Author: Vanessa Moonkie

Hey family. Happy Wednesday. Let me start by expressing my gratitude to you guys for all the words of encouragement as l continue writing on this blog. I get really strengthened by your messages and support. To be quite honest, it’s not easy to show up consistently. As a matter of fact, some days I don’t want to. I don’t “feel” like it but it will always be bigger than feelings. Yes. The things of God are bigger than feelings. Do our feelings matter? Yes. Should we be led by feelings? No. Imagine if Jesus decided to not go ahead with the Father’s will because that day He felt like something else. So thank you for your encouragement, I’m glad we are all learning together.

We are sorry to inform you that …”

I scrolled down and I saw the same email. Over 10 of them because l usually set a target of how many applications I will send out when I’m job hunting. All of them were negative responses from companies I had applied to. I was looking at R0.00 in my account , no toiletries for the month, a possibility of no food and a double possibility of me not being able to even get to church. I waited more days to see .. the rest of the companies l had applied to, surely God had made room for me in one of them right? Beloved … hehe.

I stared at my phone screen and reread the emails . All of them were bad news. I don’t know if you guys have been desperate for a job before but boy! I was desperate! I prayed. I fasted. I danced. I served. I was ready to soar . In all that, all l got was NO here , NO there, NO everywhere. I knew God’s truth. I believed God’s truth. I had seen God take care of me before with no job or support system but suddenly … I didn’t know what to do. I had no sound of praise to release. Worship felt like a duty. I avoided it and focused on warfare because at that point it was definitely war time!

Worship and grief don’t usually go hand-in-hand. My responsibilities were choking the boldness and faith out of me – l chose warfare. I chose “other” things BUT praise and worship. Why dance when I’m about to be hungry and am already broke? Why worship when I’m not physically seeing Gods goodness? I looked at the lives of the wicked, they were/are prospering. I looked at those who don’t even care whether Jesus is Lord or not, I saw soft life. I said eiii am l coleslaw salad? I get people who get frustrated after one prayer BUT I am talking about people who Labour on the altar daily, the frustration is on 300% because you literally don’t know what else to do.

Since my childhood days I’ve never been one to ask for help or even make a sound when l need help. I still don’t. It’s something God is helping me with , bit by bit. I’m aware that it’s not a good thing. So I just pray about things and keep it going . You’ll most likely hear the testimony but not the emergency. So because I keep to myself , l knew there was no way I was coming out except by God. I straight up felt like l had nothing to be thankful for. No time for praise. No time for worship. Just warfare and speaking in tongues. It took joining a live on Instagram for me to be reminded , praise and worship is also a weapon!

It’s not easy to praise and worship during hard times. When you’re broke, sick with a bad doctors report, having lost a loved one, robbed of your belongings, lost a child or praying for one for years, no employment, no direction, it is not easy at all. While many of us have most likely had a hard year, I want to give you some reasons why you can thank and praise God at all times.

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Hab 3:17–19, ESV)

Habakkuk says he will rejoice in the “Lord” — Yahweh — the great I AM. The One who is eternal and unchanging. While things in this world change, God doesn’t! Worship is an act of faith. It is a choice ; and so is praise. Choosing to see beyond the empty plate and the bag of medication. Choosing to believe His truth that He is with us at all times.

If our worship is solely based on testimonies, are we sons of God or leeches? We should always seek the Bread Giver more than the bread itself why? Because bread runs out but He remains our source of sustainance. I don’t know what you’re going through right now. You may not be able to talk about it . You may not be seeing a way out. All doors are closed. The emails say “we are sorry to inform you,” the bank is saying “you broke believer” the doctor is saying “we cannot treat this” .. it may be many things choking strength out of you but today I’m saying to you;

Keep praising! Even though it seems like there is no way out, the Way is in you, He is Christ in you the hope of glory. Refuse to stop praising. Refuse to stop worshipping. I have a song for you ;

“The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭49‬-‭50‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Hello Family. Welcome to a new week. I hope we are all doing okay? For those of us who are in the lion’s den , hearing the lions growl and snarl, and it seems as if they will open their mouths and eat you up. Paralysed with fear and anxiety. I want to say to you, fear not and do not be dismayed. The Lord your God is faithful to take you out of there! Soon! Hold on! We are still discussing miracles.

Jesus performed plenty of miracles. Of course, many of the things that Jesus did could not have been recorded in such short works. John freely admits, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book…Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 20:30 and 21:25). The different gospels record the miracles from slightly a different perspective but we are looking at the gospel of John.

