GOD’S WORKS ARE GREAT

Today’s Text: O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.(Psalm 92:5)

Today’s Thoughts: Ever heard people say that God works in mysterious ways? His thoughts are so much deeper than ours and He knows all things. He knows just what to do in every situation. All His works are great. Everything He does is what is best. And yes, He does sometimes work in mysterious ways to accomplish His purposes. Our great God does great things.

Today’s Testimony: Between the time I booked to do my learner’s test and when I did the test, we had nominating time at my church. That is when we choose all the people that will hold the different positions at church. First a special committee is chosen and those people then choose the nominating committee who will choose the different people for the different offices.
I was chosen to be on the special committee. And I was then chosen to be on the nominating committee. One requirement for those on both committees is that they have to be faithful church members. The easiest way for that to be detected is by whether or not the individual pays a regular tithe and offering, but being a faithful church member also refers to living a totally faithful life in all other areas of life.
After sitting on the special committee and hearing the requirements, although I was already aware of them, I started wondering if maybe my debt counted as making me an unfaithful church member. That would mean that I couldn’t sit on the nominating committee and shouldn’t have even sat on the special committee. I prayed about it, and then sat and wrote a letter to my pastor telling him of my concern.
I gave him the letter on the Saturday and waited for his reply. I waited the whole of Sunday, then Monday….. At some stage while waiting I started thinking about the whole situation again. “I pay my tithe faithfully to the Lord, but what would I do if I were in a situation where I couldn’t afford to pay both my tithe and my necessary payment?” I was thinking of those who have house rental to pay, a car to pay off and then still the needed groceries to buy. “Would I trust the Lord to provide and continue to faithfully pay my tithe?” I then decided that I was going to pay back my debt at all costs the next month, giving the money that was left over after paying my usual tithe and offering. God could intervene and provide and I had seen that time and time again.
On the Tuesday I did my learner’s test and the Lord intervened, as I shared yesterday. Then finally on the Thursday my pastor phoned. He said that I’d repented and it therefore wasn’t a problem. I believe that the Lord made me wait so long for the answer so that I could rethink the whole situation and decide to start paying my debt back at all costs as soon as possible. It is an important issue to make everything right as soon as possible. Prior to that I simply thought that I’d pay it back with the money I would get when I went to visit my family that year in Cape Town and pay it all back at once. God wanted me to be able to trust in Him more fully. Once I’d made the decision to start paying back as soon as possible I got my answer. God truly works in mysterious ways. God is so good!

Today’s Task: Keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to the Lord – He works in mysterious ways. You don’t want to miss His working. God does great things – ask Him to help you to notice. He can work miracles in your life – ask Him to intervene if you need one. God loves and cares about you so much. But please don’t forget to praise Him for His blessings – He truly deserves our praise.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that Your thoughts are so much higher and deeper than ours. I thank You that You do such great works. Please do a great work in each of our hearts and lives. Lord I praise You that You care about us. I praise You that You love us. I thank You for Your intervention in our lives. Amen.

GOD WILL NOT DISAPPOINT US

Today’s Text: But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.(Psalm 71:14)

Today’s Thoughts: When we place our hope in God’s intervention He will not disappoint us. We will finally be praising Him. The context of this text is referring to problems with the psalmist’s enemies, but it is the same for any problem we may face. If you ever feel that God has disappointed your hope, know that He has done what was truly best. He cares about you. We need to praise Him no matter what the end result of our problem may be. God is good –always good and only good!

