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We relate stories of hope and good news We act as a catalyst for Christians to unite and speak as one We are not affiliated to any church, pastor, organisation or denomination but are a BIBLE BASED Christian magazine. We will not promote any particular church or pastor We seek to relate miracles and testimonies that have been experienced by our fellow Christians We want to unite Christian businesses and help them grow by offering affordable advertising We provide a platform for Christians to thank God for their prosperity in life We plan to start and operate one of the largest feeding schemes in Durban
WE WELCOME ALL BUSINESSES TO LIST IN “KINGDOM MARKETPLACE” OUR BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT Rish Sundraj
ASSISTANT EDITOR Arthur Charles Van Wyk
DISTRIBUTION Andre Pouleyn
LEGAL OVERSIGHT Tashya Giyapersad & Associates
WRITERS Bridgette Askham
DESIGN AND LAYOUT Vivek Daya
Kirsten Kelly
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Faith Builder
PROSPERITY "...much increase comes by the strength of an ox." (Proverbs 14:4)
"He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses'' (Proverbs 28:27)
"He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity (worthless pursuits) will have poverty enough!" (Proverbs 28:19)
"A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favour rather than silver and gold.'' (Proverbs 22:1)
"The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labour." (Proverbs 12:24)
"How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.'' (Proverbs 16:16)
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.'' (Proverbs 13:22)
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.� (1 Timothy 6:6-10) Love God. Use money for good. Strive for peace with all.
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Personal Testimony
the blades away for when I needed to “unleash” again. During this time, my mum had an encounter with Jesus and started attending a different church where she felt encouraged and spiritually filled. Following her, I decided to give this Jesus a try to see if I was really worth being saved. Truth is I wasn’t, but He still covered and washed me with His blood and I was saved. For the first time in my life I felt the meaning of worthy and perfect when I came to the revelation that He lives inside me. The Savior, living inside of me and forgiving me of all my sins was truly a miracle in itself. Half a year went past and I was still on my walk with God until rejection slapped me in the face once more. All those old feelings and emotions flooded in me again and I didn’t know how to respond. I could hear my “old man” telling me to cut once more and blade ready in hand I was tempted to, and then I asked God to give me sign or a miracle or something, anything to show me that I was really worthy to be loved by Him. A sinner like me. I was prompted by an urge deep inside me to open my Bible, so I held my Bible in my hands, prayed for God’s direction and will and opened it. It opened to Psalm 116 and that was all the confirmation I needed to know that my God is Savior and King - Anonymous
At the age of fourteen, I was a young girl lost in this very big world. I had just moved to high school and was finding it difficult to fit in and find true friends. My hope was to go to a more elite high school however God’s plan had led me to a very “average” high school where I knew no one. For two terms I struggled with friends but had managed to find a group with whom I felt comfortable. However, I felt left out as this group of girls were on the wild side and being insecure with myself and wanting to fit in I sank down to their level and tried out the so-called “in-things”. My low self-esteem and insecurity had increased when I dealt with rejection from every aspect of my life. I needed a way out of that despair and needed a way to “unleash” the pain. So I decided to try out what my friends were all into at that time. I decided to go the route of self-mutilation. It started small with compass needles and then I was hooked, trapped and addicted. It came to a point where it exceeded and shocked the very same friends that got me cutting myself. They took away my compass fearing what I could do to myself, so I found other means such as sharpener and razor blades but it stopped when my mum had almost caught me by seeing the scars on my arm. I stopped it and hid
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Failing FORWARD Motivation
By Tabisa Dlamini
Most or perhaps all of us have encountered failure in our lives, whether it is failing to get to the airport on time, failing to pass an examination, failing to keep a secret, failing to be there for a child as a parent, failing to keep a promise, failing to pray, failing to read the word of God and a whole lot more. What does failing to get to the airport mean now? Does it mean that you will never try again or never use an aircraft? No, it means you will rectify whatever you did wrong the last time. It means you will not give up, you will try again. In John Maxwell’s book, he speaks about two gentlemen who were working for Kellogg’s. They woke up this particular day, did everything that they normally do at work except for taking wheat out of the oven and switching the oven off when they were going home. Forgetting to switch off the oven led to burnt wheat. When they got to work the following day they were asked to go to the manager's office. The manager explained the implications of them failing to do what they were expected to do, which resulted in a waste of wheat, an increase in the overheads which was also an expense for the company etc. After they had that conversation the manager issued them with written warnings. They were disappointed; felt like failures and wondered how they were going to tell their wives about their mistake. The following day when they got to work, one of the men decided to go to the room where the burnt wheat was kept, as he sat there he decided to taste it. Whilst he was doing so he realised that it was tasty, he then got a bit excited thinking that their mistake could be used to come up with a new cereal that can be consumed.
