Encouragement

So after the story about the Princess and the Pauper I thought it wise to give some encouragement to not only myself but any other Princesses that have fallen for the pauper/s (yes, there are loads of them) and not waited for the Prince. I know first hand that waiting for the Prince is not always fun, wait who am I kidding… its never fun. But we have more to look forward to. I won’t type a lot here cos I want you to watch the video and really listen to the words, let them sink into your soul and spirit. (even if you are a guy this applies, cos Princes are out there falling for the servant girl in hopes that she is a Princess in disguise – I almost want to say… only  in the movies)

We are Princesses waiting for our Prince, not only the man who we will spend the rest of our lives with but also, the Prince of Peace. We have to make sure that our lives portray our love for our coming Prince and that we live lives that He would be proud of.

On that note… this amazing new blogger has a heart for being a Princess. THE Princess God had in mind when he created you, I mean its all in the name Leopard Print Princess.  Please go have a read on her blog, here is an extract from one of my favorite posts thus far…

“How can we ever even begin to doubt our value when He had a plan for us from before our hearts even started to beat? You are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made! What happened in our lives that we lost this revelation? We are walking, breathing, seeing, hearing, speaking… LIVING MIRACLES!

And whilst you ponder on that little thought, take note that I refer to ‘WE’, meaning that that even that person who upset you off in traffic or that friend that hurt you or whoever did whatever to do wrong by you – they are miracles too! Once you start seeing their value, you will be able to treat them with the same reverence that they deserve for being miracles.

Think about it and really start living your life as if you understand the value of each and every heartbeat. God’s DNA is in you and without out it, would you really be reading this?”

The Princess and The Pauper, Part 2

He was handsome and had the typical villager male look about him, that look that screams “broken hearts for free here”. She ignored the little voice inside her telling her its no good, thinking how bad can it be? They started talking and dancing and having a good time. She started to go to the tavern just to see him, would cancel plans with her Father to see him. The pauper boy didn’t know she was a princess, when he first saw her she was as plain looking as the rest of the village girls. The same hair, the same dresses, same shoes. Nothing about her screamed royalty, not even a ring. So he treated her as he would treat any other village girl. The pauper boy had not had an easy life and this made it hard for him to treat Princess Layla the way that she should be treated even just as a woman. Life did not treat him with kindness and his motto for life was “life isn’t fair”, and he went through life not expecting much in the way of kindness or fairness.

From the beginning her Father told her that the pauper boy was not Prince Charming, he would not treat her the way she deserved, but Layla still powered ahead. Reveling in the attention the pauper gave her… at first. Then one day he slowly he started to withdraw from her, avoiding her when she came into the tavern. Going in a different direction when he saw her coming down the street. She did everything in her power to try and keep him from pulling away, she would take little gifts, even give pieces of her heart just so he would not reject her. She started feeling like he no longer had any interest in her, this slowly started breaking her heart until one day as she was going into the tavern she saw him holding hands with one of the other village girls.  Deep in her heart her Father’s words ringed “… won’t treat you the way you deserve, like the daughter of the King”. She left the village, not able to cry anymore not angry either for some reason. She went home to seek out her Father who was in her room, putting a gift box on her bed. Her eyes welled up as she ran into his embrace. He held her as she cried into his chest, softly stroking her hair and telling her that He loves her more than words can say.

When her crying had stopped her Father sat on her bed with her on His lap. “My dear Layla, sweet girl, do you not know that you are priceless?” He said holding her face. “Don’t you know that I have planned for Prince Charming to come? That he is coming as fast as he can?”

Princess Layla started to cry again and He rocked her back and forth. “I’m sorry Father, please forgive my impatience. I just thought that maybe if I blend in with the villagers then maybe I could find Prince Charming amongst them. Thought that if I didn’t act like a princess then I wouldn’t intimidate anyone”

Sadness entered her Father’s eyes, “Layla, how can you expect a pauper boy to treat you like a princess if you are wearing a servant girl’s dress, if you are acting like a servant girl. You didn’t tell him that you are a princess. Can you blame him for not treating you how you deserved to be treated?” She shook her head, fresh tears falling down her face.

“I always have the best planned for you and I want you to want the best for yourself and only the best. But never mind this now,” her Father said, standing up “open your gift. I noticed that you needed a new one” She opened the lid of the gift box to find the most beautiful white dress inside. She looked at her Father in surprise, feeling so undeserving of this new garment.

