IF YE SHALL ASK

Today’s Text: If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (John 14:14)

Today’s Thoughts: Ever neglected to ask the Lord for something simply because the thought never crossed your mind? Sometimes the Lord will intervene before we think to ask; sometimes He will intervene even though we don’t ask; but sometimes, if it won’t cause us any harm, He might just wait for us to ask before He intervenes.

Today’s Testimony: I needed a new alarm clock. I finally found and bought one, but when I got home I realised that it did not have a snooze button. Now that might sound like a good thing, but I used a snooze button if my sister, Julie, was in the bathroom when my alarm went off. I usually only get up if an alarm tells me to. People telling me to get up only makes me want to sleep more. If the bathroom was occupied when my alarm went off I’d press the snooze button until I could have my turn.
The first morning the bathroom was unoccupied when my alarm went off. The second morning the next problem came. My alarm clock stopped ticking during the night. That was solved by Julie resetting the time when she was done in the bathroom. All the problems seemed solved, but that was only temporarily.
A short while later I had to attend a lecture in Durban at 08:00 a.m. We lived in Pinetown and needed to leave home early to avoid traffic. I had to get up rather early, and before Julie. Now I had a problem. If my alarm clock did not go off I would have been running hopelessly late. Julie’s alarm would only go off 40 minutes later.
So, there was only one thing to do. Well, I could have gotten Julie to set her alarm for me, but where would the testimony be in that?! I prayed.
My alarm clock kept time all night, and went off the next morning – but only that night. Then about a week later I thought, “Why don’t I pray that my alarm clock will keep time at night.” I did. This is my usual prayer: “Lord, please let my alarm clock keep time all night and go off on time in the morning. Your will be done. Amen”
That was the end of my alarm clock stopping during the night – except for a few exceptions that I still plan to share.
The one day that I prayed, my alarm clock worked, but it took me just over a week before I thought to do it permanently. God knew it wouldn’t harm me if it didn’t go off, and therefore He waited for me to ask.
I love that little alarm clock. It’s the best one I ever could have had. God Himself runs it. God is truly interested in every detail of our lives. He can do so many things that we would never think to ask – things we think are out of God’s do-list. But to put it plainly – it won’t hurt to ask. God is good!!!

Today’s Task: Do you have anything that you think just isn’t on God’s do list? Ask Him anyway, you might just be surprised. He can do the “impossible”; He can do the “petty”; and He can do the “not-done”. Try him.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You care about every detail of our lives. I thank You that You answer prayer. Lord, help us to ask You to intervene no matter what the problem. I thank You that You know what’s best for us. Amen.

A NEW CREATURE

Today’s Text: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Today’s Thoughts: Anything you wish you could change about yourself? I believe we’re all a bunch of broken people. Think about it, deep down inside you must have something that you’re not happy with about who you are. If you feel everything is absolutely perfect in your life, you might just be deceiving yourself; but I believe we all have things we hope to change. The good news is that God can change us. He can make totally new creatures out of our broken lives.

Today’s Testimony: I went on a church camp a while ago. On the Saturday evening we had an agape supper. That is a Holy Communion service followed by a light supper spent in fellowship with each other.
During the short sermon at the beginning I had a conversation with the Lord. I thought about how people often say that Christ thought of us while He was on the cross. I asked Him, “Lord, did You really think of me while You were on the cross? …What did You think?” His response was, “Well, what would you think of yourself?” I replied, “Pretty broken.” Then He said, “That’s what I saw. …But I thought, I’m going to change her.”
We serve an amazing God!!! He doesn’t expect us to perfect ourselves – He changes us. He does what it is impossible for us to do for ourselves. Yes, we do have a part to play. We need to fully surrender to Him. I’m busy writing a song entitled All Is All.
Let me share a piece of it with you:

I surrender all
All to You O Lord
Nothing less than full surrender
I surrender all
And all is all!

Then a piece of another song I wrote:

Broken little girl, who needs to be restored
Where else could she go, but to the feet of her Lord
She wants to be made whole, but she cannot see how
God knows and He says He wants to do it now

“I brought you out of the dust, and I can do it again
If in Me you trust and on Me you depend
I can make you whole, though shattered you may be
For every wounded soul is precious to Me”

Today’s Task: Please surrender to the Lord – a full surrender. Do it today. He wants you to be in Him. He longs to have the go ahead to change you; to make you new; whole. Trust Him. He will not disappoint you.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You can make us whole. You can change broken people. Lord help us to surrender – all. Make us into new creatures; we long to be whole, but no where near as much as You long to make us whole. Lord help us. I thank You that You will. Amen.