The company called in the experts to check whether the product could be used, it turned out the product could be consumed and they called it Corn Flakes. These two gentlemen understood the concept of failing forward. We have Corn Flakes today because even after they failed to do what was expected of them, they didn't stop working and they didn't quit. They understood that in life sometimes you do fail, but it's what you do when you have failed that determines your understanding of failing. Phil 3:13, Paul says “I do not consider brethren, that I have captured and made it on my own but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” He himself is saying he forgets what lies behind and focuses on what lies ahead. In other words he is saying I might have encountered failure yesterday but I have forgotten about it and have focused on what lies ahead. You are reading this and probably thinking, “how can I forget how humiliated I was after I discovered that I failed, let alone the fact that I had to be the one to tell the people that I didn't make it?” I want to say to you: Those who have made it are those who understand the concept of failing forward. Wake up, dust yourself and learn from your experiences, understanding that we all have encountered failure in our lives in one way or the other. This did not make us failures or nonachievers but it made us wiser and better. It gave us a deeper understanding of what it means to fail forward.
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Fruitful Finances Finances
3 important tips 1.
Learning self-control There are only two words for this one delayed gratification. Not the easiest thing to do when everything around you is so enticing and you are subjected to constant marketing, not forgetting the rapid evolution of technology…keeping up is becoming a NEED. In times such as these, credit should not even be an option. The Bible says that we should be lenders and not borrowers.
2.
Know where your money goes In our fast paced lifestyles this becomes a tricky one. We get paid and the first thing we are tempted to do is splurge and reward ourselves for enduring yet another month but the first thing we should do when we get paid is budget. It’s important for us to make sure that our expenses don’t exceed our income. Give up that everyday latte from your favourite café and see how much you save every month, it’s the small things that make the big difference.
3.
Emergency fund No matter what you earn or how little your salary might be, make sure you have this fund set up for yourself. You never know what might happen during the month or months ahead and you will pat yourself on the back when you are able to pay for it yourself. Treat the fund as a non-negotiable monthly expense. Just having the fund will allow you to sleep better at night and take some of the pressure off. Pretty soon you will have more than just emergency money saved away, the emergency fund money will grow into holiday money and possibly retirement money, as long as it’s done religiously.
Health
Keys to walking in Divine Health The key ingredient for one to walk in divine health is always to obey God in whatever He tells you or leads you to do. In order for us to do this, we must maintain a fervent daily prayer life. If Satan can ever persuade us not to obey God, he knows that we will no longer be dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, or living in the perfect will of God, or being protected by our shield of faith. Ephesians 6:16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Walking in the perfect will of God is like walking a tight rope. It's something that requires total concentration and focus on God and His Word. People don't realize that God is doing everything He can to protect us from Satan's attacks. He doesn't want any harm to come to us, but when we don't listen to the Lord, or obey Him for whatever the reason may be, the first thing we forfeit is our divine protection. The devil was never able to put sickness on Jesus, or lay hands on Him through
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disaster until Jesus yielded over to the crucifixion. Jesus always walked in the God-kind of love and He always walked in the perfect will God. John 15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 6:38: For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. John 14:30: Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the Prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. John 10:17, 18: Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Did you ever notice that when you walk in the God-kind of love and you're doing everything God told you or leads you to do, how much peace you've got in your heart and how bold you are? Obedience produces the utmost confidence in a believer's life, so that no matter what happens, they have the confidence that God will get them through. And if you're born again, God has much bigger plans for you than you just attending church and helping out whenever the need arises. There's much more to Christian life than ‘Forsake not the assembly yourselves together.’ Most of us did that before we got saved, but you're not doing anything for God if that's all you're doing.
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Spiritual Fitness The six dimensions of personal wellness include social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, occupational and physical. When we join a fitness facility one thing that usually happens is we receive a fitness assessment or evaluation. This often includes tests to measure our muscular strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance and body composition. The results of these different tests give us a baseline measurement to understand how fit we are in these different areas of physical fitness. This also serves as a guide for the fitness professional to design a program for us so that we can make improvements, especially in those areas that we are weak in. Let’s look at some considerations at taking a spiritual assessment of our personal wellness. The Bible says: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
This verse is from Psalm 139:23-24 and it speaks the importance of asking God to help us assess our behaviour and our hearts. The writer recognised that he needed God’s help in pointing out flaws in his lifestyle and shortcomings in his heart. To take stock of the spiritual dimension of our lives and do it thoroughly we need God to guide us and help us. It also requires us to be open to what we sense God is showing us and then open to the changes. What the research says: It seems clear from the research that our spiritual health and how we practice our faith has an impact on our physical health and general well-being. Studies have shown the benefits of faith related to many areas such as cancer, hypertension, health, heart disease and other physical ailments. 18 Spiritual Exercises that are related to health have been identified. These exercises are grouped into 3 areas- beliefs and attitudes, Advertise your business with us
Health
one’s relationship with God and one’s practice of their faith. What you can do: When was the last time you asked God to help you look deep inside yourself and take a snapshot of the spiritual dimension of your life? I suspect the more important your spiritual life is to you, the more frequently you monitor how fit you are in this area. We are told in 1 Timothy 4:8 that spiritual exercise is much more important than physical exercise. I believe that our inner spiritual fitness enables us to experience the abundant life God desires for us. As 2013 progresses consider taking stock of your spiritual fitness.
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Sinners Prayer It is true that we are all sinners. We sin every day, knowingly and unknowingly. Jesus came to save us from this sin, so that we may be made as white as snow, washed in His blood and saved. It is imperative that we do not take this grace for granted. Repent on your sins, don’t be self-righteous and think that you do not sin, we ALL sin, humble yourself to Him and repent!
