be assured that the faith is strong enough to be able to keep you safe.
Taking Control Of Yourself
One of the most difficult facts that Christians have to realise is that before you can take control of the world, you have to first take control of yourself. It is easy to run out into the world and to start casting out demons and trying to control the devil, but deep down the devil may be more active in controlling you than you may give him credit for.
Take a little time to reflect back on the emotions you experienced the past couple of days!
Did you feel anxious, or out of control, perhaps a lttle despondent or even depressed. Did you maybe feel like you were getting nowhere or were negative about something around you. Perhaps you felt not pretty enough or even that you were overweight. Maybe you were even scared or fearful.
If you felt even just one of these feelings from a very shortened list of emotions, then the chances are that the devil has been working on your mind a little. These are all feelings that stem from the pits of hell and not from the word of God.
Taking control of yourself.
The most important thing that you need to come to grips with is the function of the devil. His sole purpose is to rob, steal and destroy that which God has prepared for you. If he can steal your joy or rob you of the promises of God, then he has succeeded in his mission.
Your sole purpose in life is to live the life that God has planned for you and to take up the power and authority that is yours in the name of Jesus. Jesus has already overcome satan and has given that same victory over to you, if you would only receive it.
The devil is prowling 24/7 trying to destroy you and everytime that you experienced one of the emotions discussed above is an indication that he succeeded in his purpose.
How to overcome.
Spend time in the word so that you know what is rightfully yours. If you do not what God has promised to you, how can you ever receive it.
Use the power that you have received through the name of Jesus. Unless you use the weapons given to you, how can you defeat the enemy. If the weapons were not necessary for you to succeed then Jesus would never have bothered giving them to you.
Take control of your mind and renew your mind to Godly thinking. There is simply so much power in the renewing of your mind that you can not even begin to comprehend it. There is amongst other things, a christian weight loss program based around this scripture and which has helped thousands to lose massive amounts of weight without dieting, without exercise and without diet supplements - just the power of Gods word.
You can overcome depression, sickness, disease and any other problem simply by changing the way that you think, or rather by casting out the thought patterns that satan has placed in your mind, and replacing them with godly thinking.
Romans 12:2 " and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
My personal translation:- " Do not allow the world to control and shape you, but change your thinking to God's thinking and you will take on a new shape (Figure, Appearance). Test God in this so that you can see how good and perfect His plan is for you."
It is important that this is one of only two scriptures in the bible that God says that you can test (prove) Him.
Renew your mind to a new you with Gods word.
New Move of God
There is going to be a new move of the power of God breaking through, no erupting, in the churches and spilling out into the streets. Churches will once again be fill of the power of God and signs, wonders and miracles will become everyday occurrences as the church once again reenacts the book of Acts.
What will make this move of God so different from previous moves of God is that unlike the previous moves like the Toronto Blessing, no man wil be able to take credit. God will move swiftly and powerfully through the churches so that just like God Himself, God will be the beginning of this movement to which there will be no end.
As I slept last night, in the middle of the night I was bitten by a mosquito and woke up due to the itchiness in my hand where I was bitten. I got out of bed and waited for the itchiness to go so that I would not disturb my sleeping wife with my scratching. I found it strange that I was bitten by a mosquito at this time of the year as we are already in winter and it was bitterly cold - not exactly mosquito time.
Anyway, as I returned to bed, I started to see the visions that God was placing in front of me. I saw as His power started to sweep through the churches, a power that people were virtually unable to stand in, miracles and signs and wonders were flowing like never before, and the people were returning to God in their masses.
The power of God that swept the entire earth could not be contained. It was a reenactment of the book of Acts, except a million times stronger and more powerful.
As I sat at my computer this morning, God started to challenge me again, asking whether I was going to post about what He had shown me. In faithfulness to Him I have posted what He wanted me to post.
May the full power of the move of God come upon your life and my life, and sweep through and change the entire earth and it's inhabitants.
God Bless.
Lose Weight God’s Way
Obesity has become a world wide problem and for the first time in history, the numbers of overweight and obese people are overtaking those that are hungry and without food.
For years the church has been involved in helping and feeding those that are starving, but the church has been slow to address the other side of the scale - those that are tipping the scales right over.
America is the world leader in obesity with figures of some 33% of people being classified as obese, Mexico follows closely and then the UK follows behind them. The term obesity refers to those who are grossly overweight and excludes the amount of people who are just a little overweight.
Our bodies are the Temple of God and we are called to look after our bodies and keep them in shape. Being overweight causes a taxing on your system and can lead to a whole host of sicknesses including heart disease, diabetes and even cancer.