I AM THE WAY

Today’s Text: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

Today’s Thoughts: Christ is the way. Living a life with Him in our hearts is the best way to live. That is the only way to get to Heaven. We must have Him in our hearts. Truth, life and the way to the Father can only be found in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. There is no other way.

Today’s Testimony: Just for a little bit of background for those of you who do not know me. I have two sisters, one of which is my twin sister. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa. My parents got divorced when I was 5 years old; and when my mom remarried when I was 12, we moved up to Durban.
For my sister and my 13th birthday, during our first year in Durban, our dad flew up. We stayed in a hotel on the beach front and caught buses if we wanted to go anywhere beyond walking distance.
One day we caught a bus, and when we got off at our destination, the bus-driver said, “When you want to go back, just wait on the other side.” We thought, “Well obviously, you travel up the road on the opposite side to the side you travel down the road.”
When we were ready to catch the bus, we went to find a bus stop on the “other side” of the road. We walked a bit, without finding a single bus-stop. We finally decided that our best option would be to cross the road to where there were bus-stops; catch a bus; and then just wait for it to travel back up the road. We crossed the road, and when we were nearly at the bus-stop my dad stopped and said, “Look at the cars.” We looked for a while, and then my dad said, “They’re all going the same direction.”
We had been standing on a one way street trying to catch a bus going in the opposite direction!!! Then we understood what the bus-driver meant by “other side”. We all packed up laughing.
Sometimes we think we’re going the right way. We do everything we’re supposed to do, but we miss the most important ingredient for our lives – Jesus Christ. Are you looking for fulfilment on the wrong side of the road? Christ is calling you to the other side, the side where you’ll find Him – the way, the truth and the life.

Today’s Task: Choose Christ today to fill your every need. There is only one way to truly find peace, and that is in Jesus. Give God a chance. Ask Him to be your God.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord, help us to turn to You. Lord You are the only way; the only truth; the only life. We want Your way; Your truth; Your life. I thank You that You have given us the opportunity today to surrender to You. Lord, may we surrender. Amen.

WHATEVER YOU ASK

Today’s Text: And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)

Today’s Thoughts: Our text for today says: “Whatever you ask”. What kind of things do you ask the Lord for? Do you only go to Him when you’re in a crisis? Do you ever think some things are just too petty? God wants to work miracles for you – big and small. If He knows it is best for you, and that it will give glory to His name, He will give you your request. He loves you and longs to bless you.

Today’s Testimony: Yesterday I mentioned my prayer-diary. Today I’d like to share a testimony and quote from my prayer-diary.
One evening during the time I was writing my matric exams, I opened up my prayer-diary to record a blessing, and this is what I wrote first: “Lord, tonight I can’t concentrate, and it’s not because of what’s happening in my life – it’s because of this fly! This continual, tone-changing buzzing is so frustrating. But, thanks Lord, I hadn’t even asked You yet. Please let it remain seated, at least until I’m done writing. You are so good – fly or no fly!”
The next day after writing a paragraph about all the messages the Lord sends simply to say, “I love you child”, I wrote: “Oh yes, about that fly… thank You once again! It only took flight again just before I put the light off, and then it soon settled down. It’s not here tonight. See, this is one of those messages. Thank You Lord, I love You!”
God cares about even the little details of our lives. Nothing that is a concern to us is too big or small to take to our Heavenly Father. He is good; and He is God!

Today’s Task: Take your problems to the Lord no matter how petty or impossible they may seem. God can do all things – and “all” means anything and everything. If God doesn’t answer your prayer in the way you hoped He would, remember that He knows what is best for you. He is a God of love. To put it plainly: God “is” love. He can be nothing less than love, and you get nothing more than His love. Try Him. Take your requests to Him. Prepare to see miracles.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that we can come to You with anything and everything! I thank You that you care about our big problems and our small problems. I thank You that nothing is too big or too small for You to intervene. You care, and I praise You. Lord, I thank You for Your love. Amen.

MAKE KNOWN HIS DEEDS

Today’s Text: O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. (Psalm 105:1)

Today’s Thoughts: Where do you go when you’re happy? Where do you go when you’re sad? Do you run and tell an earthly friend? Do you not tell anyone? This text tells us that when we have something to rejoice about, we can praise the Lord; when we have a problem, we can take it to Him. I go to the Lord for everything. The last part of this text tells us that we need to share what the Lord has done for us. When He has blessed us; when He has comforted us, we need to tell others of His goodness.