Heavenly Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus. I know that I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son Jesus. Thank You Jesus that You died in my place on the Cross of Calvary. Thank You, that You accepted the punishment for my sins. Jesus, come into my heart, and save my life. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank You for saving me. You are now Lord of my life. I am now born again. From this day forward, I will follow You all the days of my life. Amen.
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Life Lesson
Unforgiveness
The slowkilling spiritual poison…
U
nforgiveness is the single most popular poison that the enemy uses against God's people, and it is one of the deadliest poisons a person can take spiritually. It causes everything from mental depression, to health problems.
The two commandments given by God were: Matthew 22:37-40, "Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Jesus gave us very important commandments to follow; one of them was to love one another, as He has loved us (John 15:12). Love is the exact opposite of unforgiveness, envy, jealousy, hate, pride and bitterness. You can't truly love somebody and hold bitterness or unforgiveness against him or her at the same time. Our responsibility is to forgive. God sent Jesus to die for our sins, so that we may be reconciled to Him, without spot or blemish. He asks that we give others the same forgiveness that He paid for us. Unforgiveness shows we don’t love Jesus. In John 15:12, Jesus commands us to love one another, as He has loved us. True love doesn't hold bitterness or unforgiveness against a person. If we are bitter or hold unforgiveness against somebody, then we don't love them as Christ loved us. Unforgiveness prevents God from forgiving our sins. Matthew 6:15, "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
Unforgiveness can block God from answering our prayers. John 15:5-10 tells us that if we abide in Christ, we will produce much spiritual fruit, and the way that we abide in Christ is by keeping His commandments. Verse 12 tells us that His commandment is to love one another as He has loved us. Verse 7 tells us that if we abide in Him, and His Word in us, we can ask for anything and it will be given to us! The reason a lot of people's prayers go unanswered, is because they aren't keeping the commandments that Jesus gave us; therefore they aren't abiding in Christ's love, and if we aren't abiding in Christ's love, how can we expect Him to hear our prayers? Unforgiveness can defile a person. Hebrews 12:15, "...lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." Notice at the end it says, "many be defiled." This is a VERY common, if not one of the most common everyday thing that defiles people! Many bondages can be shed when a person forgives those who have wronged him or her. The blessings of forgiveness. When we forgive, it opens us up to God's forgiveness (Matthew 6:15), it puts us in a receiving position when we pray (Mark 11:24, 25), it helps us become spiritually fruitful (John 15:10, 12, 5).
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For Men
MEN OF GOD
John the Baptist is the only other person besides Jesus whose birth and death is recorded in the Gospels. It is a credit to his significance that all the four gospels comment on his life.
The beginning of Jesus' ministry is marked by John baptising him in water (Acts 1:21-22). John's ministry was not a short one in terms of time, but also covered a small geographical area. Yet when we take a close look at what God accomplished through him we cannot deny how important it was. How significant we are to God's Kingdom depends on how close we stay to God's will for our life.
flesh, forsaking the world; and our incorporation into the body of Christ. It is the fulfilling of all righteousness (Matthew 1:15). It might seem small and insignificant but it impacts greatly on your Christian walk.
John the Baptist had a certain expectation of Jesus. Notice his Obedience is better than sacrifice. preamble to Jesus' ministry in Luke Obedience allows you to fulfil 3:16 – “But one more powerful God's will even when you don’t than I will come, the thongs of understand it or cannot even whose sandals I am not worthy to comprehend it. untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke What is ministry? 3:16).
The gospel of John never refers to John as 'John the Baptist.' John is introduced as 'a man sent from God', 'a witness to the light'. John's gospel consciously takes care to It is the commendation of God that is significant not the praise of emphasise the 'witness' that John the Baptist came to bear to Jesus. men (2 Corinthians 10:18). John He came to point us to the light. was a voice in the wilderness Hence the immortal words that (Matthew 3:1-3). It’s possible to make a lot of noise without being John uttered have such significance 'He must increase; I a voice for God. John the Baptist must decrease' (John 3:30). lived in the wilderness, never performing miracles or writing a book, yet was still relevant twenty As the people became aware of whom Jesus was John was no years later (Acts 19: 1-3). He still longer needed. This did not teaches us much today. decrease the achievements of John. It simply meant he did not John came baptising (Mark 1:4). This simple yet powerful tradition get in the way of what God wanted to do. May God deliver us has become a vital part of from ministries that seek to have a Christianity. Jesus said to His disciples - 'therefore go and make hold over people for life! May he deliver us from ministries that disciples of all nations, baptizing herald their achievements over the them in the name of the Father role of Christ! Yet let us not grow and of the Son and of the Holy critical of others labour. Spirit.' Hopelessness, doubt, pride and cynicism can creep into the tiniest Have you been baptised with crevices of heart. water? Baptism indicates our submission to Christ; our death to the sin and
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19), John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask a curious question - '"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"' (Matthew 11:3).
John the Baptist died (Mark 6: 2128) before his prophetic utterances came to pass. He departed this earth before seeing the fruit of his ministry. The work he did was more significant than what he perceived. We must always remember we are part of God's plan not the centre of it. We play our parts obediently and leave the rest to God. Let us remember to point people to Jesus and never get in the way. Real progress is measured by how you decrease and He increases in people's life as you minister to them. The words of Jesus that were 'never sent to John' are relevant to us here - 'I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he' (Luke 7: 28). No one can be greater than the person who learns to walk in obedience.
