Choose Life

April 5, 2011 by 1 Comment
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Every Time I Choose To Obey God In My Spirit When He Tells Me To Do Something, I Choose Life

 

Choose Life

by Olga Hermans

We have a decision to make, just as Israel had to do that; life or death, blessing or cursing. Cursing was automatic for them if they didn’t hearken to God; blessings were inevitable if they did hear and obey.

The same is true for us today. We must choose whether or not we will hearken to God’s Word. If we hearken to God regarding the new birth, then we are born again. If e hearken to God and do what He says about healing, then healing takes place in our lives. If we hearken to His Word regarding prosperity, then we begin to prosper.

In every area, if we will just obey God and walk in His light, we will automatically increase in Is life and blessings. I don’t know about you, but I choose life. Every time I choose to obey God in my spirit when He tells me to do something, I choose life.

How do you choose life? You just have to decide, “I’m staying with the Word of God. As I hear and obey what God says, I believe it is unavoidable and predetermined that God’s blessings will overtake me. I will have the things I need. In fact, I’ll even have a surplus of prosperity. It is inevitable. It shall come to pass!”

Then determine never to quit. Don’t let yourself think, Well, that will never work for me, or they prayed for me, but I didn’t get healed.

When you make a choice to walk by faith and not by sight, you can never quit. We must not reach this great moment in the history of the Church, only to draw back in fear! No, this is the time to double up, not give up!

So, we choose to prove ourselves to be faithful when we go through the hard places. We honor God with our mouth and we keep putting the Word into our hearts so we will be able to accomplish all that God has placed in our heart to do.

The key to our deliverance is to hearken unto God. It was the same key for the deliverance of Israel. We hold the same key. As we hear and do the Word of God, certain victory and days of heaven on earth will be ours.

God is trying His best to get something over to His people. He knows that our lives depend on it. So, over and over, He keeps saying the same thing in different ways.

You just can’t choose God without choosing His ways. It is the choosing of His ways that make life a blessing on this earth. When you don’t choose God’s ways, you are actually choosing darkness, defeat, lack, sickness – the entire curse of the law.

God wants to prosper you, so He won’t give you something that will hurt you. He has to have your heart before He can give you wealth.

You see, you can’t stay out of the will of God and still prosper. You may make money, but you can’t prosper. There are wicked people in this world who are rich, but they aren’t prospering. Often the more money they make, the quicker they die. Why? Because they buy all the drugs and immorality they want until they finally kill themselves!

Even if those who are rich live long lives, they have no peace without God. And living a long life with a lot of money but no peace is not God’s idea of prosperity.

So, God will prove you to see what you will do with His Word in the circumstances of life. He wants to know whether or not He will remain in first place in our life after he has blessed you with material increase.

That’s why you have to stay sharp spiritually, stay in the Word and walk circumspectly before God. Every time you pass a test, you qualify for increase!

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7 Keys To Improving Your Communication Skills

April 4, 2011 by 3 Comments
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Communication Is Listening And Understanding What The Other Person Is Trying To Express With Accurate Empathy

 

7 Keys To Improving Your Communication Skills

by Olga Hermans

 

Good communication is a choice that you make; you have to engage your will to want it. It involves talking, listening, understanding and taking action. Communication breakdown is the number one problem in marriage. It’s the number one cause of separation and divorce. A lot of people don’t realize it, but they relate their problems to some other area. But if your communication is proper and you have an ability to share openly, you can solve financial problems, physical problems and children problems. Lack of communication can cause conflict.

Let’s have a look at these 7 keys and learn what to and what not do.

1.   Make a decision to improve communication; it’s a choice.
Just as loving your mate is a decision, not an emotion or a feeling, so you must make a decision that you want to improve your communication skills.

2.   Establish a quality time to share and communicate with your mate and family.
Indicate a time on your calendar for your mate and your children if you’re extremely busy. It’s more important than all the ball games, sporting events, recreational activities and all the other things that you will do.