In this story , we meet a desperate father. A man whose child is at the brink of death this means the situation was out of his control. Many times we need miracles for situations we cannot control. Maybe after trying for so long, we exhaust every possible option to help resolve the problem. I don’t doubt that this man had tried many doctors, different medicines, he might have gone from city to city, desperately seeking for remedies to save his beloved son. When he finally met Jesus, Jesus was addressing the unbelief of the crowd. “Unless you see miracles you won’t believe.” We have such people even in the church who want God to prove Himself first before they can fully believe. Miracles don’t exist in the lives of faithless people. As a matter of fact, Faith triggers the miracle. Without faith, expect to keep seeing miracles in the lives of others.

The royal official asked Jesus to come with him and heal His son. He didn’t ask if Jesus “could” do it. That was his first act of faith. He approached Jesus knowing He can do it. Isn’t that what the Bible teaches? Those who approach God must FIRST believe that He is! Before the reward, believe that HE IS. Jesus responds with words. He doesn’t tag along. Most of us think we can just come and drag Jesus wherever we want to do whatever we want. He may have been a royal official but Jesus is the Master. He released a Word and as the man believed, the miracle took place. What do we learn? The word of God mixed with faith creates miracles.

The royal official had instantaneous faith. “He started on his way.” His faith was in action. The man took Jesus at His word. There was no hesitation. He surrendered completely and immediately to the word of Jesus.

“While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.”
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭51‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This miracle teaches us of the importance of faith. Do you believe? After being disappointed by many medicines , the royal official still believed. “I don’t believe I will get married, many people have disappointed me.” Or “I don’t think I will ever make it. I’ve failed so many times.” We cannot receive what we do not expect. Expectation is a virtue of faith. If God released a word today and said ,”Go apply for the job, you’ll get it.” Will you argue? If the answer is yes then you’re part of the people Jesus was addressing. Unless you see, you’ll never believe…. By the time the official got home, his boy was in perfect health! Imagine how joyful he was!

The truth is, to see , you must believe.

Have a great day!❤️

Even Mary and Martha had no idea that, that very day they would hear their brother’s voice again.

Vanessa

For a long time l have had no choice but to be strong and by no choice l mean, either I’m strong or I’m strong. Often times we are afraid of crying because it may look like we don’t have faith. We put on our best clothes, to “not look like our problems” which is a great thing by the way – I applaud you if you do that! Many times people grow up thinking they need to muster up more strength to press on. More strength. More strength. We encourage ourselves from within. More strength! We are told to dry our tears, tie our leather belts, pull up our shoe straps and move beyond the heartache of the moment. “You cannot afford to break down, you’re a man. Men don’t cry.” Or “Be a strong girl. Tears won’t help you with anything.” But John 11:35 tells us a different story …

“Then tears streamed down Jesus’ face.”
‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭35‬ ‭TPT‬‬

You may be reading this and you’re not facing any problems, read anyways. You may be reading this and are actually drowning with your hand lifted up to whoever cares enough to pull you out. I am reminded of the disciples in the boat. They were terrified . Justifiably so. If you were in the boat and you could hear the sound of mighty waves, you feel the coldness of the water on your feet, everyone’s shouting out in fear and there is Jesus … sleeping. How would you feel? They felt like He doesn’t care at all.

“So they shook him awake, saying, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to die!”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭39‬a ‭TPT‬‬

Wait up … I got a little package for you …

When we get too used to self sufficiency and survival mode based on our own strength we can barely hear God gently telling us to unflinch our jaws, let the tears flow and not move a muscle. How many times has He said Be Still and we quote the scripture, post it, while not being still. We’re actually at our busiest trying to fix things while we keep saying , “Be still.”

So what are we doing today? We are choosing to lean on God. We are reflecting on the results of our own work and the proven credible results of God’s work. You know what? I’m actually choosing to be still. Keep praying? Yes. Stress while praying? No. Hand it over . I love how Apostle Paul puts it;

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. II Corinthians 12:8-10(ESV)

He says l begged for a change of story, three times. Have you been begging for God to change something and you wake up and the situation is the same. By the end of the day you probably feel exhausted from all the anxiety you felt all day. Have you been crying and pleading with God to take away the pain? Then you got up and chose your own strength which doesn’t even get you to the end of the day? If Paul tried to figure things out himself and leaned on his own ability, he would have forfeited the opportunity to experience the power of God. I’m gonna ask you a couple of questions, answer truthfully:

1. How are you? Think before you answer
2. Do you feel like crying? Go ahead. Drop those shoulders and just let it out.
3. Does it feel too heavy? Pretend you’re lifting something off your shoulders, focus, now lift it up and then place it down and say ,”Lord , it belongs to you now.”
   