On hearing about all the miracles that Jesus was doing (Luke 7:18-
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The Legal Eagle
Tashya Giyapersad expounding on South African law The law is a strange and evolving creature. It is constantly changing and being defined by the developing trends of a society combined with the need to combine or complement existing laws in other countries. The application of law in our everyday lives are often underrated and understated. Yet every moment of every day we behave in accordance with some law (or more often than not, outside the law). Be it the drunk driver on the road colliding with another unfortunate person or simply driving whilst speaking on a cellular phone. We are surrounded by a diverse group of people, commonly referred to as the rainbow nation, a smelting pot of the different cultures, beliefs and morals. The above will always prove to be a source of problem in a democratic society.
How do we avoid confrontation and conflict? There are fundamental rights that are provided to the South African individuals and these rights mimic international standards.
expertise of the private practitioner (attorney). There are further institutions that assist the above institutions. An example is the Desk For Abused Women and Bobbi Bear (deals with the child).
Such rights are contained in the Constitution in South Africa Act 108 of 1996, and more so reserved in Chapter 2, The Bill of Rights, which is loosely referred to as the Human Rights Charter.
The above is a simple overview and introduction to the new series and the debates that these articles intend to create.
The Bill of Rights sets out the socio-economic, political and civil rights of the individual. It is the starting point for a person who wants to learn about the rights that he or she is entitled to. There are also various institutions that seek to protect ones rights; these are commonly referred to as the Legal Aid Boards and Law Clinics. These institutions seek to protect impoverished individual, or the man of straw who cannot afford to hire the services and
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Know your rights and find ways to enforce your access to these rights. It is impossible to truly appreciate your civil liberties or any right for that matter if you are unaware of its existence. There are institutions set up by the Government, concerned and interested parties. NonGovernmental Organizations and Non- Profit (often international) organizations. These institutions are there to assist you in your time of distress and need. Utilise these services.
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Featured Miracle
The Power of a Praying Wife
The shooting hadn’t stopped in days. People were dying en masse. We, as a company – Excalibur Bodyguards – were involved with the taxi wars in South Africa in 2005. We were hired to protect one of the warring taxi associations. The war was for money and profitable taxi routes. During the holidays the taxis were a thriving business because everyone wanted to travel to the farms and the outlying areas, and opponents of one taxi-rank would invade a neighbouring rank to try and steal passengers. Each group had its own hit-men who would take out the opposition by shooting the owners or drivers.
When we were scheduled to travel to the USA, the taxi war had escalated dramatically. We had seen a pattern: every time we were scheduled to leave the country on vacation, the taxi wars would begin and Andre would have to stay behind. This time however, we were determined that we would go to the USA, together.
to Andre in Zulu, saying: “Hey brother, this fight is not personal, it is not with you, it is with your clients, but we can’t get to your clients because we realise that YOU are the problem. There is something about you that is stopping us from killing your clients, so we have decided to kill you.” Andre had a good understanding of Zulu so he knew the idioms and intonations and was able to converse fluently with the people who spoke Zulu. His response was: “Sure guys, you can try.” They did not realise that when we had started the business years before, God had given us a promise, which everybody who worked for us and with us knew: NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WOULD PROSPER… We took this promise literally, and applied it to every situation we were embroiled in. As the guys would sign out their firearms every morning, all the ladies in the office would pray and command the angels to go with them and form a guard around them. So we were always confident that our guys would come home every evening.
The war begun about a week before we left. People were being shot; innocent bystanders and passengers were being taken out by hit-men. The opposition couldn’t figure out why they could not kill our clients, until some bright-spark figured it out and approached Andre. He spoke
Everything was ready for us to leave to the USA but the taxi war still persisted. So Andre decided to escalate the war and bring it to an end. He is an excellent strategist, so the next morning, 7 July, he awoke very early, picked up the guys and was at the rank before the opposition arrived.
