THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

Today’s Text: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.(Psalm 23:1)

Today’s Thoughts: I’d like us to take a trip through this much-loved and well-known Psalm. Today we’re going to focus on the first part of this text: The Lord is my Shepherd. As our Shepherd the Lord has committed to protecting us, providing for us, and caring for us. He loves each one of His sheep. I want to be a sheep in the fold of the Good Shepherd – Do you?

Today’s Testimony: A while ago the Lord inspired me with a song about the one lost sheep. You can read about it in Luke chapter 15. I’d like to share the words with you. This song sums up just what it truly means to have the Lord as our Shepherd. I hope it will speak to your heart so that if Christ is not already your Shepherd, you will choose Him as your Shepherd today.

The Shepherd’s Heart

The Shepherd had a hundred sheep
He counted one by one, before they all lay down to sleep
Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine
There’s one lost little sheep of mine
So he left the ninety-nine, safely in the fold
And went out in the darkness, braving the cold
He stumbled on the way, getting many a scratch and bruise
But no matter what the cost, that sheep he could not bear to lose
Finally he heard a faint, bleating sound
He looked over the cliff, and his little sheep was found
He struggled hard to reach it, but soon held it in his arms
And said, “My little sheep, you are now safe from harm”
When they got back home, he nursed His wounded sheep
Then held it close and rocked it, till it calmly fell asleep
A tear rolled down his cheek, and he began to weep
To think that very night, he could have lost one of his sheep
For every single one, was dear to his heart
He could not bear the thought, of forever being apart
But his heart was filled with joy, for he’d found the sheep he’d lost
He smiled and looked upon it, knowing that sheep was worth the cost

We too have a Shepherd, who loves each of His sheep
He gave His life on Calvary, so His sheep He could keep
If the whole world was sinless, and only you were not
Christ still would have died, for you’re the only you He’s got
You’re precious in His eyes, He’ll seek you if you’re lost
He already came to save you, at great risk and cost
For if our sinless Saviour, had fallen into sin
Although He is God, there would have been no hope for Him
Call out to the Shepherd, He longs to hear your cry
His heart will be broken forever, if you rather choose to die
He loves you individually, as though you’re all He’s got
Though the rest of His sheep may be there, He will weep if you are not

He’s holding out His hand, He’s holding out His hand
Return to Jesus, return to Jesus, return to Jesus
His little lamb

Return to Jesus, His little Lamb

Today’s Task: The Lord wants to be your Shepherd. Please accept Him as your Shepherd. Please return to Jesus. Don’t break God’s heart, He has done everything He can in order to save you, the rest is up to you. He loves you more than you will ever be able to know or understand. Please accept Him as your Saviour.

Today’s Thanks: Lord You are our Shepherd, and we praise You. Lord I thank You that You care for Your sheep. I thank You for the great length that You went to in order to save each and every one of us. Please help us to choose You as our Saviour. Please Lord, I pray that we will not allow your sacrifice for each of us individually to be in vain. I pray that You will one day be able to smile and say, “I’ve found all My lost sheep.” Lord, the sheep that are not saved once You’ve sought and found them are the ones that chose to rather run away. Help us to run to You, not from You. O Lord help us. We need You. Amen.

HEAR, O MY PEOPLE

Today’s Text: Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me. (Psalm 81:8)

Today’s Thoughts: God speaks in so many different ways, but sometimes He waits for us to hear and listen to what He has already instructed us before He will give us any further instruction. He speaks, but we must listen. He longs for us to hear Him. He wants us to listen to Him. Everything that He instructs us is for our own good. He cares about us. Be sure to listen to His voice.