Today’s Testimony: A few months after I presented my revival seminar, my twin sister and I went to book for our learner’s licenses. I’d always thought that I would only go to book once I had been through the entire learner’s book at least once. When we went to book I hadn’t gotten too far into going through the book. We booked on a Thursday, and we could choose a date any time from Friday the following week. Without thinking we chose the Tuesday after that. That meant that we were writing our learner’s test just over a week after we’d booked. I only really thought about it when we came out from booking and my step-dad asked what date we got. He said, “You’ll have to study very hard.” Only then I realized that I had not been thinking clearly while choosing the date to write.
The date couldn’t be changed, so there was only one thing to do – I prayed. I studied too, but there is power in prayer. I placed my Hope in the Lord’s intervention.
During that week between booking and writing something happened that I’ll share in detail tomorrow that made me decide that I was going to, if possible, give the rest of the money that I received the following month, after paying my tithe and offering, to Praise Corner and start getting out of debt at all costs.
Firstly, if I didn’t pass my learner’s test I didn’t have the money at that stage to rebook. And secondly, if I had to rebook I wouldn’t be able to give money to Praise Corner the next month. I needed a miracle, and I prayed for one.
My test turned out to be so easy. Some of the tests that the other candidates got were really difficult, but I passed mine. God is so good!!!
I had asked the Lord to intervene and placed my hope in Him, and He did not disappoint me. I praise Him for His intervention. God cares about us so much.

Today’s Task: Have you got any problems in your life? If not, you are one in a very few. We all have things that are bothering us. Take your problems to the Lord. Place your hope in Him. He will not disappoint you. He loves You. Trust Him. And then when He intervenes – don’t forget to thank and praise Him.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You care about our every need and problem. I thank You that if we place our hope in You, You will intervene. Lord I praise You for Your intervention in the past, and I praise You in advance for Your intervention in the future. Help us to trust You. Help us to praise You. Help us to remember that You know all things and do what is best for us in every situation. I thank You for Your great love. Amen.

GOD CAN CLEANSE US FROM SIN

Today’s Text: Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.(Psalm 51:2,3)

Today’s Thoughts: If we acknowledge our sin and repent of it God will forgive us and cleanse us. He will not leave us partly clean – He will wash us thoroughly. However, in order for us to be cleansed we have to first realize and admit that we need cleansing. We then need to ask the Lord to cleanse us, and allow Him to do so. It doesn’t help if we still cling to our dirt, we need to let go of the sin that got us filthy in the first place. Only God can give us that true repentance. Only He can help us to then remain clean. Ask Him to help you; ask Him to cleanse you. He longs to make you clean.

Today’s Testimony: After I shared my testimony during my revival seminar I was confronted about how wrong it was for me to have gotten into debt to the Lord. I had felt terrible about it and intended to pay the money back as soon as possible, but I hadn’t realized just how serious it was.
When it was brought to my attention I decided that I would never ever “borrow” money from the Lord again. I haven’t and I no longer need to. I have learnt to wait on the Lord, and as hard as it is sometimes, He has never failed me. I still have so many amazing stories to share about God providing for my every need. I so wish I had had enough faith to simply trust Him in the first place, but the learning experience has been priceless.
I was also told that I should no longer continue putting money aside for Praise Corner, apart from paying back my debt, but I will not share the reasons for that because they are unnecessary. But not being able to give added to the testimony, even though the money no longer increased. I’ll share that at a later stage. God always works all things out for our good and His praise when we place our trust totally in Him.
I had finally realized that I had sinned against the Lord, and I had repented. He cleansed me right then and there. God does that! He doesn’t say, “First you need to make it right.” Yes sometimes there are things that we need to make right first as part of true repentance, but some things will take time, and others can never be made right. Our Lord is a tender, loving Saviour. He longs for us to come to Him in repentance. He is only too willing to forgive us.

Today’s Task: Is everything right between you and the Lord? I invite you to turn to Him for forgiveness. Ask Him to help you to live wholly for Him. Ask Him to reveal every single filthy spot to you so that you can surrender it to Him for cleansing. If you find you struggle to remain clean, trust in the Lord, lean on Him. He will give you strength. Never give up on yourself – God hasn’t. He still loves you so much. Please go to Him right now.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You did not leave us to die in our sins – You came and died in our place so that we can live with You eternally. I thank You that You still do not leave us in our sins – You are more than willing to forgive us if we turn to You and repent. Lord help us to remain faithful to You. Please cleanse us from our sinful ways; wash us thoroughly; we long to be clean. I thank You for Your forgiveness. Amen.