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When they tried to invade the rank they, they were stopped by superior firepower. The war continued until darkness. Andre left the rank that night with 4 of his guys, they were all exhausted. I was at home, locking up for the night, and was walking upstairs to take a bath, when I was impressed with the thought: ANDRE IS COMING UNDER ATTACK RIGHT NOW. I was not moved because I knew in whom I believed and was fully convinced that He was able to take care of THAT which I had committed to Him against this day. So I continued upstairs and replied: “That LORD, is not MY problem, it is YOURS. You promised that NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WOULD PROSPER, so YOU sort it out, I am going to bath.” Half an hour later, Andre walked in, as white as a sheet, totally humbled and quiet. I quietly warmed his dinner and served it to him. After he had eaten I asked him if he would like to tell me what had happened. I told him that God’s Spirit within me had advised me that he was under attack. He was now willing to talk. As Andre reflected on what had happened he told me that he was driving a Mercedes S500 and as they approached the unlit road, the sudden rat-tat-tat sound of AK47’s broke the silence. Our guys were being shot at from an elevated position at the side of the road. The guys ducked down, while Andre watched in absolute amazement as the sparks of gunshots reached the vehicle; the whole windscreen was filled with sparks of fire which just fizzled out as though a firewall had been placed between the
windscreen and the bullets which were raining down on the vehicle. The hit-men obviously thought that they had done a very good job of killing the enemy, because the shooting stopped as suddenly as it had started. One of our guys eventually said: “Boss, that was very powerful muti that you used to stop those bullets.” Andre replied: “No guys, it was not muti, it was the hand of God that was placed between us and the bullets, and if you were not with me you would have died because He promised that NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WOULD PROSPER.” Our guys had been covered because of His promise to us. Andre advised the guys to go to the rank 2 hours earlier the next morning. There was not a scratch on the vehicle, and the area around it was covered with bullet shells. Lying in bed that night, he turned to me with a sober smile and said: “If I had known that I was bullet-proofed, this war would have ended days ago.” By now the word had spread that the boss of Excalibur Bodyguards was dead, so when the opposition arrived at the rank the following morning, everybody’s faces were grey with shock, when they saw him standing there flanked on both sides by our guys, ready for battle. They realised that they had come up against God Himself. Needless to say, word spread very quickly and that was the end of the taxi wars in that particular area. Once again, HE PROVED THAT HE IS HIS WORD.
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For Women
5 Ways to find a good man Proven ways a woman can find and keep a good Christian man
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1. LOCATION If you want to know where to find the right man to marry, be like a fisherman. When he wants to catch fish, he goes where the fish are, the river, lake or sea. If you want to find a Christian husband, you should go to church or a youth group where Christian people meet!!
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5. PRAYER Pray that the Lord will show you the right guy to marry (Genesis 24:12). Very few things can be achieved without praying about it first.
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2. IS HE CHRISTIAN? Look for a Christian husband. Do not marry a man who is not a Christian. (Read Genesis 24:3-4 as well as 2 Corinthians 6:14-15.)
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3. GOD KNOWS Trust the Lord that He will show you in some way who is the right man for marriage (Genesis 24:7).
4. PERSONALITY Look for someone who is helpful and caring and outward looking (Genesis 24:17-22).
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Pet
O
ur pets may be nonverbal, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t know how to tell us when they’re not feeling so great. Nonetheless, some pets can be supersecretive, hiding everything from how they feel physically to what their emotional landscape may look like. "I’M HURT" Just so you know, dogs’ and cats’ wild ancestors imbued them with the ability to mask pain. This is an extremely attractive quality when you live in mortal fear of predators who share your ecosystem "I'M ITCHY" Although dogs will show you when their skin is irritated by chewing and scratching, cats are subtler.
Most itchy kitties will display their discomfort by over-grooming themselves. If the irritation is intense enough, hair loss can even result. It's only in the most extreme cases - such as with ear mites and mange-that cats will scratch to relieve itching, sometimes with claw marks to show for it. "THAT’S MORE FOOD THAN I NEED" Can you imagine your food-obsessed dog ever confessing to this? The truth is that dogs, cats, goats and horses can eat themselves to death. It’s kind of sad but true - that most canines are capable of taking in as much food as we’re willing to give them. And cats? That bottomless bowl of kibble that so many of their owners offer them means that they never have to ask for more.
Garden
5 steps to better gardening: Soil, water, sun, care, and time 1. Prepare your Soil Purchase and add top soil and compost straight into your new containers or garden beds. This can be an easy solution, and will leave you with light and workable soil. The downside of this approach is the cost.
3. Let the Sunshine In The ideal garden location will offer your plants a good 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. When selecting a space for your new garden, this is one of the most important factors to keep in mind. However, some plants like shade while others prefer sun.
2. Watering Matters
4. Care for Your Garden
LESS IS MORE
Weed your garden. The keys to keeping the weeding work minimal?
Over-watering leads to plants with shallow, immature root systems, unable to reach down deeply to find water of their own. It also creates more work for you, as your plants will come to depend on regular watering. When plants are required to extend long roots to obtain their water, rather than getting it the easy way, they will be stronger plants in general, and you will have less work to do keeping up with their water needs. So when should you water and how much? It is when you have newly planted seeds. Germination requires steady moisture, so light but consistent watering is important during this time. Keep the soil moist, but not soaking. Be sure to keep your watering only to mornings and evenings. Watering that is done in the afternoon will quickly evaporate before the plants have a chance to get what they need. Try to water before 9am and after 5pm, or even later.
Plant thickly. You can scatter your seed very thickly with crops like beans, peas, etc. When the plants come up, they will create a natural canopy to help shade out any weeds that are feeling ambitious. Weed little, but often. Keeping up with weeds when they’re small and easy to pull is important. Don’t forget fertilizing! Do this preferably before planting and during important stages of development of your plants. 5. It All Takes Time Proper timing makes all the difference when it comes to planting your garden. Learn how long each plant needs to grow to maturity, what time of year it should be planted (early spring or summer), and when to begin your seedlings.
Personal Testimony
Hope in Salvation By Shravan Haripersad
After writing the exam, a long month passed before we heard anything at all. Then my mother received the call... The school told her that I was going to receive a fully paid scholarship that would take me through my matric! Yes, the Lord is great!