Today, there’s one thing you don’t have to do – You don’t have to be strong. “But I have no choice, I need a door to open urgently. Fees, bills, medical expenses. I can’t not do something, you don’t understand, I have a lot on my plate.” If you had a chance to choose another “plate” would you take it? Here’s the chance then. Choose the plate that says ,”Father, you can be trusted.

Don’t overthink. Don’t panic.

And one more thing …

Good morning family. We are going to be discussing the miracles, then we will move to signs and wonders. There’s a difference between the three. I know many of us are familiar with the story in John chapter 2. I highlighted it yesterday. Some use it to argue about whether alcohol is biblical or not. Some use it as a debate on whether this wine was alcoholic or not. Others who are not saved and don’t know the Lord Jesus use it to defend drunkenness. It’s amazing how many people who are not filled with the Holy Spirit are trying to interpret scripture. It’s impossible. The Bible is a Spirit book and cannot be interpreted in the flesh. It must also be understood spiritually because it is not flesh food, it feeds the spirit. Anyhooo, let’s go!

Imagine that at your wedding (because you’ll get married soon) you have killed 3 fat cows and people are braaing and stewing and roasting and all. Then as you’re busy dancing with your beloved , someone comes and says. “People need more meat but we have run out. All the pots are empty but people are still asking for more.” My response would be , ”They must go home, we can’t buy another cow, kill it , cook it and serve it. The time does not allow. I’ve married my husband now they can go home and rest .” 😂 I bet you’d say the same too not because you’re stingy but considering the process – it is not possible. The supply is time sensitive.

At that time the aunties start coming to you to tell you the same thing the catering team just told you. You and your beloved are starting to worry because when the aunties get involved – you know the aunties that run the family 😂 you know you need to make a plan and fast! You think of the closest butchery, the money you’d have to pay the catering team to cook fast, the clock is ticking! I’m just trying to paint a picture that we might understand. Then suddenly you hear the MC saying ,”Our beloved guests, not to worry anymore about the meat. We have six big pots filled with heavy duty stew. Carry your plate and go enjoy.”

The question would be , ”From where? Was the meat there all along and someone hid it? Where did they get the cow? Who cooked? Is it takeaway? How is this even possible?” I have a friend who cooks heavy duty stew. I’ve never tasted it but from the looks of it, yeah. The stew is made in 1hr 30mins. Stew guys not soup. Not the one you just fry onion and you’re done. You know the one where you just do anyhow. Okay back to the story; now imagine you start hearing people talk about how very tasty this stew is. You and your beloved are so stunned you want to taste it as well and you discover that it’s one of the best you’ve ever tasted. But where did it come from? Who saved the day? A miracle.

This is what happened at Cana. When you study the process of making wine, you will find out that you don’t just squeeze wine out of grapes. If that was the case people would have lots of grapefruit trees in their compounds and every day you’ll find them by the tree chewing their destinies away. There is a process. The wine that had finished had been processed. The couple may have placed an order weeks before the wedding. A miracle is a system put by God to deal with time sensitive situations.

“Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,”
‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The bible says Jesus was a guest at this wedding. He was not MC , he was not part of the catering team. He just came to celebrate others. Let me just say, learn to celebrate others, there’s usually an atmosphere of miracles there. The servants were given an unusual instruction. These were grown people who knew how wine was made but they followed his instructions, although they were probably wondering why they were serving plain water. He didn’t say “serve the wine” , he said ,”draw some out,” meaning the water and “take it to the master of banquet” .. the miracle happened in a moment. He didn’t shake the jars or do anything dramatic like how people do “miracles” now. If you don’t shake it’s not happening 😂 He didn’t do weird things that people do nowadays in the name of “I’m about to do a miracle” because many many times, miracles happen in silent moments. You cannot really pick when it happened! Or HOW!

Miracles are awe-inducing in the moment but often fade from our thoughts when they are over. There were a lot of guests at the wedding at Cana. Some probably didn’t even notice the wine had run out. Human nature can vary extremely. The ones who love wine were astonished at the sudden reappearance of wine. They got their cups and headed straight to the servants. “Let’s go for a refill!”
Then there’s the family gossips who come to the wedding to gather information to gossip about , these ones were probably cynical and thought that there was a secret stash of wine. “They’re such a stingy couple. I think his wife is the problem. She is controlling the money.” Some saw a miracle. “Wow! How did something like this happen?! This is a miracle! Wine that must be processed has suddenly appeared instantly!”
Some probably didn’t pay attention. “Oh there’s wine. That’s nice. I’m going home now.”
Which one are you? Do you notice the miracles?