Today’s Testimony: I already said that I go to the Lord for everything. One of the ways in which I go to Him is in the form of a prayer-diary, also known as a prayer-journal. When I have something to praise about, I record the blessing or miracle in my prayer-diary. When I have something that’s concerning or hurting me I take that to the Lord through my prayer-diary. I write as though I were talking to the Lord in person.
My prayer-diary is used for three purposes. 1: It is a place of prayer. 2: It helps me to be able to reflect on past blessings in the future. 3: It is a way of recording God’s miracles to share with the world. The Lord has worked so many miracles in my life that if I didn’t keep a prayer-diary, I doubt I’d be able to recall all the blessings I’m going to share through Today’s T’s. He truly is so good!
One day while I was thinking about what a blessing it is to keep a prayer-diary, I said to the Lord, “Lord, why doesn’t everyone keep a prayer-diary?!” His reply was, “Lindy, not everyone would have something to write.” I thought, “No!” but I knew it was true. It does not mean that the Lord is not blessing everybody; it simply means that so many people are not counting their blessings and realizing the source of each and every one of them.
God wants to hear from you. The world needs to hear from you.

Today’s Task: I encourage every single one of you to start counting your blessings, and do not forget that they come from God. Then I encourage you to start keeping a prayer-diary. If you don’t, please at least talk to the Lord in prayer. Tell Him everything. Then do not neglect to share with others what God has done for you. As our text says, praise Him; run to Him; tell the world what He has done.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You! I thank You that we can come to You for anything and everything. Lord please help us to count each blessing that You send, and help us to never forget them. Lord please give us the courage and strength to tell others about how great You are. You truly are a great God. Amen.

COALS OF FIRE

Today’s Text: Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20, 21)

Today’s Thoughts: What’s your preferred method of dealing with your enemies? Do you sit and contemplate how you will take revenge? In the text just before this one, the Lord says, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” (verse 19). Have you ever heaped coals of fire on your enemy’s head? It’s so much fun! That’s the way I like to get revenge – God’s way. And sometimes He steps in and does a little more. But I have to admit, I often feel guilty doing it. Think about it, to have someone get you back is pretty normal, and the cycle continues, that’s how you keep your enemies, but if the one you have harmed does something good in return… ouch. I believe that feels far worse.

Today’s Testimony: I once asked a friend to do me a favour. We weren’t close friends and our friendship had many ups and downs. The favour wasn’t anything difficult and wouldn’t have taken long at all. He was talking to some other friends, and when I asked him, he harshly replied, “No, I’m busy.” It was going to be his birthday that weekend and my sisters and I had gotten him a small gift. It was my task to give it to him, and I was waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Now most people would probably think, “Well, he can forget getting a present from me if he wants to treat me like that.” But me, I played out the rest of the story in my mind and was excited. The Lord had truly given me the perfect opportunity to give him his present.
A short while later when he was alone, I went to give him his gift. He was sitting with his head-phones on. I held it out to him and said, “This is for you from the three of us for your birthday.”
I’ll never forget his sheepish smile as he took his head-phones off and said, “Excuse me?” Whether or not he had heard the first time or whether he was simply in shock I do not know, but I can only imagine how he must have felt after being so rude to me.
He thanked me, and a few minutes later I heard him doing the favour I had asked him to do.
This truly is my preferred method of taking revenge: heaping coals of fire on your enemy’s head. You seriously must give it a try; you’ll feel so good; it’s so much fun.

Today’s Task: Whenever someone hurts you in any way, try to do God’s prescribed method for dealing with your enemies. You’ll honestly be getting them back twice as hard, if not more. You might even gain a friend, or at least lose an enemy. With time, even your worst enemy might soften. I encourage you to try it today if you face an enemy. Pray that God will give you the strength and help you to know how to heap those coals. Don’t give up; make it your preferred and only method of dealing with your enemies.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You have given us such an amazing way to deal with our enemies. I thank You that You can help us to heap coals of fire on the head’s of our enemies and leave any further vengeance to You. Lord please help us to lose enemies and gain friends through Your intervention. I love You Lord, Amen.