God intervenes in our everyday lives Some time ago, not long after my family and I had come to know the Lord, we were facing a situation in our lives. It was a situation that God used to show us, not only how great and powerful He really is, but also how much He cares about our lives. You see, the school I was attending was really expensive and there was no way that my family could afford for me to continue studying there. So we were busy looking for another more affordable school. After looking, the situation seemed utterly hopeless. The only option left to us was an entrance exam for my current school.
As I attended my school, the opportunity arose for me to go to Turkey for an exchange program. I really wanted to go to experience other cultures and see the diverse nations. I had never been overseas before so I was adamant to go, but as I was at school on scholarship, it was quite obvious that I wouldn’t be able to go on an expensive trip of this sort. Nevertheless, my family and I gathered and prayed to God asking Him for favour and grace. As the days dragged by, I got news from my mother that the trip was fully paid for and that I was going to go to Turkey. We truly serve a prayer-answering God! All glory to Him!
The morning of the exam arrived and before I left the house we gathered together as a family and prayed for my success.
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Personal Testimony
Forgiven, not Forsaken
God forgave me long before I could forgive myself
J
esus Christ forgives all sin!
I couldn’t get out of bed a few weeks ago. I felt dead emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. I have always lived right and feared the Lord… Everything started and ended with God. Then 2 months ago I fell into sin I was intimate with a man who was not my husband and I fell pregnant. I went to see a doctor as I started to feel really sick with nausea… All the pregnancy symptoms were there but pregnancy was the last thing on my mind as I was experiencing cramps which I had assumed were just period pains. When the doctor came back with the results and they were positiveconfirming that I was pregnant- I felt like I had disappointed God in the worst possible way. I felt disappointed in myself, everything was so surreal. At the doctor I was feeling numb; I could not bring myself to cry. I started doing a bit of research on my phone and found out about abortion tablets that I didn’t even know existed. I asked the doctor for a prescription and I took the pills. A few hours later the abortion took place and all the tissue was excreted. I was then in denial and experienced all sorts of emotions: Regret, anger, sorrow, depression…
I couldn’t even pray. The tablets I had taken were also making me bleed and the bleeding was very heavy and didn’t stop. Then one morning I could not get out of bed. I knew I had to talk to a counsellor and I knew I had to get a hold of a Christian counsellor. I went on the internet and found a church close to me. I contacted them and made an appointment to see the pastor, he was kind enough to see me that day. When I got to the church the bleeding got worse because the moment I stepped into the church I realised the blood was all over the floor. I was embarrassed and felt like running away. Fortunately the receptionist and the pastor assisted me and showed me love that I felt I did not deserve. I spent an hour in the church’s bathroom as the bleeding was not stopping. I eventually met with the pastor and he read from the Bible for me and told me that God forgives all sin and that He loves me. I cried. They prayed for me and I could feel God’s peace come over me. The counselling session helped. I repented and prayed continuously since then. It has been a month since that ordeal but God has performed His Word. He has restored my life. I now have inner peace and joy and I feel forgiven.
I thank God for leading me to the doors of His church and for the support and prayers. These are the reasons God became tangible at my lowest point in life. He picked me up from my deep depression and reminded me of who I am in Him. He reminded me of Isaiah 43:18-19. There were times when I cried and could not believe the love of God. I couldn’t believe that He was embracing me when I felt like the worst sinner ever. I recited Isaiah 43 and my heart stopped feeling heavy. I felt forgiven and loved by my Heavenly Father. This experience really showed me the meaning of God’s forgiveness and how He blots out our transgressions for His sake and remember our sins no more (Isaiah 43:25). I never would have made it without God and today I boldly declare that God is King, he is Jehovah Rapha and Jehovah Meccadesham. He is worthy to be praised. I will forever worship Him. He has come to make all things new - Anonymous
How to start a Blog
Tech Know
“Integrate your social media sites with your blog…”
S
o you have a lot to say and you think others would be interested in hearing it? A blog may be the perfect outlet for you. Here are seven practical steps for starting a successful blog. 1. Write about something you have firsthand knowledge of: This will make it easy to maintain interest and find content to write about. 2. Choose your host wisely: There are many free services, from Blogger to Wordpress that offer a range of customisable options and ease of use. If you’re just dipping your toe into the world of blogging free site may suffice. If you have visions of developing a multimedia empire, you may want to invest
in a hosting service where you can install your own software, such as Wordpress or Joomla. This will give you greater control and flexibility. Once you choose one platform it can be a pain to switch to another. 3. Use your resources: There are many great resources about blogging, and even some that specifically target bloggers. Be sure to check out websites that cater to your niche. 4. Share it on social media sites: Social media has gone from being something extra to something critical to getting your message out. Sign up for Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Stumbleupon, and LinkedIn. Beyond simply pushing your links out, develop relationships with other bloggers. Integrate your social media sites with your blog, so that as new posts go up, your network is immediately notified. 5. Take great photos: Great photos will draw people in to your site and keep them reading. Blogging can be a fun and rewarding experience. Take a point of view, make it your own, and welcome to a great community of interesting people! 19
Personal Testimony
PERSONAL TESTIMONY By Bridgette Askham
T
rials are meant to strengthen one’s faith, but sometimes, when you’re in the midst of it, you can lose your way and start to question; Why me? What have I done to deserve this? Where’s the Lord when this is happening to me? How could He allow this? These are just some of the questions that went through my mind, during the time of my many difficult trials. What I did learn though is that until you’ve understood the lesson, you will continue to go around that mountain over and over again, until you “get it”, otherwise the lesson is wasted on you. There were indeed many lessons that I learnt, but mostly, I came to the understanding that through all that I’d experienced, it was to build me up and not break me down and that through all of it, the Lord was right there and as He promises in His word, He’d never left, nor had He forsaken me at any one time. Apart from what I’ve mentioned above, the most liberating conclusion I came to, from all my “growth experiences” is that it was never about me in the first place. It was indeed far bigger than that.
