Living the "real life"
The honor of being a child of God.
Every day, in living the “real life", we are all faced with difficulties and challenges.
I have learned that the difficulties and challenges are not the problem. The problem is our belief-system. The Word of God says – what you believe is what you will receive.
Luke 15:31 "My son, the Father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours".
Two privileges are mentioned in this scripture.
First – "My son, you are always with me"
This is such a huge privilege to know that I have unbroken fellowship with Abba Father – all the time. It doesn't matter where I am, or what I am going through – He is always with me. We can dwell in His presence every second of our lives.
Secondly – "Everything I have is yours"
Can this be? Yes, I AM a good Father and will withhold no good from you.
This is the heritage of being a son of God. Abba Father longs for us to constantly live in the light of His countenance, knowing Him as our Provider. These promises are found throughout the Bible and I believe it still applies to us today. But the question is, do you believe it?
Enoch walked with God. (Gen 5:24)
Jacob had this promise, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (Gen 28:15).
Israel had this promise, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Ex.33:14).
I have people asking me constantly, "Retah, but why don't I experience His presence? Jesus doesn’t hear my cries for help?” No, that is a lie! God loves His children too much to withdraw His fellowship from them. The true reason for this absence is found in our unbelief. Unbelief and “self” blind our eyes – and then we don’t see Jesus. As we walk in faith and obedience, we will enjoy His divine presence in the midst of our pain and challenges. We are called to enjoy the full light of His countenance.
Let’s start thanking God that He has given us His own Son – and in the giving, He has given us all things that are in Him.
We have Jesus’ love in us, we have His Spirit in us, we have His favor upon us – we have it all! But it takes faith to keep your focus.
Every year I take a tour to Israel with people from around the world joining us. One particular year, a tour agent, walked away with about $50 000 of the flight money. We discovered this on the day that we had to leave for Israel. I was flat on my face and cried out to God for help.
The short version is, that we did get on the plane that night, but she was gone with our money. We took money from our personal savings account which we set aside to renovate our home – to pay the outstanding amount for the tickets.
Every night after dinner in Israel, I wept before God, constantly crying out for His help. I heard His soft, gentle voice – "You need to forgive her".
That was easier said than done. I thank God for Tinus who lead us in this prayer of forgiveness. Then we went to Court in heaven and presented our case. We asked forgiveness for our bloodline. We brought all generational bloodline verdicts under the blood of the Lamb. Every night we prayed and went to Court in heaven. As you know, everything needs to be settled first, in the Court in heaven.
The last night I had a dream and I heard my Abba Father said, "Retah, you are My child – I want you to remember that I am always with you. In everything that you are going through in life – I am with you. I want to guide you and give you My Wisdom. Don't try to do things in your own strength. Stay in Me. I want you to know that Everything I have is yours. Do you believe that?”
Next, I saw al lot of money, in my dream. The soft gentle voice said again, “Everything I have is yours. I will always provide in all your needs. All you need is to TRUST IN ME!”
The following morning the money was deposited into our bank account. Not from the travel agent, but from precious children of God, that heard His voice and followed His prompting. Till this day I hold fast to these wonderful promises of Abba Father.
1) I am always with you.
2) Everything I have is yours
Just like you, "we live the real life", where we are faced with a lot of challenges in South Africa. We still face the challenges of a brain injured child. Things that we also need for Aldo. But if you look at my two fists, you will see that I hold tight unto these two wonderful promises every day of my life. I proclaim them out loud, believing them and thanking God already for them.
Don't be blinded by your unbelief, God is a good God who loves His children.
He knows exactly what you need. Let’s run the race of faith my dear friend.
Take His promises and hold on to them.
Love you - Retah and family.