TELL WHAT GREAT THINGS THE LORD HAS DONE

Today’s Text: Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. (Mark 5:19)

Today’s Thoughts: Jesus had just cast several demons out of a man and into a herd of about two thousand pigs. The pigs had then run straight off the cliff into the sea and drowned. The people of that town then told Him to leave. But the man who had been set free pleaded to go with Jesus. Our text for today is Jesus’ response.
God wants us to tell all those that we know and all those that we can what He has done for us. A personal testimony of what the Lord has done is the most powerful witness for the Lord. God is real. God is good. Go and tell the world.

Today’s Testimony: Toward the end of 2007 the Lord had started helping me to prepare a revival seminar in which I would share my testimony and then share a few other topics. I thought I would probably only present it sometime in the future and thought to finish the preparations before going about organizing to present it. But while sitting in a meeting at my church a while later I realized that time is running out, and the Lord told me to arrange to present the revival seminar as soon as possible.
I asked Him how to go about organizing it and we decided that I would phone my youth leader and ask if I could present it as a youth week-of-prayer. I then had three requests: If I was to phone my youth leader I wanted the Lord to intervene so that I could be home alone while I phoned. And then I wanted my youth leader to answer the phone herself and also have time to talk.
During that week there was one day that I was home alone, which doesn’t happen often. I phoned and my youth leader answered. She also had time to talk. She said that it was a wonderful idea and we planned to hold the revival seminar early the following year. God is so good!
I presented the revival seminar at the end of April, 2008. The Lord had told me that I needed to tell the world what He had done for me, and that’s what I did. I shared my testimony about Praise Corner, in spite of the fact that at that stage it didn’t have a very good ending. The story of the Lord’s intervention unfolds from here. There are a number of very important events that led up to the Lord providing so that I could get out of debt. I hope that each one will speak to your heart and draw you closer to the Saviour. We truly do serve an amazing God!
The Lord has since told me to tell what He has done for me via email every week day. People all around the world receive Today’s T’s. He asks us to share Him, and then He opens the doors. Are you ready to walk through them?

Today’s Task: Tell the world what the Lord has done for you. Tell as many people as you can. Pray for the courage, opportunity and words. Some of you may be called to do it on a public scale to many people at once; others may only be called to share individually one-on-one. Ask the Lord to lead you and help you to share – He will. The world is dying in need of a Saviour. Do you care?

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You do so much for us. I thank You that You have given us the privilege of sharing what You have done for us. Lord please give us courage, opportunity and words. Help us to tell the world what You have done for us. I thank You that You will go with us as we share You and speak through us. I thank You that You can speak through all of us no matter how inadequate we may feel. I thank You for Your great love. Amen.

GOD DELIGHTS IN SHOWING MERCY

Today’s Text: Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. (Micah 7:18)

Today’s Thoughts: God is never pleased when we sin, but He does not remain angry. He forgives our sins if we ask Him to. He delights in showing mercy to His people. He cares when we reap the consequences of our sin. His heart cries with us whenever we are experiencing pain – even if we brought it on ourselves through sin. God hates sin, but He loves the sinner.

Today’s Testimony: Now the next thing I’m going to share with you is something I am not proud of. I do not remember the exact order of events, but let me share how I think it must have happened. How it happened is not what is important, but I need to add this story in because it leads to one of the most amazing parts of my testimony. It also serves as a reminder that I also make mistakes and disappoint the Lord. But one thing that I’m really thankful for is that God has never and will never disappoint me.
I needed money. I cannot remember what for, but I am sure that it was not a case of, “I like that skirt, let me borrow money from Praise Corner.” I believe, as far as I can remember, that it was more a cost that I could see no way around. I have since learnt to trust God to provide, and I hope that I will always continue to wait on Him. Well, I borrowed money from Praise Corner. I did not see anything wrong with it at the time, and I intended to pay the money back when I got the next month’s money from my dad. But the next month something else came up, and somehow the necessities outweighed the income and I got hopelessly indebt to Praise Corner. And to put it plainly, I was in debt to the Lord.
How I managed to allow myself to go so far I do not know. But I was eventually R600indebt. That’s more than a giving period. I’m not sure about this, but I think that I had repaid my debt after returning from Cape Town (2007), added an extra R100, which was all I could afford, and then somehow managed to sink back into debt. Like I said, I am not sure that that is what happened, but I do know that Praise Corner had R3100 to its name according to my record.
But the greatest part about this whole experience, or should I say the only good thing, is that the Lord was merciful to me. He intervened in such an amazing way that I find it almost hard to believe. The next section of my testimony about how I got out of debt is what I think is the greatest part of my testimony so far. I know that the Lord forgave me because He still entrusted me with two other ministries. The one is Today’s T’s which is blessing many lives; the other ministry you will be hearing about soon. All three of them are sub-ministries of Revealing Christ Ministries. And that name was also chosen by the Lord. I’ll share that testimony too sometime.
God is so merciful. He loves us. He longs to pardon each and every one of us. We just need to repent and surrender to Him. We’re safest in His care.