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Sometimes, the Lord allows us to face certain challenges or allows bad things to happen, for the good that will come out of it. The good that came out of it for me is that I could share my challenges and outcomes thereof, with other children of the Covenant and help them understand that He’s right there, through it all and never wavering in His encouragement and support of us and if we just call on Him, He responds with the greatest Love for us! So to honour the Lord, I’ve written a book, in which I chronicle, in detail, my trials and how I responded to them. In it, I have written among other trials about the destruction of my marriage, to the deaths of my two brothers and many other trials in-between. This amazing journey has to be told and I’ve aptly called the book “BECOMING”. Hopefully to be published soon and perhaps adapted for film as well. One of my miracles happened on the 20th October 2010, I was involved in a death defying car accident. It was the kind of accident, that if you’d seen the car, you’d immediately be certain that no person could have survived.
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I was heading towards Escourt, on my way to Train Staff in Newcastle, with one of the banks that I’d been employed with at the time. I lost control of the vehicle as it careered from side to side of the highway and eventually flipped over the N3 hedge onto oncoming traffic that was heading towards Durban, summersaulted three or four times and landed on its wheels, on the grass, facing back to Durban. During the time that the car was flipping over the hedge, I had a very distinct calm come over me and I remember thinking, “this is it”, so I called out, “Lord, receive my soul” and I shut my eyes and waited for the inevitable. The next moment I was alternating between seeing the sky and the ground, several times, before the car came to a sudden stop and without hesitation or concern about whether I was hurt, I bolted out the car, just in case it exploded (I guess I’ve watched too many movies). It was at that point that two police officers ran across the road, towards the accident and made sure I was okay before they started doing something really strange.
to take any passengers along with me unless they are staff members.” So now they looked even more puzzled. ‘But we saw them”, they said. I got really irritated with them because I did not have any passengers with me, yet they were insisting, so I asked them to describe them to me and this is what they said: “It’s difficult to say what they looked like, but they were huge and they were covering your body with theirs as the car was summersaulting. We saw them!” At that moment, I thought, these guys were crazy. An ambulance picked me up and took me to hospital and I had all kinds of x-rays done, to ensure that there were no internal injuries. Apart from soft tissue injury on my left arm, I had not one broken bone or any part of my body displaced. It wasn’t until two days later, that I realised that this was indeed a miracle. The Lord had come through for me once again, just as He always does. Those were angels that those officers saw. No doubt about that. Life and death stood face to face that day, and Mercy said no!
Both of them were looking around for something and they were mumbling among themselves and both of them looked very puzzled, so they eventually decided to ask me instead. The one officer said, “Ma’am, where are those two people that were in the car with you?” “There weren’t any people in the car with me,” I responded, “this is a company vehicle and I’m therefore not permitted Advertise your business with us
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Book Review
BOOK REVIEWS Angels and demons Benny Hinn
The Power of a Praying Mom
In this phenomenal book, you will face the two most opposing forces operating in our world: Angels and Demons. These are not figments of our imagination, but are alive and very real! Learn about the seven specific facts you need to know about angelic beings, the form and function of seraphim and cherubim, the mission of angels today, Biblical evidence that angels fathered the giants of the Old Testament, the seven devious methods used by demons to gain entrance into your life, twelve demonic spirits spoken of in the Bible- and how to overcome them! You will also learn the role of angels and demons in God's end time agenda. Everybody should read this to learn about the unseen warfare going on around us!
Stormie Omartian “And Hannah prayed� (I Samuel 2:1) How can a mother make the greatest impact on the lives of her children? I believe she can do this by praying consistently and passionately for them. Through intercession both mothers and fathers can have a real and lasting influence in the lives of their children. This book teaches us how to pray for children as well as understand the influences that they are under in their environments. A powerful read for every mother!
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Praise & Worship
Grammy award-winner Israel Houghton has joined forces with New Breed in a two-disc album that spans the musical range from rocking gospel to prayerful worship. "Jesus at the Center" is Houghton's first live recording in five years. The 17-song compilation also has an addition of three studio recordings. Houghton said the theme of the album is about refocusing worship. “...Sometimes we can be so ‘churched’ that we can lose sight of the ‘who, what, why’ of worship,” says Houghton. “This project simply places Jesus where he is supposed to be. We intentionally removed the metaphors and simply focused on his name.”