God will deal with you that you need to make appointments with your spouse. As a husband and wife, you need to make plans concerning your children – their education, vacation – and the time that you will be alone with each other and them in a family setting. When you begin to pull away together, you will be able to eliminate a lot of frustrating situations by planning those things that were important.

It is important that you share some goals and dreams; what are the goals that you have for your family? Where will you be at the end of that particular year in your lives spiritually? Where do you want to be in five years from now?

It is important that your sharing time not to be a distressing time. In other words, is if you both work downtown and you just have come through the five o’clock rush hour and haven’t eaten yet, that’s no time to communicate on something you have different opinions about.

What’s the principle that businessmen use when they’re going to make a deal or talk with someone about a problem? They take them out to lunch or dinner and after they’ve eaten and are full and happy, they talk about the situation.

I think a lot of arguments are started when people are in stress situations. They try to resolve a problem in a few minutes when they only have a shot time, or when they’re not feeling right. It would be much better just to put it off until they is time to discuss it in a relaxing atmosphere.

TV is probably the greatest enemy of communication. When I was growing up, we used to bow down and worship the god of TV, offering the evening sacrifice of ten eyes for about three hours. After we had worshiped, then the god of television would impart to us his spirit and we would go to sleep with that spirit. Then the next day we would go out and walk in the light of that which we had received! How many people follow this pattern today?

3. Take an interest in what the other person is doing.
The best communicators are the ones who show an interest in the other person. The opposite of this is selfishness. It’s not hard to listen to someone if you take an active interest in what they are doing.

Jesus came to our level to lift us to His level. The same principle applies in communication. When you come to the level where people are to communicate with them, you will be able to move into levels where they can communicate with you and receive what you’re saying.

4. Be willing to admit that you’ve been wrong.
What’s the root problem of not being able to admit that you’ve been wrong? Pride. Here is an example: “It couldn’t possibly have been my fault! It was my fault, it was only two percent my fault and 98 percent yours!”

When there is unwillingness to admit wrong, then there is going to be a communication breakdown. But when there is a willingness to say, “I made a mistake, I misunderstood, I misinterpreted, I sad the wrong thing, I had the wrong attitude,” healing is released.

James 4:6 says, …”God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” In family and marriage relationships, when someone refuses to admit wrong, you naturally resists them. There is a wall that is automatically built

5. Be willing to accept constructive criticism.
Defensiveness will stop the flow of communication.

6. Avoid cutting and belittling remarks.
I’ve heard it said, “laughter at the expense of another person is the lowest form of humor.” The truth is, it’s really not humor at all. Husbands and wives destroy their marriages from the inside out when they make “cute remarks” that cut or belittle their mate or children. Cute little remarks which cut another person fit into the category of corrupt communication and it grieves the Holy Spirit.

7. Be sure that outside obligations aren’t robbing you of time with your mate and family.
Civic and community involvements can come between you and your family. Choose activities that can involve each family member.

Sometimes parents will sacrifice their time together to have time with the children, but you not only need to have time individually with the children, you need time alone with one another as husband and wife.

 

Communication specialists indicate that when you talk with another person, there are actually six messages that can come through a result of your communication:

(1) What you mean to say.
(2) What you actually say.
(3) What the other person heard you say.
(4) What the other person thinks they heard you say.
(5) What the other person says about what you said.
(6) What the other person said about what you said.

Communication is so important. It’s the bridge that brings different people together. Frustration usually ends where communication begins.

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The Pauline Prayers

April 3, 2011 by 1 Comment
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The following prayers which are also known as the “Pauline Prayers”  are taken from the Amplified Bible.

 

Romans 1:8
First we thank You, Father, through Jesus Christ for all of these for whom we pray.

Philippians 1:2-6
Grace, favor and blessing and heart peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ we speak to each one of these precious ones we are standing in the gap for. We thank God as we remember them in prayer. In every prayer we pray, and every entreaty and petition we make for them is with joy and delight.