Maybe you have tried to lose weight before but have always been unsuccessful in your efforts, finding that instead of losing weight and the weight remaining lost, the weight always seems to find you again and brings some of its friends back with them, causing you to get even bigger.
As a result of the Yo-Yo weight loss that you have experienced through the years when you tried to control your weight, you have now resigned yourself to the fact that you are a big person and that you can not really do anything about it.
Have you ever tried losing weight with Christian weight Loss!
Weight loss God's Way.
Attempting to lose weight without God's help is really just as ineffective as trying to do anything without God's help.
When you bring the word into your weight loss efforts, God takes control of your weight and suddenly weight loss becomes easy and soon you will find that the weight starts to disappear without you even really making an effort to lose weight. Even better than this is the fact that once you lose the weight it never returns!
Weight Loss God's Way is the most incredible christian weight loss program ever. In fact it is in my eyes, the most incredible weight loss program that has ever been produced.
Not only will Weight Loss God's Way get you losing weight effortlessly and permanently, but the program will also reach deep into your personal life and your relationship with God, strengthening and deepening your relationship and causing you to become a far stronger christian, while increasing your self esteem as well.
Once you start to read the material provided in this course by Dr Frank Smoot, you will find that many of your weight loss problems and even your self esteem problems, simply start to disappear. You become a more confident person, stronger in God and of course, as soon as the weight starts to disappear, you start to learn how to love yourself again.
Change your life forever and become a stronger and more healthy and confident person by with Weight loss God's Way.
The course is a digital download that has a very small cost of around $39-95 once off, and is available to you immediately upon payment. That $39-95 will change your life forever - It changed my families life.
Miracle Baby
On the 11 th February 2010 at 11h11 and 11 seconds, a new baby is brought into the world. Welcome to Dylan Botha born at Saint Mary's hospital in Springs South Africa. Dylan is a healthy baby boy born with a weight of 2.680 kg.
What is different about this baby. Well simply put, this is another miracle baby.
My daughter, Candy, was already the mother of a fairly healthy girl of 4 years of age. Her child, Caitlin was a miracle in herself as gynaecologists could not understand how she could have possibly fallen pregnant due to extremely low hormone levels. However, she fell pregnant and Caitlin Botha was born on 21/01/2005.
Due to an anorexic history, my daughter Candy had major problems with her womanly functions and after the first child was born, she battled to try and fall pregnant. This continued for 4 years and the Gynaecologist basically wrote it off as being impossible for her to fall pregnant again. However, with God all things are possible.
In late March 2009, Candy approached me about weight gain that was worrying her. She had gained a fair amount of weight and having previously been anorexic, this was a danger that could throw her back into full anorexia again. I suggested that she join a program called Weight Loss God's Way by Dr Frank Smoot, which is an online christian weight loss program that does not concentrate on diet, but concentrates on building self esteem and relationship with God, which then causes weight loss as a "Side Effect".
I knew when I recommended this program that it would build her self confidence and self image, and yes, she would lose some weight but would not be thrown back into her anorexic ways. Well Candice joined the program and within 2 weeks I had an ecstatic visit from Candice again.
"I have lost 5 kilo's already and I did not even diet," she remarked exitedly. I went through what she had done and so far all she had been doing was to read and study the material from the course. She had not tried to lose weight or followed any diet. In fact she had continued life as normal and had continued to eat exactly what she was eating before. And yet she lost 5 Kg's (11 pounds) in a mere 2 weeks.
I was excited for her and was greatful to Dr Frank's weight loss course for being a safe way for my daughter to lose weight without risking throwing her back into anorexic ways.
Approximately 2 weeks passed and I had another ecstatic visit from Candy.
"You will never guess what, " she said. " I am pregnant again."
Coincidence, no I do not think so. How does someone who the doctors placed permanently on the contraceptive pill due to hormone problems, and who the doctors stated could not fall pregnant again, suddenly fall pregnant. I attribute it to a total miracle which started along with the change in thinking brought about through Dr Frank's Weight loss God's Way program.
Well the month's passed and as pregnant Candy progressed, it was almost impossible to tell that she was pregnant from her stomach. At full term she was smaller in size than a normal woman of under 4 months pregnant. Yet the Gynaecologist was totally happy with her weight and so there were no alarm bells.
On the 11/02/2010 Candy was schedeuled to deliver by Caesaerean. She was called into theatre at 10H00 but due to incorrect prepping, she had to wait and was eventually brought in again at 11h00. The time of birth was recorded as being 11h11. The attending paediatrician later stated that she could not believe the timing and so when she say the 11 minutes past 11 she decided to watch the seconds and guess what, the baby came out at exactly 11 seconds after 11h11 on the 11th February.