THE LORD WILL GIVE STRENGTH

Today’s Text: The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11)

Today’s Thoughts: Ever felt that you couldn’t go on with life? Ever experienced a heartache so deep that you thought you’d never recover? Ever wished life could just pause until you were ready to move forward? No matter what may come our way, God has promised to give us strength and peace. He knows how devastated we may be. But He also knows that continuing with life is the only way we’d ever be able to recover. He does not leave us alone to cope with life after distress, He is right there with us, to give us strength and peace.

Today’s Testimony: Do you remember the testimony I shared with you yesterday? I’d like to add on to that. Before my mom phoned I was chatting to a friend on Mxit. After I’d finished speaking to my mom, he and I continued chatting. I told him about my bunny, and he allowed me to share some memories. One of the messages I sent him said, “But hey, life goes on.” For me it was more of a negative thing, kind of like: “I’ll just have to cope; life won’t come to a standstill and wait for me to recover; I’ll just have to march on, ready or not”.
His reply said, “Yeah, that’s the good part.” I thought, “What?!” But then I started thinking. Let me share the chorus of yet another song that I wrote that was inspired by the words of my friend:

Life goes on, that’s the good part you see
For if it had to come to a standstill, we would never be set free
God in His wisdom, knew we’d never journey on
And then we’d never, once again be strong
And that’s why life, goes on

It’s so true. If life didn’t carry on, and waited for us to recover first, we’d never march on. But with life carrying on our heartache soon lessens as we focus on other things. God is so good! We truly do serve an all-knowing and amazing God!

Today’s Task: Whenever you feel you cannot march on with life, and wish it would all come to a standstill until you’ve recovered, remember that God knows best. In His mercy He leaves life to carry on, knowing that it is exactly what you need in order to get back on your feet. Remember that He has offered you strength and peace. Take advantage of His offer, you’ll need it. You might need it right now. Run too Him.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that when we experience turmoil – life goes on. Lord, that truly is the good part, and I praise you for that. I thank You that You have promised us the strength we need to go on. Help us to accept it. I thank You for the peace that only You can give. Please Lord, grant us Your peace. I love You Lord, and I praise You in Christ’s name, Amen.

MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS

Today’s Text: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8, 9)

Today’s Thoughts: Let me start by saying that God’s thoughts on this text would be
higher than mine. But I’m going to give you my much lower thoughts. Firstly, let us look at the previous text, verse 7, so we can be sure to use today’s text in its proper context.
The previous text says that the unrighteous man must forsake his thoughts. What are the thoughts of an unrighteous man? To put it plainly, they are unrighteous thoughts.
We as humans think evil thoughts, worldly thoughts, destructive thoughts, but our
loving Heavenly Father thinks good, heavenly and constructive thoughts.
God is good, and only good. His thoughts are good, and His ways are good. We will not always understand His reasoning, but we can have a peaceful trust in knowing that God knows what is best. From our earthly view, we think things should be one way, but from God’s heavenly, all-knowing view, He sees that things are far better a totally different way.

Today’s Testimony: One evening when my family and I arrived at our church for prayer-meeting we spotted an animal sitting outside the church hall. It turned out to be a bunny. We tried to catch it, but to no effect. I prayed for that bunny during the course of that week. I was concerned that it would get eaten by a cat.
The following week when I stepped out of the hall after prayer-meeting the bunny came bounding down the grass toward me. I encouraged it to come to me and we eventually caught it. In short, that bunny became my baby, and he was the sweetest little bunny ever. He honestly was more like a puppy than a bunny. He would play with me, give and receive affection, sulk, misbehave and do all the things a little child would do. I loved him so much and he meant so much to me. You had to have seen us together to truly understand what I mean. No one ever did, he was only his normal affectionate self when it was just us.
Then after I’d had him for just over a year, my sisters and I flew to Cape Town to see our dad and family. About a week before we were to fly back home to Pinetown, my mom phoned. Some family had been staying at our house and they had brought their puppy with them. The day they were to leave, their puppy had gotten into my baby’s cage and killed him.
At that stage my greatest concern was that the family didn’t feel too bad, but yes, it did hit me hard. Yes, I cried. But after the tears, that same day, I wrote a song. I hope you will be able to hear it one day. In short, it was a song of praise because God knows what is best. These are the words of the chorus:

Lord I praise You, for the blessings you bestow
And for the strength You give, when the blessings go
Lord, You know what I need, and when I need it too
O Lord, in spite of all the pain, I still praise You.

