Hello everyone from the Noordam’s “Fortress of Solitude”. 😊

With Joe home on holidays we have been finding lots to do around the house. The garden is looking great, and I am cleaning bookshelves and cupboards. What tasks have you found to do? I think this time of isolation has been a wonderful opportunity to decide what things are important, to slow down a bit, and complete the jobs that have been waiting until we “have time”. A verse came to my mind the other day: Proverbs 6:6 “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” I think there is something in this verse to consider – not just about the practical side of things, but the spiritual as well. I believe the Holy Spirit is telling us to be wise like the ants. Here we have time to “binge” on the word – to store up “treasure in heaven”. To get ready for the harvest. There is a strong prophetic feeling that this is a time of preparation for God’s people. Let us not waste the opportunity we have here to “be like the ant”. Use our time wisely, remembering that when Jesus returns, he is looking for people who have done what he has asked them to do, obeyed his word, and been faithful. Matthew 24 talks about “the master of the house” returning unexpectedly. We do not know the time or the hour. In Matthew 24:45 it says, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his own household servants and feeding them.” There are people who are hungry for God’s word – they really want to know the truth that sets them free. So are you being wise? Are you storing up food ready for the harvest? I love the old King James version of the verse in proverbs … “Go to the ant, thou sluggard….” I don’t want to be a “sluggard”, do you? I hope we are all finding productive, meaningful things to do. I hope you school students are being responsible, and not complaining about your learning at home. I hope you are being reliable and following through with your tasks for the day. Both of these verses commend a person who can be faithful, even when they are not being watched or supervised. So let’s be a bit more like our friend the ant. Be wise. Be productive. Be faithful. This is the kind of person Jesus is looking for when he comes back in the fullness of time.

Have a great week – don’t forget to learn the memory verse from Sunday’s sermon.

Romans 8:9 (a) “But when the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, you are not dominated by the flesh, but by the Spirit…” (TPT)
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm of the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” (NIV)
“But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

Have a great week.
Many blessings,
Ps Glenda

Download this week’s newsletter

Download this week’s newsletter (Print it out to do the puzzle.)

Download Jakey’s testimony from last Sunday

Text: Psalm 46

It is so good to know that in this time of uncertainty, we have a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is our refuge and our fortress – our safe place in this time of trouble. He is our EVER PRESENT help. Jesus said, “I am with you always”. We need to remember that God is our saviour, our healer, our hiding place, our provider. This is who he is. He is always there, and he’s not going anywhere!

THEREFORE we can say WE WILL NOT FEAR. In this time, with the Covid-19 Virus creating fear and a health crisis in our world, we need to be wise, and adhere to the government directives for our protection and wellbeing and do the right thing. We may be in a battle and the enemy real. But God is on our side, and because he is our refuge, we can be safe in Him. He helps to not be afraid, even in the face of death.

Verse 4 speaks about a river that brings joy to God’s people. Take time in this season to rest in the river. Be refreshed. “He restores my soul”. We can trust in Him and rest in His judgements. Take this time to get to Know Him better and to pray for others. He gives us faith, hope and courage to face the enemy – he prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Let’s partake of that table.

Take a step back and see how God does things – he is always working on our behalf.

2 Kings 7 there is a story of a city under siege. They are in lockdown, and the enemy is at their gates. There are four lepers outside the city – between the city and the enemy, hiding out. They are starving, sick and dying. They decide to give themselves up to the enemy – and live or die, they are no worse off. When they go to the enemy camp, they find that God has already done a miracle. God was moving behind the scenes to dispel the enemy. They took their treasures and went back to tell the king what they found.

What is God saying to you at this time? Don’t let the enemy intimidate you. Go and pillage the camp. See what treasures God has provided for you, and share what you find with others. Make their day. Let’s share the results of what God is doing throughout this season. “See what the Lord has done.”

A word from the Holy Spirit is “turn off and turn on”. Let’s try to cancel out as much of the “noise” as we are able. We don’t have to be subject to all the updates and coronavirus news. We need to know what is going on, but we don’t need to be saturated with it. Turn on to the still, sweet voice of God as he reveals himself to us through this season.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Be reassured that God is with us to bring us through this time in victory and with many testimonies of the things he has done for each of us.

Please share with us how you’re doing, and we’d love to hear some of the “treasures” you have found as you “raid the enemy camp”. Check out the full story in 2 Kings chapter 7.