The miracle baby, Dylan Botha, is extremely healthy and an amazing 2.680 kg's considering the size of mom in pregnancy. Mother is in perfect health and all went well.
I give God all the Glory for this beautiful miracle and thank Dr Frank for his incredible Weight loss God's Way program which was the catalyst that God used to create this miracle.
Name of Jesus
We are mostly fairly comfortable in our little worlds knowing that Jesus loves us and that we are secure resting in His love. However not all goes right and you have possibly seen and wondered that certain people seem to walk in more faith and in more authority than you seem to.
You have possibly been an active christian for some years and it seems that even though you love Jesus with all your mind and all your soul, things do not always go right and somehow you are on the short end of the receiving stick when it comes to the blessings that are promised in the bible.
Sure, you know that Jesus wants you to be blessed and there is no real reasons why you should not be blessed, I mean you are a good person who does what is right and you keep all the commandments, but yet those blessings seem to avoid you but yet they tend to find others that you know.
Walking in the Blessings of Jesus.
Sometimes, especially when you have been walking the christian road for a longer time, it is not what you know that is important, but rather what you have forgotten and have neglected to do. You may be familiar with the term, "I have already forgotten what you still need to learn." Unfortunately this is often the case with some of us older christians and can sadly be the reason why we are no longer receiving the blessings that we used to.
One of the most important things that we often forget is the very real power that is in the Name of Jesus. Can you remember how when you first got on fire for Jesus and everything that you did or confessed was in the Name of Jesus.
Are you still confessing and claiming everything by using the most powerful tool that you have ever been given, or are you like me and have "forgotten" that the name of Jesus is the real key to claiming and walking in the full power and blessings of Jesus.
Without the name of Jesus, you have no power or authority and whatever you say or confess is meaningless and carries no authority. The minute that you add "In The Name Of Jesus" to your statement or confession, whatever you confess suddenly carries all the power and might as though Jesus himself was saying it.
Bring the mighty Name of Jesus back into your life and start to use the power that is in His name so that you may return back to the blessings that are rightfully yours.
Victory in Jesus
"Blesssed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him", (James 1: 12).
We are in the midst of a war between good and bad. The war has raged for centuries and will continue to rage until the final hour when the earth is eventually destroyed and a new earth is created. This war consists of a series of battles.
Our war that we fight is not a physical war, but rather a spiritual war. It takes place mainly in the mind. On one side you know what is right and what is good. You know what Jesus would like you to do. On the other side, you have the Tempter - Satan, edging you and tempting you to do that which you do not wish to do.
Paul said in Romans 7:15 " For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practise; but what I hate, that I do."
Until the day that you die, Satan will continue to place temptations before you. It is his sole purpose to try and deceive you and lead you off the narrow track which is the way to life. Satan wants to see you fail and be destroyed.
Yes, you will fall and fail on Occasions.
Any person that tells me that they never fall and never fail is simply a liar in my eyes. If you are involved in the constant battles of life, you will at some stage become a casualty. You will get hurt and you will fall short of the Glory that God has set aside for you.
Jesus attaches no importance to how many times you fall and fail. Jesus will not judge you because you have fallen. He will not condemn you because you gave into temptation. You see Jesus is not the same as we are. We are quick to judge and condemn. Jesus is Pure Love.
It is not important to Jesus how many times you fall, but rather what is important to Him is how many times you get back up. In getting back up after a fall, comes the real victory in Jesus. Every time that you fall, Jesus is there right next to you, holding out his hands to pick you up and to nurse your wounds with His Love. As soon as you sincerely ask Him to forgive you, He forgives you.
Jesus not only knows that in every war there are casualties, but He also knows that in the end you will succeed and overcome through the strength that He gives to you. That is why you will receive the crown of life, for you will eventually be proved and will overcome temptation.
In humans there is the emotion of shame. With Jesus this emotion does not exist. Jesus is pure loved and He will never be ashamed of you.
The next time that you fall, instead of hanging your head in shame and hiding away from Jesus, rather lift your head up high and take the hand that Jesus is holding out to you and say proudly, " Jesus, forgive me for falling, but do not worry about me for I am getting back up with your help. We will carry on and win this war."
Do not judge your brother or sister when they fall, but rather be like Jesus wants you to be and hold out your hand, lift them up and encourage them to carry on with the good fight.
God Bless and may your day be filled with victory.