The long awaited live worship project from iconic worship leader Darlene Zschech is releasing just in time for Easter in 2013. Revealing Jesus is Darlene's first worship recording in the U.S. and was produced by four time Grammy winner and Gold selling worship artist Israel Houghton. In addition to Israel, Darlene is joined by friends Michael W. Smith and Kari Jobe as co-writers and performers. Darlene wrote "Shout To The Lord", "Worthy Is The Lamb" and "At The Cross." She was the worship pastor of Hillsong Church for more than 10 years, and is currently pastoring Hope Unlimited Church with her husband.
Gadget Review – By Shravan Haripersad
TECHNOLOGY
The new Samsung Galaxy sIV
The sIV has a 13 megapixel rear camera with an LED flash. It records full HD, it also has face and smile detection. It also has image stabilisation which removes the blur from moving subjects in your picture. The front camera is a 2 megapixel camera which also has full HD record quality. New features let you take a picture with both cameras at the same time as well as a video and a picture/video.
The newcomer to the Samsung galaxy s family, the sIV, is quite popular already. It has many new improvements to its predecessor the Samsung galaxy sIII. The new galaxy sIV, running android version 4.2.2 Jellybean, will have a full HD 5 inch capacitive touch screen. The display on this phone is crisp, clear and bright. It has corning gorilla glass 3 which will keep your screen from getting damaged if you drop your phone. It is very fluid when it comes to swiping and that is because it is powered by a new octa-core processor. It has one 1.6GHz quadcore processor and one 1.2GHz quadcore processor which form the octacore. It’s fast! The 1.2GHz processor will be used most of the time to do simple tasks but the other 1.6GHz processor will start to work when the phone needs the extra power. This idea is useful because it saves battery life and also lets you enjoy all the
features of your phone with the same ease as when you are using your phone to do menial things. Compared to the sIII, the sIV is 3 grams lighter at 130 grams but 3 grams is barely noticeable. It is also slimmer than the sIII with a width of 7.9mm. The phone is much sturdier in your hand. It has improvements to touchwiz which now allows you to hover your finger over the screen to open pop-ups and enables you to do swipe gestures without touching the screen of the phone and that is quite useful in instances where your hand is dirty and you need to access your phone without messing the screen. The phone comes with 2GB or RAM and a storage capacity of 16, 32, or 64GB. It has microSD support of up to 64GB. With Bluetooth 4.0 support, all your transfers from your phone become quick and efficient.
The phone has additional features including smart pause which pauses a video when the phone recognizes that you aren’t looking at the screen anymore. It supports TV output as well. The Samsung Galaxy sIV is available in stores nationwide and is offered in White Frost and Black Mist.
Youth
Satanism is ever increasing, penetrating our schools, universities, hospitals and communities. But that’s not a surprise. The bible said it would happen in the last days which we are in right now, where 33 many people will turn to pleasing the sinful desires of their flesh and to wickedness, instead of being true lovers of God and seeking the things of God (see 2 Timothy Chapter 3). Today, many of our Youth are turning to Satan because they don’t know the Word of God and Satan is using their hurt and pain to capitalise on offering temporary things to please their weak flesh, in exchange for their souls. But it needs to stop. Youth need to understand that the things of God are everlasting and that only He knows them better than they know themselves, and so only Jesus can bring them true joy! Youth need to realise that the Lord has a plan for them to prosper them (Jeremiah 29:11). Don’t turn to Satan. Satan is the architect of chaos and is out to destroy you, but Jesus has come to give you a perfect life! (see John 10:10) And so Satan will deceive you and appear to be an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), a wolf in sheep clothing, and tempt you to sell your soul; but know that he has no good intentions at all. Therefore, we need to be equipped with the Word of God and recognize how Satan operates, so we can fight against demonic powers of darkness in the name of Jesus. Jesus is the only One that came to set the captives free (Luke 4: 16-21). And so I say to you this day, turn to Jesus! For He, is the ONLY true sustained Love that will fill the void in your heart. (1 John 4:8) – By Keith Reddy
Christian Business Development
Kingdom Marketplace
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ST THOMAS’ HOME FOR CHILDREN
God’s Prosperity would like YOU to partner with us in helping St Thomas’ Home for Children flourish. Your seed- gift can provide one child with a meal. You will be sowing into fertile soil for this ministry which is really challenged financially. We urge you to continue to act in faith by planting your seed- offerings during the coming season of outpouring, in doing so, open your hands to receive a mighty harvest! We pray that the blessings of God will be showered upon you and your loved ones.
St Thomas Home for Children is a non-profit organisation providing residential care to 60 vulnerable children between the ages of 2-10 years, all of whom have been found in need of care by the courts The children require the care of the home for a variety of reasons, from being orphaned, abandoned or neglected to being physically, sexually or emotionally abused.
Please contact us to donate to ST THOMAS’ HOME FOR CHILDREN 074 897 7346 info@godsprosperity.co.za
Sow a seed to the print version of our magazine and help us to motivate, inspire and educate fellow Christians. WE INVITE YOU TO EMAIL YOUR TESTIMONIES AND MIRACLES TO US AND GIVE THANKS TO OUR GREAT GOD FOR ALL HE HAS BLESSED US WITH! WE ALSO INVITE ALL BUSINESSES TO ADVERTISE WITH US! www.godsprosperity.co.za
074 897 7346 (cell)
info@godsprosperity.co.za
086 718 2618 (fax)