Isaiah 62:3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God

Placing her crown on her head and wiping her tears away, he said “You will never stop being my daughter. I am the King and you are my daughter, you should always be proud of that and wear your royalty with pride”

The End

The Princess and the Pauper

“maybe if I just pretend not to be a Princess…”

Looking out of her balcony  down at the village in the valley in front of the Palace, Princess Layla stood thinking that she didn’t want to sit around and wait for her Prince Charming anymore, the beautiful white dress she had on was starting to look overdone. All she did day in and day out was make herself pretty for her coming prince, everything was done to a T… Hair, nails, make-up, nothing was not done. Yet the prince still hasn’t come. So she called one of her servant girls and asked her for her dress. She had decided she wants to go to the village. You see, Princess Layla had been told she should not go into the village, “it is not a place for princesses” her Father had said. Yet He never said DON’T, He never controlled her, only loved her.  She never felt like doing something He would disapprove of until the waiting around for a fairy-tale prince got too much. So she put on the servant girl’s dress and went into the village, disguising her royalty as peasantry.

She was amazed that the village wasn’t at all scary the way her Father had made it sound. It was actually quite pleasant, at first glance. The people were friendly and welcoming. She went into a bakery for some fresh bread, which almost smelled better than the bread baked in her Father’s Palace. Then she walked around some more and came to a little tavern, soft music was spilling onto the street and she peeked in nosily. The village people were all dancing around and laughing. Soon she felt her own foot begin to tap to the rhythm of the music, the music that was so different from what she heard in her Father’s Palace. Things seemed better in the village than in the Palace, a certain unsettling feeling gripped her, but she ignored it. Somehow she got swept up into the dancing and had not noticed it becoming dark. She had started to miss the light of the Palace and the freshness, she realised that she was having trouble breathing in the little tavern. She left the village looking forward to a nice warm bath and clean clothes…

The next morning Princess Layla woke up thinking of how she enjoyed the dancing and the people in the village and decided she would go back to explore some more, she left after brunch and had taken some gold coins so she could buy herself some village friendly clothes and shoes. In the weeks that followed, Princess Layla left the palace more frequently, stayed out later and later, until she would stay out days on end, only coming home for coins and then leaving again. She had made friends with some of the village girls, none of these girls knew that she was the Princess and she never told them. She didn’t wear her robes, her crown or her ring when she went into the village. In the beginning they would notice something different about her, a “light”ness and friendliness that none of the other villagers had, but as time passed she had become more and more like them.

One day she was on her way back to the Palace and she realised that she had not seen her Father in a long time. She got home, cleaned up and went to him, climbing onto His lap like she used to when she was still a little girl. She knew He had known about the village and what she had been doing. Somehow she felt dirty even just sitting with Him, but He held her and they spoke for hours. He sang to her, they ate together and then her Father spoke to her so softly and with such love as He warned her about the village. She didn’t understand why her Father didn’t want her to have some fun. Not realising his intent behind the warning she got upset, started questioning Him and left. When she got back to her room there was a pretty new dress next to her mirror. Nothing over the top, just a pretty light purple summer dress, but she knew her Father had picked it just for her.

She wore the dress for the next few days and felt truly beautiful and royal, she felt that if her prince would come now he would fall in love straight away, but he still didn’t come. Slowly she started feeling like she was once again waiting for nothing, that her prince had gotten lost somewhere and has settled down with some servant girl. So she started going out to the village again. And that’s when she met him.

The pauper boy who worked in the tavern kitchen.

To be continued…

Gotta do this more often!

After The King’s Feast I had not gone to bootcamp again, there was another conference with 2 other amazing guys from Bethel, Danny Silk and Kris Vallotton, they were amazing. I will have to get back into the swing of things this week with bootcamp. Last week I exercised on my own for the first time in ages. I skipped and did lunges and so on… just so you know, skipping bare foot, 6am, at the start of winter (yes, Johannesburg has no autumn or spring, just summer and winter) – not so smart. That skipping rope was hitting the tips of my toes so hard it felt like knives were being stuck into them. I wanted to cry a little, but I didn’t cos I’m tough like that.

Most of the time…

I have only done it once though. Getting up early to exercise is not that easy, but it is doable. So I should suck it up. 1^st of September is less than 5 months away, that goes by really fast. I think I should at least skip every morning, nothing like getting the old heart rate up and kicking so early in the morning. I mean you do feel like dying but, then you live like my old buddy buck from Ice Age. I HAVE to exercise all through winter, my body’s ass will be kicked by exercise and not by the constant want of food and hot chocolate. I WILL WIN!!! Shouting that makes me want to kick something and scream THIS. IS. SPARTA!! Oh yes, you know what I mean.

Oh yes…

So tonight is the first bootcamp in about 2 weeks… AGAIN. I think I might die, I wrote in this post that I really shouldn’t miss bootcamp this often and what do I do? Yeah, I miss it. But in my defense, I can always exercise, when I put my mind to it. I will, however, not always be able to go to amazing conferences. Burpees will always be there to kill me or worse… (There is worse! There is always worse with burpees), but these conferences do not always happen.