Today’s Testimony: Today I’d like to share the story behind the name Revealing Christ Ministries.
When I started e-mailing Today’s T’s I was sending them from my personal e-mail address. My mom was a bit concerned with me giving out my personal address to so many people and a lot of total strangers, so I decided to get a separate e-mail account for ministry.
The Lord has given me three ministries so far and I thought I’d have one e-mail address for all three ministries instead of a separate one for each. So I had to decide on a “blanket” for my ministries.
I thought of one, and then went to create a g-mail account. I typed in the name as the e-mail address and it said that it was unavailable. I then tried something else and it was also unavailable. At some stage the Lord started impressing me, “Revealing Christ Ministries.” But I said, “I can’t put that. No one can reveal Christ. That’ll sound too forward. We can give others a better glimpse of Christ, but reveal Him?! I can’t put that”. So I kept trying. And the Lord kept impressing, “Revealing Christ Ministries.” Eventually I decided to take a break , and pray and think about it.
I was outside hanging washing during my break and I was still trying to get a good name, and the Lord was still trying to get me to realize that it definitely was Him speaking and that Revealing Christ Ministries was the name He’d chosen. Finally I said, “Ok, I’ll go back and put in revealingchristministries and if it’s available then that’s what it is, but if it’s not, then that’s obviously end of story and it’ll have to be something else.
I went back and typed it in and it was available. I stopped arguing and Revealing Christ Ministries became the blanket for the three ministries that I already have and any others that the Lord may give me.
Once I’d settled with that the Lord starting telling me what He wanted for the logo. I’ve been drawing and using a heart on the cross to represent Christ and His gift of Salvation for years, and the Lord told me that that was what He wanted. I’d already started designing a cross on “Paint” and I’d done the outline of a heart as one of the activities for Vacation Bible School. So I finished the cross, coloured and added the heart and then designed and added the title.
No one can reveal Christ, but God can use His ministries to reveal Himself to the world. He can speak through each and every one of us. It will not be us revealing Christ, but Him revealing Himself through us. So many people have a distorted view of our loving God, we need to reveal the real God to the world.

Today’s Task: Spend time with the Lord so that when He speaks you know His voice without a doubt. And if you know it is Him, don’t argue. God wants what’s best for you. Ask the Lord to help you to hear, and then to obey. Then keep listening for further instruction.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You speak to us in so many ways. You can speak through Your Word, nature, other people, and also directly to us, either audibly or silently. Help us to hear Your voice and know that it’s You. Help us to obey Your instruction the first time. I thank You that You care about us so much, and want us to live happier, more fulfilled lives. I thank You for Your love. Amen.

THE LORD IS GOOD

Today’s Text: The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.(Psalm 145:9)

Today’s Thoughts: God is good – always good, and only good! He is good to everyone. He blesses us with our needs, but He also sometimes blesses us with things that are not necessities. In every blessing there is a message written that says, “I love you!” So many people wonder how God can be good if there is so much pain and heartache all around us. I’ve discussed this topic before, but let me remind you that Satan is still very real and wants to destroy us. God hates to see us suffering, but when we sinned we chose Satan as the prince of this world, and therefore, even though God does intervene on so many occasions, He cannot protect us from all heartache because Satan would accuse Him of protecting his subjects, as he accused Him in Job’s story. But God knows how much we can handle and He is still so good. And in every trial, He will not forsake us, He is right there.

Today’s Testimony: About two weeks ago when we arrived home both of our dogs met us at the gate. The Golden Labrador cross Golden Retriever, Rolo, almost always meets us when we get home, but the Basset Hound, George, is too lazy to come all the way to the gate. On this occasion George had been sitting near the gate and he therefore joined Rolo in welcoming us home. We drove forward slowly, waiting for them to move out of the way of the car. It’s not easy to see where each dog is because of the angle that we come in. George, who’s only clever when he wants to be, obviously thought he could take his time to cross the driveway in front of the car and that we’d never run him over. We couldn’t see where he was and accidentally drove over at least one of his hind-legs. We heard his cry of pain and I jumped out the car and saw him hobbling onto the grass. I then stood with him and stroked him encouraging him not to move. He was in terrible pain and shock.
We were going to leave early the next morning to travel up to Johannesburg and would only get back late the night after that. So we had a huge problem. I prayed.
He is a very old dog, and my mom said that he might not be able to survive the vet sorting his leg out. We considered having him put down. He is my dog, and although I knew that it would probably be best for him, I still cried. I took the problem to the Lord.
He had been making use of three legs and had managed to walk around the house. In order to get him to the vet we had to muzzle him because otherwise, being in pain, he would have bitten my step-dad. But my step-dad wasn’t able to muzzle him. We watched him for a while to decide what we were going to do.
He seemed to be managing alright so we left him to see if he would be fine. The lady who was coming over to feed the dogs while we were away kept an eye on him. When we arrived home just two days later he seemed perfectly fine. My twin sister, Julie, even saw him scratch himself with both of his hind legs. God is so good!!!
I didn’t need my dog to be healed, but God healed him anyway. God is good – always good, and only good!

