HOW’S YOUR THINKING?
Pastor Bernie Tauaanae. shared a message of encouragement and exhortation on the topic of our thinking and its connection to our reality. He said, “You know, many times the enemy will use what happened in our past to affect our future. The devil will bring back things in your memory of your old life and sow a condemning thought. These negative thoughts and lies from the enemy are an attack and must be broken off from the way we think.” Pastor Bernie explained how negative thoughts from ourselves and negative words spoken over us by others – if left to fester – can affect and shape the way we think and how we live.“Many times, I will preach the Word or lead worship and sense a heaviness for some who are broken-hearted in the congregation. Most of the time, that broken-heartedness is rooted in something that was spoken over them that they then believed.” “You know at times it’s like we have a small bully inside ourselves. We have been bullied by life, by the devil and at times even our own selves. We have been bullied around by our negative thoughts, or by the words of others. When these thoughts have been planted in our minds, we must remove them from our mental hard drives. Once discouragement sets in, it creates fear and affects our lives. Our thinking shapes the reality of our life.” Proverbs 23:7a – For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Whatever has occurred and taken place in your life – you know that the enemy will always try to remind you of what you used to do and who you used to be. Each time that happened to me, I remind myself that that is not who I am anymore. Even other people can remind us of who we used to be, they may speak things over us – but we have a choice to receive that and store it in our heart or toss it away.” Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. “We shouldn’t choose to be moved by what the world says, by what the enemy says, or what we say. We should be shaped by what God says and what’s in His Word!” “We need to be alert and conscious of our thinking otherwise these lies from the enemy can take root. It can cause us to carry a sense of broken-heartedness within, but we need to uproot and deliver ourselves from any thinking that is not of the Lord!” “Once you make a stand knowing who you are, with your foundation in Christ – no one will be able to bully you with your thinking. Knowing who you are and whose you are will keep you from conforming to what anyone says.” Romans 12:2 –Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Isaiah 55:8-9 – For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.Watch the replay of this message here – https://www.facebook.com/364077920465512/videos/333066237820942
26/08/20
TESTIMONY NIGHT
The SNF Core and Special Force testified of God’s goodness and faithfulness in their lives for Testimony Night! Brother Joshua shared how God came through mightily for a great financial need of $10,000 tala for his family, Sanita shared how the Lord did mighty miracles in favor and even in multiplication during her Women With Purpose Conference recently. Sister Faleolo shared how God changed her life, her marriage, and her family relationships after reaching rock-bottom. Peace explained, “As we listen to these testimonies, it gives us hope and stirs our faith! If God can come through for our brother and sisters, surely, He will come through for you and I when we call on Him! Whatever situation you are currently in, do not allow yourself to be discouraged! These testimonies are to encourage you and to ultimately give all the Glory back to God!” Revelation 12:11 -They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. As sister Faleolo shared a testimony of the great work that God did in her marriage, she said, “I feel like the most important thing that people need to know is that we can each have our own personal relationship with God. The old me, the person I used to be was very high-minded. Growing up, my mother raised my sisters and I on her own. She was a matai (Chief) and was a very independent woman on her own.” “With that as my background, as I grew older and even in my marriage – I wanted to do everything on my own. I wanted to have my hand in everything and be the boss of everything. My husband is a very quiet and humble man – a man of few words. Sad to say, but I walked into my marriage trying to be the head of the family. I would have that mindset that no matter what, I was always right. We would have an ongoing conflict for weeks, and I would still never say sorry!” “I was so prideful with that kind of thinking. When I entered marriage, I would tell my husband to do this and that, bossing him. He didn’t have a voice in a mater, I had the voice for everything from our finances to our family planning, every decision we needed to make – I was the one controlling everything. Now in Christ, we know that the Bible clearly stated that the husband is the head of the family. (Ephesians 5:22-24)” “Eventually, my marriage and family life spiraled out of my control and just fell apart. I got to the point where I wanted to just leave my family, I wanted a divorce! When I looked at my kids, they were so sad.” “It wasn’t until I finally hit rock bottom and was in a place where I had given up with my marriage, that I turned to alcohol to deal with the pain. I would go out partying, believing that it would help me get in the right mindset and process my life – but alcohol only made it worse. It almost cost me my life!” “At that time, I remember my son coming to me and saying, “Mum, I can’t deal with this anymore. I can’t deal with this anymore because I love you and I love my dad. I can’t see you both separated. You need to forgive him.” “I would see my son cry at night, because he didn’t want to be in a family where two people were always arguing all the time. I remember being so desperate, so desperate for help. I didn’t know if they had any psychiatrists or couples-counselling here in Samoa. I just knew I needed help. I felt like there was no turning back for me. I was done with life. I wanted to be done with my marriage. I wanted to leave everything.” BUT GOD… “Finally, one day I decided to turn and ask God to help me. “God, you really need to help me! Help me to find my way.” “I remember my first prayer was – “God fix him! There’s something wrong with my husband! He needs to be fixed.” But Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Olo, there’s nothing wrong with your husband! It’s you that needs help first.”“What! Lord, but there’s nothing wrong with me. It not my fault! Lord are you sure it’s really me? Because I really thought I was the good one. But Holy Spirit continued to speak and bring clarity, He said to me – “Olo, it’s you that full of pride, you don’t know your role as wife. You are not the head of the family. He is the head; you need to submit to your husband. With a grin, Faleolo added, “So it took me a while to accept this, maybe one or two months. But once I opened my heart to God – Holy Spirit began to really work in my heart. To think that all this time I was pointing my finger at my husband.The way that God worked my marriage and family was slow but sure. I was so impatient in the beginning, I wanted God to change my husband overnight. I wanted to force it to all happen according to my time frame. But the Lord said, “Wait!” “Sometimes we pray once and expect the complete work and breakthrough instantly…but the truth is sometimes, it takes time for God to work. He doesn’t do it according to our timing, but His perfect timing. When God moves, its permanently to change things to the way He has purposed them to be.” “God started working with me first before He did a transformation. It always starts with you, not your husband or wife, so stop pointing fingers.” “If you are here listening to this story, I want you to know that it all starts with you.” “When I surrendered to God, He started moving and working in my heart. He removed all the bad stuff that was stored up in there and took everything that was not of Him. Now I’ve finally got to a place where I’m the one praying, “Fix me Lord, fix me!” “Because he started working with me first, He started to shine through to my family. He gave me peace and a hunger to know more of Him and spend more time with Him. I was so hungry I wanted to be with Him all the time.” “On the journey, I got to learn the difference between my own voice and the voice of Holy Spirit. That’s when God shaped me, pruned me and set up my family, only when I allowed Him to move in my family. This was nothing I could do through my own strength or understanding. From that point, everything started to change – my marriage, my children, my husband, my finances, my employment – God really works!” “I want to encourage you to do the same and surrender your life to God. This is not a made-up testimony, I lived and breathed it, I went through the mountains and valleys and the waiting…but I trusted in God. I encourage you to do the same. Surrender all to Him and WAIT on Him!“Lamentations 3:25 -The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him, it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. “And this is how I came to meet God when everything in my life had fallen apart. All Glory and Honor goes to God! Amen!” To watch the rest of the amazing testimonies of God’s Goodness from Joshua and Sanita– check out the replay here: https://www.facebook.com/364077920465512/videos/306177474035335
19/08/20