We thank You, Lord, for their fellowship—cooperation and contributions and partnership—in advancing the Gospel. And we are convinced and sure of this very thing, that You, Lord, who began a good work in them will continue until the day of Jesus Christ right up to the time of His return, developing that good work and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in Christ.

Philippians 4:6-7
We do not fret nor have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in every prayer and petition we continue with thanksgiving to make our wants known unto You, God. Father, we pray for peace for these, that tranquil state of soul assured of its salvation in Christ, that peace which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 1:12-14
We give You thanks, Heavenly Father, Who has qualified and made us all fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints of light. Thank You, Father, for delivering us and drawing us out of the control and the dominion of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of the Son of Your love. In whom we all have our redemption through His blood, which means the forgiveness of our sins.

Colossians 4:12
We who are servants of Christ Jesus, will always strive earnestly for these in our prayers, pleading their case that they may, as persons of ripe character and clear conviction stand firm and mature (in spiritual growth), convinced and fully assured in everything willed by God.

Ephesians 1:5-23
For this reason because we have heard of these and the faith they have in the Lord Jesus Christ and their love toward all the saints, We do not cease to give thanks for them, making mention of them in our prayers. Heavenly Father, we pray that You would grant unto us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into mysteries and secrets, in the deep and intimate knowledge of Christ.

Flood the eyes of our heart with light, so that we can know and understand the hope to which You have called us and how rich is the glorious inheritance that You have in us. And so that we will know and understand what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of Your power in and for us who believe as demonstrated in the working of Your mighty strength, which You exerted in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated him at Your own right hand in the heavenly places.

1 Thessalonians 5:17, 23
We pray without ceasing that the very God of peace would sanctify us through and through, that is separate us from profane things, make us pure and wholly consecrated to You, God and may our whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Ephesians 3:12, 14-21
In Christ, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness, courage and confidence of free access, an unreserved approach to You, Father God, with freedom and without fear. For this reason (seeing the greatness of Your plan by which we are built together in Christ), we bow our knees before You, heavenly Father. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

That, Father God, You would grant these for whom we pray out of the rich treasury of Your glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in their inner man by the Holy Spirit Himself. May Christ through our faith actually dwell, settle down, abide, make His permanent home in our hearts! May we be rooted in love and founded securely on love.

That we may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints of God, the experience of that love what is the breadth and length and height and depth of it. That we will really come to know, practically, through experience for themselves the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience; that we may be filled through all our being unto all the fullness of God that is, may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.

Now unto You, Father Who is able to carry out Your purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams according to the power that works in us.

Philippians 1:8-11
For God is our witness how we long for and pursue these with love, in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus Himself! And this we pray, that our love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight, that is, that our love may display itself in greater depths of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment; So that we may surely learn to sense what is vital and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value, recognizing the highest and best, and distinguishing the moral differences; and that we may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless, that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied we may approach the day of Christ, not stumbling nor causing others to stumble.

May we abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, to the honor and praise of God that His glory may be both manifested and recognized.

Colossians 1:3, 9-11
We continually give thanks to You, God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah, as we are interceding for these. We will not cease to pray and make special request for us, asking that we may be filled with the full deep and clear knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom (that is, in the comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things; That we may walk and live and conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to You, Lord, and desiring to please You, Lord, in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God—with fuller, deeper and clearer insight, acquaintance and recognition.

We pray that we may be invigorated and strengthened with all power, according to the might of Your glory, so that we may exercise every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance with joy).

2 Thessalonians 3:1
Finally, we pray that the word of the Lord may have free course (speed on, spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified, extolled and triumph in the lives of each and every one that we have named (and not named) this day before Your throne! In the Name of Jesus. Amen and so be it.