Transformed Mind
Today I am back to one scripture that I find totally fascinating and by which the doors to true faith are being opened. I am finding so much relevance in this scripture, that even though I have previous messages on Romans 12:2, I am again going to be writing about being transformed through the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed through the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Programmed by the world.
I am very involved in the world of online marketing to supplement my income, and sell quite a range of products of which weight loss products are one of my specialities. I have a number of products that are extremely good which include Hoodia, Acai Berry and Proactol, but the top product does not consist of a pill, but rather a program that is followed. It involves no real diet, no major exercise system, and yet the people who do embark on this course lose weight easily and permanently. This course uses what I call the "X" factor to encourage people to lose weight. What is the "X" factor. It is simply the deprogramming of the world system that you have adopted and the renewing of the mind. The program is called Weight Loss God's Way and Romans 12:2 forms one of the core principles of the course.
What amazes me to no end is the fact that 9 out of ten people will rather buy a pill that may help them lose a little weight, or they will buy a strict diet that is going to make them so miserable that they will fall out of the diet and feel a total failure, before they are willing to trust in God and to use a system that is guaranteed to make them lose weight both easily and permanently.
Why? Simply put, people are programmed to trust a pill or a worldly system before they are prepared to trust in God, who created them, to fix their problems.
People who are sick, and I am talking about good solid faith filled christians, are more likely to trust in a pill prescribed by a doctor, than in a word from God that tells them to do something else that will cure their sickness. We are programmed to place our trust in places that do not belong to the Lord Jesus. Yes, I do know that Doctors are good and serve a great purpose, but do you know that God is far greater and far more knowledgeable than any Doctor! God says that when we are sick, we should call for the elders of the church to anoint us with oil in the name of the Lord, and to pray for us ( James 5:15).
Whether we choose to confess it or not, we have all become conformed (Moulded To) to this worlds standards and requirements of us. We are programmed to the worlds system.
Breaking Free from the world's programming.
The day that we accept the Lord Jesus into our lives as Lord and Saviour, we are filled with love for Jesus, and also given the power of the name of Jesus, so that we may break free from the worldly systems that have held us captive. The largest problem is that we have been given the love of Jesus and the power of Jesus as a gift, and for many people it is one of those gifts that are seldom used, but rather put aside and kept on show somewhere.
Someone I know had a son who was walking to work daily. The walk was a fair distance and this family got together and feeling sorry for the young man having to walk to and from work daily, decided to buy a small car for him to save him the long walk. The gift was well recieved and well looked after by the young man who was very proud of his new possesion, washing, cleaning and showing off his new gift to everyone, but alas, he never ever drove in the car because he just felt so much more comfortable walking to and from work.
Many Christians are the exact same as this young man. They love Jesus, proudly show the love of Jesus to others, they know the power of the gift they have received in the name of Jesus, but they are more comfortable carrying on in their old wordly ways and therefore they fail to ever use the power of the name of Jesus to set themselves free from the situations that they find themselves in.
You have to break free from the mould that the world has placed you in, and undergo change by renewing the way that you think and accepting the power that has been given to us in the name of Jesus, and start using it.
How Do I Renew My Mind.
One of the most frequent questions asked is, "How do I renew my Mind?" This is in fact so simple that it escapes most people. To each of us is given a measure of faith when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives. The faith that is given to us is the gift that we can choose to either use or place on show on the mantlepiece. When we start to choose to use the gift instead of the wordly system, and our trust in the gift is greater than our trust in the wordly system, we have begun the renewing of our mind.
When we choose to rather use the faith that is given to us, we undergo an automatic renewing of our mind, that continues to manifest itself into a transformed being. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind", implies that we will start to undergo physical change. When we place our trust in God's word to lose weight and we apply His systems into our lives, our bodies undergo a transformation and we become that good and acceptable person that God created us to be. ( God actually says that we must test Him in this fact - "That you may prove.")
When we start to rather seek prayer and the annointing by oil of the elders when we are sick, and to follow what God tells us to do, instead of following what the doctors are telling us, the faith that we start to exhibit is a renewing of the mind and you will start to walk in the health and healing that Jesus has promised.
When you are in financial difficulties, start to give away what you have. The world's system says that you must take what you have and hide it away so that nobody can take it away from you. It is the worldly investment system. God's investment system is to take what you have, give some to the church in order to further His work, and give to the poor and needy, that they may be fed and clothed. When you do this, He will look after it for you and return it to you, a good measure, pressed down and running over! (Do you still want to renew your mind.)
Start to renew your mind today through the forsaking of the worldly system and by placing your trust in the word of God.