Today’s Task: Do you ever feel unworthy of God’s mercy? Ever think that the Lord should never and would never forgive you? We are all unworthy of God’s mercy and do not deserve to be forgiven, but God cares about us too much to not forgive us if we ask Him to. Ask Him for His forgiveness today, right now. Please surrender to the Lord. He longs to show You His mercy. Don’t break God’s heart by rejecting His mercy, His forgiveness is for everyone.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You are so merciful to sinful people like us. You do not have to forgive us; You did not have to pay the death penalty in our place, but You did because You could not bear to lose any of us. Lord please help us to fully surrender to You. We don’t want to break Your heart by rejecting Your gift of Salvation. I thank You that You love each and every one of us more than we will ever be able to comprehend. Amen.

GOD CAN HELP US TO BE CONTENT

Today’s Text: Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.(Philippians 4:11)

Today’s Thoughts: Paul was writing to the Philippians in this text. In the previous text he told them how joyful he was that they were once again caring for some of his needs. He said that he knew that they only stopped for a while because they no longer had the opportunity to care for his needs. He then wrote that he did not want them to think that he said this because he was in need, because he had learned to be content no matter what he faced in life. We too need to learn to be content no matter what we face and no matter what we have or don’t have. The only way to obtain this state of contentment is through Jesus Christ. He can help us to be content in all situations. All we need to do is ask.

Today’s Testimony: A while ago I mentioned the pledge that I took of asking, “What would Jesus do?” before doing anything. I can’t tell you that everything that I do is exactly what Jesus would do, and I also can’t tell you that I always remember to ask this question, but for certain things, it has become a way of life.
We were in a shop once and my sisters were trying to convince me to buy a small animal soft-toy. The Lord reminded me of my pledge. I definitely didn’t need it, so I left it there on the shelf. It felt so good to know that I had not wasted money on something that I didn’t need.
There were also so many times that I would see an item of clothing that was so “me”, but I would simply smile knowing that I did not need it, and that God had a greater purpose for me and my money. It brought me joy to think of the reason why I couldn’t just buy everything I saw.
Then there were the times that I did need something. At those times one of two things would happen. So many times the Lord would provide for my needs, but on other occasions He would simply help me to be content with what I already had.
I thought I needed new open and closed smart shoes – the Lord helped me to be content with two pairs that I hadn’t worn for a while and was planning to give away. I thought I needed a new jacket – the Lord helped me to be content with one that I thought I needed to replace and one that I hadn’t worn for a while because I didn’t like it so much. I thought I needed a new jersey – the Lord helped me to be content with one that I hadn’t worn for a while. These are only a few of the stories of the Lord helping me to be content with what I had, and not long for the things that I didn’t really need. In His perfect timing He has always provided what I needed.
My life has been very interesting and so exciting. I have so many more amazing stories to share. Life is never dull when you step into the Lord’s will for your life. Many may think I could have been better off if I’d spent all the money I’d set aside for the Lord on my own “needs”. But my opinion is that my greatest need is to know the Lord, and I doubt I would know Him like I do if it wasn’t for setting money aside for Praise Corner and watching the Lord bless and provide.
All I can say is that He taught me to be content, and I still am.