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The Floodgates Of Heaven

April 1, 2011 by 5 Comments
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The Blessing Will Lift Us Up Above Oour Circumstances In A Way That Our Circumstances Are Covered With The Blessing.

 

The Floodgates Of Heaven

Olga Hermans

There is no reason for you and I to be broke even in a difficult time of finances, because we operate in a different Kingdom; aren’t you glad? I am thrilled, because I know that we operate in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Hereare 2 words with the same meaning; it will bless you when you receive them for what they stand.

Once we are born again, we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of light. And if we give God time and attention, we come into that light and He will show us how to live without sickness, without disease and without poverty, without any other curse.

You don’t have to be under any of the curses if you made Jesus the Lord of your life, why? Because the scripture says that He bore the curse for us.

SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God; SEEK is big and FIRST is big; go after Him before you go after anything else. Go first after the Kingdom of God means that you go after the things the way God does things.

Tithing is a something that God requires from us, isn’t it? My husband and I love to tithe; every time when money comes into the bank, we rejoice because we are able to tithe. To us tithing is really an insurance policy where all of our money is concerned; our money is protected, it cannot be drained and it cannot be stolen.
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. When the floodgates of heaven open; it is uncontainable.

We have just seen with the tsunami in Japan; water flushes everything away, it washes out houses, big boats until nothing is  left over. That is how powerful water can be. There is a great connection between the blessing and a flood. When it says “opening the windows of heaven”, we should picture ourselves standing under these open windows of heaven, this blessing is overtaking us. Let’s have a look at this picture; this might surprise you and bless you especially if you choose to believe it 🙂

Gen 7:11  In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. The word “windows” in Gen 7:11 is the same word as in Mal.3:10 and both words mean “floodgates”. That is revelation knowledge to us!

The water covered every mountain; that is a lot of flood. You see water lifts everything to the top. You have seen that with the tsunami, right? Here is the connection; the blessing lifts us above the earth. It lifts us above the economy. Gen 7:17-20 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

I learned and I chose to believe that this is a picture of the results of the tithe. If we would replace the word “water” with the “blessing”, because what comes out of heaven for the thither? The blessing! From the floodgate and the windows of heaven the blessing comes upon us.

It reads like this: Gen.7:17-20 And the “blessing” (which in the Hebrew means: the abundant, liberal, excessive prosperity of God) was forty days upon the earth; and the “blessing” increased, and lifted up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the “blessing” prevailed, and was increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the blessing. And the “blessing” prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered with the “blessing”. Fifteen cubits upward did the  “blessing” prevail; and the mountains were covered with the “blessing”.

Our tithe unlocks the floodgates of heaven and the Lord says: “prove me now herewith” if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

This is awesome, don’t you think so? This is a truth that you and I should have deep in our heart. The blessing will lift us up above our circumstances in a way that our circumstances are covered with the Blessing. Well, we are always  blessed, but when we tithe, the blessing will come pouring into our life out of heaven that we don’t have room to contain it. That is what I want; what about you?

What has tithing done for you? Can you remember when you started tithing and what a difference it made in your life?

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You Are More Than A Conqueror

March 31, 2011 by 4 Comments
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You Are More Than A Conqueror and You Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens You.

Do you  know that you are more than a conqueror. Do you really know that? That is what God says about you, right? This is God’s Word to you: Rom 8:37  But in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us. “We” means you. Your position of being “…more than a conqueror” is right now.

The fact that you are more than a conqueror is reality. It is the truth. Faith is always now and your faith makes you a conqueror right now! It is something you are guaranteed because of God’s promise. You and I have to make a choice to believe it. It is a very powerful truth.

To be a conqueror is tremendous. Conquer means “to triumph, to overcome, to win, to succeed or to be victorious.” Romans 8:37 in the New American Standard is translated, “…we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” This is our victory! The adversary is defeated and can no longer triumph in our lives.