Today there is so much turmoil and heartache in this world. We need to get to know our God, so that we can trust Him no matter what. If you are still confused about why we see so much evil, please do not forget that Satan is still very much alive and knows his time is short. But God is good – always good, and only good.

Today’s Task: Trust the Lord. When you can’t trace His hand – trust His heart. He loves you so much, and He truly does care about you. Praise Him for His blessings.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You! I thank You that Your thoughts are not like our thoughts. You think good, and only good. Help us to come to know Your heart, so that we can trust it. O Lord, please give us a peaceful trust in You. Amen

A GOOD NAME

Today’s Text: A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. (Proverbs 22:1)

Today’s Thoughts: What do people think of you? Do you have a good reputation? Knowing that people value you for who you are, rather than for what you have, is a priceless treasure. Are you a Christian? Do others know you as a true follower of Christ? I want to be a true Christian. I want to have a good reputation for God’s glory. How about you?

Today’s Testimony: Do you know what your name means? This is the meaning of my name and second name: Lindy: Beautiful; Catherine: Pure One. My nickname is Sunshine.
A few years ago I asked the Lord to help me to live up to my name on the inside. I wanted to be God’s beautiful pure one. I wanted to shine for Him with a positive character.
I then added, “But if You want to make me beautiful on the outside, I won’t complain.”
The Lord granted my request. He is still working on me, but He has changed my selfish, impatient, hot-tempered, disrespectful character so much. Some of these negative traits have even, by His grace, disappeared.
I am so much happier with who I am – internally and externally. God did change my physical appearance too. He has helped me to become a shining light for Him.
If you have met me in person, I hope you have seen Christ in me. If you haven’t met me before, I hope I will have the privilege of meeting you one day, if not now – in Heaven.
My life is a huge testimony to the power of God to change our characters. OK, OK, most people may not have ever thought me to have any of the negative characteristics I mentioned earlier, but I honestly did. God is so good – He has created something beautiful from something that wasn’t.
He longs to do the same for you.

Today’s Task: If you don’t know what your name means, try and find out by using a name book or the internet. Some names are not ones we can live up to, but for some, try and find a personal, practical meaning; an internal, character-building one. Then ask the Lord to help you to live up to that name.
Secondly, are you a Christian? If not, all I can say is that I sincerely hope that Today’s T’s will give you a new glimpse of God – one that will draw You to His feet.
If you are a Christian, ask the Lord to help you to live up to that name and be a true Christian, a true follower of Christ.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You can change lives. I thank You that You can help us to live up to our earthly names, and more importantly, to live up to the name Christian. Lord I pray that You will help us to come to know You more so that we will be able to be true followers of You, reflecting You to the world. O Lord I thank You that You live up to Your names found in Isaiah 9:6 and scattered throughout Your Word. I praise You, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Amen.

I WILL HOLD YOUR HAND

Today’s Text: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:6)

Today’s Thoughts: This is one of my favourite texts. It reminds me of a child going for an operation. Mommy and/or Daddy may be there, but that is not enough. “Mommy/Daddy please hold my hand!” God is with us when we go through trials, but more than that, He says, “I will hold your hand”. God has called us to be His people, he wants us to be powerful witnesses of who He is. He does not send us out alone, He is right there with us, holding our hands and keeping us safe in Him.

Today’s Testimony: Once when I was visiting a friend she said that she knows God is there for us, but sometimes you just need a friend to be there too, ‘cause God can’t just give you a hug. My thoughts were, “O, no one ever told me that.” I often say to the Lord, “Please hold me”, when I’m hurting. And He does. I sense His arms around me. It always makes me feel a whole lot better. I know that if He were here in person He would hold me, so why should it be any different because He isn’t here in human flesh?!
God really wants to hold the hand of each one of us. He longs to hold us when we’re in distress. Could it be that He does, but we simply don’t notice?!

Today’s Task: The next time you are feeling down and out, scared, or hurting, remember that God is right there. He has promised that He will hold your hand. He will wrap His arms around you too. Don’t believe what the world says; God is a very personal God. Ask Him to hold you, then believe that He is, because I’m telling you, He truly is.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You have promised that You will hold us in distress. I thank You that You are a very personal God, who is not as distant as the world portrays you. I pray that You will help us to sense You holding our hands and Your arms around us. Help our unbelief. I love You Lord, and I praise You. I thank You for Your love. I pray in Christ’s name, Amen.