How I feel… or will feel tonight

We have to stay as spiritually fit as we are physically fit, no wait, we have to be more spiritually fit because our fight is not against flesh and blood… Maar ‘n gesonde liggaam huisves ‘n gesonde gees. So Liezel, suck it up, drop down and give yourself fifty!

In the aftermath of the Feast…

3 Amazing men of God…

Wow, wow, wow!! The King’s Feast was amazing. Well the sessions I could attend. Sean Feucht led worship the first night I attended and the last night and then he was also at our church leading worship with the one of our worship leaders, it was amazing. Sean has this ability to just enter into the presence of God straight off the bat, with the first strum of his guitar (or ukulele, which he loves).  He starts fires of worship which burns deep onto my soul, which is probably why God has used him to start Burn 24/7. Go to his website to see exactly who he is. I can’t paint the picture well enough, words fail me.

At The King’s Feast 2013…

Between Charles Stock and Eric Johnson we had so much spiritual food to feast on that I left there feeling so full that I could burst, and at the same time even more hungry than when it started. God has a great sense of humor, He fills you up and while He is doing that, He increases your capacity so you end up wanting more and more and more. I don’t know what to say other than God knows what you need, when you need it and how to give it to you so that you “get” it. I went to a Signs and Wonders workshop where Eric mainly gave testimonies about the awesome signs and wonders that God had been “doing” (can I say doing) in Bethel and in his life. Gold dust, glory clouds, angels, feathers…  The signs that make you wonder about God. I then found this 2 part video on youtube… AMAZING!!! Is all I can say.

Every year when The King’s Feast is finished there is a certain sadness in my heart, a sadness that we can’t just stay, just carry on worshiping and learning and seeing more of His greatness. Carry on fellowshipping with friends from all over, who we only see once a year. But then I think, next year we get to do it all over again… we get to go further, deeper. See more and experience more. God is moving in South Africa, the ground is swelling with His plans and purposes for our great nation. So many prophecies and exciting words over our country. The words of Jesus Culture’s Come Away resonates in my heart… Come away with me, it’s gonna be wild, it’s gonna be great, it’s gonna be full of Me. I am soooo happy to be alive in this age in this city nicknamed JOYBURG, to see God glorify His name. It’s only just begun, the best is yet to come!

The earth is groaning…

My prayer for you is that in your heart a fire will start, to see change and transformation in the world around you and that you will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to move in greatness! AMEN!!!

Taking a break… Not so smart

Wow, no post for the whole of March. Just shows how hectic it has been. From kitchen teas and bachelorettes to rehearsal dinners and the most amazing Weirdly Wonderful Wedding ever.

Fairy tale!!

March has been a busy month it also had a lot of public holidays and long weekends and the food, oh the food. I also missed 2 weeks of bootcamp, and when I returned last week I felt like I had missed a month. Then our instructor told me that it takes about 2 weeks for a person to lose his/her fitness… 2 weeks!! Thats about the time of a half decent holiday, and who exercises on holiday anyways? Naturally it takes about 3 months to get fit, but hey, why should things be easy, or fair? This week I am only doing bootcamp once also so I will have to at least do something on my own (Wait, that sounds familiar) otherwise next week will be the same, DEATH!

On the plus side, I have lost some weight, about 5kgs. Even with all the food and not exercising, so that is exciting. It needs to happen faster now. Maybe taking a break was smart, now I can shock my body again, but this time its just a little shock. Like instead of getting struck by lightning, you touch an electric fence – Its a shock but its not the same.

Great things are going to happen!!

I’m excited about the rest of this week. The King’s Feast starts tonight, it is an annual conference that the network of churches I belong to has and every year it is amazing. Previously it had been held at a resort type place where camping would be required. This year it is held in Johannesburg which is great cos hey, I live here. The most exciting part is that Eric Johnson is coming. Ok, I know that most of you don’t know who I am talking about. Quick breakdown – as far as I know – Eric Johnson is the son of Bill Johnson who is the senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California – USA.  This is also where the awesome Jesus Culture and Bethel Live comes from.

No words… youtube them.

Oh and Brian and Jenn Johnson (who are worship leaders in Bethel) – son and daughter-in-law to Bill Johnson. Now, I can hear you saying “what is your point, woman?”, my point is, God is doing something in Bethel (not that he isn’t doing something all over the world but still, I did 1 year of their BSSM (Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry) training, even though it was not live but via DVD it was life changing. We had teachings from both Bill and Eric and God has given them so much wisdom and knowledge and such a level of faith. There are testimonies of miracles that make me want to move to Redding. And Eric is coming to South Africa, to a small probably 1000 people maximum conference that my church has every year. THAT my friend, is something to get excited about. Here are some testimonies… 

I know this post started out differently, but hey, you came here expecting randomness… So here, have a listen to this song, by my favorite worship team – Jesus Culture. It is sung by Kim Walker and Martin Smith who used to be in the band called Delirious?, this song breaks me open every time.