You are more than a conqueror because the love of Jesus is on the inside of you and is victory is yours by faith, not by works. No matter what you have done or how you may have failed in the past, you are more than a conqueror. Don’t ever forget it. [Read more…]

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In The Hands Of The Potter

March 29, 2011 by 2 Comments
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We should never lose sight of the fact that God corrects and instructs us for our good. Understanding that helps us to stay pliable in the hands of the Potter/ in the Master’s hands and he molds us into the image of Jesus. Look at

Let Him Make You Into A Vessel Of Honor He Desires You To Be

what Jesus says in Jeremiah 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

“Can I not do to you as the potter does with the clay?” You see, all God wants is to be free to work in our lives. He isn’t trying to take something away from us. He is trying to give something wonderful to everyone of us, “Hear Me. Do what I say. Follow my plan. Get in My Word. Listen to Me in your spirit. Let Me make you a vessel of honor.”

Think back to the way you were when you were first born again, before the Word was ever planted in your heart. You were a sad story before the Potter began to mold and shape you, weren’t you? God has certainly done a wonderful work on my vessel of clay through the years, I mean; I was clueless and so naive and timid when I was a new Christian that I didn’t dare to talk to anybody. I didn’t have much to say either. Those days are gone forever.

God develops authority and power in you as you walk in His Word. An inner confidence rises up because you know Who is inside you and Who you are following. You get the revelation in 1John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. [Read more…]

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God Is Your Solution, Not Your Problem

March 28, 2011 by 3 Comments
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Have you ever thought that “without God life would be so much easier”? Or this one, “if God only would approve of this; I would be on my way”. You see, God does not respond to what we do; we have to choose to respond to what God

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does. God is our Solution, not our problem!

He chastises or instructs us with His Word. He doesn’t cause our problems. He tells us, “If you do this, I’ll bless you. If you don’t do it, you open yourself up to the strategies of the enemy.” Deut 28:1-2,15. So, whose fault is it if we choose to do the wrong things and get in trouble? Ours. We made the choices.

When we get stuck in a hard place, sometimes it is hard for us to understand where the real problem lies. It is difficult for us to see that we are the ones who opened the door to our troubles. It is so much easier to think, God has missed it here. It’s called deception.

It’s also easy to look back at the Old Testament people and think, Adam, how could you have been so foolish as to not obey God? Israel, why did you keep refusing to listen to the prophets that were sent?

But we can be just as foolish. We let ourselves get out of the will of God through disobedience, and then when things don’t work for us and we struggle, we ask, “Lord, why did you let this happen to me? How come You’re not doing something to get me out of this?” [Read more…]

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3 Elements That Are Essential To Supernatural Prayer

March 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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There are three elements that are essential to supernatural prayer: faith, the Word and the Holy Spirit.

Faith

Praying Involves A Supernatural Move Of God

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” In recent times, some people in the body of Christ have tried to separate the prayer of faith from other kinds of prayers and put it in a category by itself. But the truth is, you always have to travel in faith no matter what kind of praying you are doing.

I like to think of faith as the vehicle that gets your prayers where they’re going. If you don’t use that vehicle, they won’t ever get there. What’s more, the higher your faith level is, the faster and more effective your prayers will be. You might say, the level of your faith will determine whether they go by pony express or by the Concorde.

So to pray supernaturally, you’re going to have to constantly cultivate your faith by staying in the Word of God. [Read more…]

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The Most Important Thing; Your Heart

March 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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The Most Important Thing In Life Is Your Heart

How are you doing today? I would love to hear your answer right now. Most people respond to a question like this with how their circumstances are or with something about their job. But my question to you today is though “How are you doing on the inside of you; in your heart?” [Read more…]

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How Do You Build Your House On The Rock [video]

March 25, 2011 by 1 Comment
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A Wise Man Builds His House On The Rock By Hearing God’s Word And By Putting It Into Practice

What is the solid foundation of a solid marriage? How can your family withstand the storms of life? Why not

build your house on something stable, something that can stand through every test and trial? [Read more…]

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