Today’s Task: Trust the Lord. He loves you. His Word says that He is good, and He is. Take your troubles to the Lord, He cares. If you do not get the results you hope for, know that Satan was in control of that. Yes, many say, “but how could God allow that?” but please remember that He does care, and He cries with you when you cry; but Satan won’t allow Him to protect us fully without accusing Him of being unfair, and God therefore knows when to intervene because He knows what is best for us. Some trials, although hard to bear, can even be a blessing in our lives if we place our faith and trust in our loving heavenly Father. Trust God’s wisdom and His love. He is good!

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You are good. I thank You that you love us so much. I thank You that You haven’t left us to be destroyed by the Devil. Please use every trial to draw us closer to You. Help us to remember that You do care about us, no matter what we go through. You are good Lord – always good, and only good! And I praise You! Amen.

WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Today’s Text: And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.(Mark 10:27)

Today’s Thoughts: This is one of my favourite texts. There are so many things that we think are impossible, but nothing is impossible for God. We so often underestimate the power of God. Our God can do things we would never even dream of, and He can do the things we thought could never happen. He is an almighty God. With our God – all things are possible!

Today’s Testimony: First I’d decided that I was going to make sure that I didn’t get into any further debt and trust God to provide. Then I decided that I was going to make every effort to pay my debt the following December. And finally I decided that I was going to start paying back my debt as soon as possible with as much money as I could.
The reason I’d decided to plan to only pay it back in December was because, to my knowledge, there weren’t any large sums of money going to come in. I thought that, also considering that it was already almost the end of the year, when I was in Cape Town would be the perfect opportunity. After all these steps, the Lord intervened. I was determined to make things right as soon as possible, and that is when the Lord stepped in. I believe His thoughts went something like this, “So you think there’s no money coming in? Where’s your faith Lindy? You’re underestimating Me. Watch this….”
About three weeks after I’d taken that final step, I got a phone call. It was a lady from my church asking me if I could come and work for her for a few days. She had been given an extra task to do but was already extremely busy, so she wondered if maybe I would help. She said it should only take three days. She told me what hours I would be working, and how much I would be getting paid. Three days’ worth of working wouldn’t be able to sort out my debt, but I thought that it was at least a start.
The task turned out to be a little bit more complicated than we thought and I ended up working for a total of fourteen days. I received enough money to pay my tithe and offering, to pay my debt, and I still had a bit of money left over. We truly do serve an amazing God!!!

Today’s Task: Never ever underestimate God. He can do what we think is absolutely impossible – believe it. Trust God to intervene no matter what you are going through. He cares about you. Ask Him if there is anything He’d like you to do – He might be waiting for you to take the first step or two. Always remember that God loves and cares about you so much, no matter what Satan tries to tell you. God said that He loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), and He meant it. If you are facing anything “impossible” take it to God – He is a miracle-working God. Simply place your faith in Him.

Today’s Thanks: Lord today I want to thank You that You do the “impossible” for us. I praise You that there is nothing that is impossible for You. Please intervene in whatever problems we face, no matter how huge they may seem to us. Lord we know that there is nothing that is too big for You to handle. We thank You that You care about us so much. We thank You for Your everlasting love. We praise You and thank You in Christ’s name, Amen.

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.