Today’s Task: Are you content? If you’re not content with what you have, ask the Lord to help you to see if you have a need or simply a want. Ask Him to make you content with what you have unless He has a better plan. If you’re not content with situations in your life, ask the Lord to give you His peace and help you to be content. Maybe He will change your situation too. I also encourage you once again to make room for the Lord to bless you. If you are content and truly lack nothing, ask the Lord if there is anything that he would rather have elsewhere. He might know of someone who needs your money or possessions far more than you do. I know I still have to work on this one. Ask the Lord to make you content no matter what comes your way.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You can help us to be content no matter what we have or what we face. You can give us peace. You can provide for all our needs. We do not need to worry about them. Lord help us to truly be content. Lord help us to realize that our greatest need is You. Lord may we be discontent without You, and content even if You’re all we have. Amen.

REMEMBER ALL GOD’S BENEFITS

Today’s Text: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2)

Today’s Thoughts: Yesterday we spoke about the Lord loading us with blessings. It is so important that we remember God’s blessings. A little phrase that I have come to believe and experience is: the more you count your blessings – the more blessings you can count. As we take note of all God’s blessings our eyes will be opened to further benefits that we would normally over-look. The Lord deserves our praise every single day. He blesses us so abundantly.

Today’s Testimony: I’d put aside R1000 for 2004 and R1000 for 2005, now I need to share about the Lord providing for 2006.
I went down to Cape Town in December, 2005, and once I’d received most of the money I would be getting I was short. I didn’t have enough to put aside for tithe, offering and for Praise Corner. So there was only one thing to do – I prayed.
The Lord intervened and I got some more money. I put all the necessary money aside, R500 went for Praise Corner, and I was left with R20. So that’s all that I placed in my wallet.
My family and I went to a shopping mall and before we split up to do our shopping, my dad and step-mom together and my sisters and I together, we sat down at a restaurant for lunch. While sitting there my dad asked me how much money I had. It was one of those times that I wished I could have melted into the floor. I had gotten quite a lot of money, and all I had with me was R20. I told him that I only had R20 and he didn’t say anything. He just took out his wallet and gave me R200. He didn’t have enough to give each of us R200, so he gave to my sisters later because they said they had enough. I believe that the Lord was prompting it all, “Ask her how much money she has.” Now if I could have heard that I would have said, “No, don’t tell him to do that.” Then I believe the Lord continued prompting, “Don’t say anything, just take out your wallet and give her R200.” I truly do serve an amazing God! Do you?
Now I need to share about the next R500. I had been attending a home school at the house of a lady from my church, but she had moved to New Zealand and the school had moved to our house with my mom as the supervisor. Two of the kids that started out there that year needed to stay a bit longer after school because their mom was a teacher and couldn’t fetch them straight away. She paid for them to stay for aftercare. I played with them and entertained them for a few days and then my mom asked me if I’d like to do aftercare. I therefore took on the task of aftercare and got money coming in regularly.
Julie and I had opened up our own bank accounts while we were in Cape Town and that year my dad started putting money into our accounts every month. Toni already had an account.
I used the money that I got paid for doing aftercare to buy everything that I needed, and finally when it was about time for Praise Corner’s giving period, as I call it, I had R500 available in my bank account, which I then dedicated to the Lord for Praise Corner. That’s three years – R3000. God is good! And I praise Him. I will never forget how He has blessed me.

Today’s Task: Count every blessing. Don’t ever forget what the Lord has done for you. He loves you and He cares about you so much. He can provide your every need. He can provide for you in so many ways. Trust Him. Never ever forget His benefits.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You for all your benefits. I thank You that You care about our every need. I thank You that You always provide in the way that’s best for us. Please help us to trust You. I thank You most of all for providing our greatest need – Salvation. Lord without Your gift we would have no hope. I thank You for not leaving us to suffer and bear the eternal results of our sin. I want to spend eternity praising You for Your many blessings. Thank You for each one. Amen.