Let’s continue tomorrow. Have a miracle filled day! Remember, it happens in a moment! Live expectantly! Have faith in every moment. Even right now as you’re reading this, a miracle could be taking place. No drama. Just the workings of the spirit! Bye now 🩷

Good morning my fav family (MPG members must never read that line) 😂 l hope we are doing well today. Of late I’ve been experiencing heavy writer’s block. I enjoy writing so it was frustrating to have an idea of what to write about but expressing it on paper was a different story. It felt like I couldn’t find my feet to land on any topic but God gives grace. I think that’s one of the best parts about being a Christian, when you feel lost, there’s Someone who intentionally finds you and brings you back to purpose. That is JESUS!

We are starting a series on MIRACLES, SIGNS and WONDERS. I got this as I was praying last night. It will take a lot of study of the whole Bible to catch this drift. Many people think that miracles started in the New Testament but it is not so. The whole Bible is filled with the unexpected great moves of God. Why aren’t those things happening now? Is the big question. I was thinking about this last week, why is today’s church so different from the church of the Acts. If you really read the book of Acts, reading not passing eyes to flip pages, you will find that; that was a supernatural church. Nothing about that church was “normal” or “ordinary” they experienced a dimension of God – DAILY! Today’s church is supposed to have the same track record and better because there’s no level the Spirit of God cannot progress to. None whatsoever. You want to go higher? Holy Spirit can take you there. You want to go deeper? Holy Spirit says hop onto the wagon that’s where we going.

Now, based on this , we can see that there could be a disconnect between us and the flow of the Holy Spirit or a principle that we are not following. I hope you know that Holy Spirit is our desperate need to experience miracles signs and wonders. He is the preparation for the Word who is the miracle worker. In the book of Genesis, the narration of creation, the Bible clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit was present and actively engaging in the atmosphere before God released the Word (Jesus) the released Word then became flesh (a tangible thing) and here we are, in a beautiful world. You cannot ignore the Holy Spirit in the discussion of miracles , signs and wonders.

The presence or absence of a spirit is important in this subject. It is of uttermost importance to discern what spirit is possessing the atmosphere before you start queuing for a “miracle”. Our world has become so desperately dependent upon people’s “reviews” and not on the Holy Spirit. Did you know that Satan can work miracles too? Did you know that many people had their miracles done by Satan and they returned with a testimony which was cooked up in the kingdom of darkness? There will absolutely be no miracle without the presence of a spirit. Many people think it’s all been done by God, the whole time God had no hand in it. Yes, I mean the prophecies too!

It is no surprise that we are in times where the prophetic and the working of miracles has been handled carelessly. And by carelessly I mean, hands that have handled unclean things, engaged with unclean powers, are the same hands being laid on Gods people. I have lived in it so I’m writing about a real life testimony. My dad likes to say “This is real life not science fiction,”. People no longer believe God can work miracles without asking for your money first. Why? Because they were robbed before getting the miracle. There’s a trade going on in the body of Christ which is working a negative effect. It removes people’s faith in God as a miracle worker and places it on man as a miracle worker who charges for the miracle. This is quite a sensitive topic and I’m praying for God to be the One to write it through me. There’s a lot to discuss.

As children of God, we need miracles. Don’t feel bad for desiring a quick change over a situation that has troubled you. It is biblical. At the wedding of Cana, the wine was needed immediately. They couldn’t wait for it to come tomorrow because the event was time sensitive. Miracles are a system put by God to deal with time sensitive situations. The tiktok of time triggers the miraculous. I hope we got something out of this foundational teaching. My greatest hope is, by the end of this series, we will see miracles , signs and wonders. We will read about these and discuss them to broaden our knowledge and understanding which will in turn start creating the same realities in our lives.

Here’s a miracle you can read about today:

Click on the highlighted word. Below are free counselling slots that you can book with me.

Your reflection is what you see in the mirror.

Hello family. Happy Friday. I hope and pray that your week has been beautiful. I hope you’re okay? Happy? Peaceful? Still holding up the faith? Here 🩷

There’s a quote by Socrates that says, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” When we live without a single awareness of our surroundings and lives , we’re most likely to abuse or be abused; we’re likely to go around in circles, finding ourselves at the same stop sign many times – this can be FRUSTRATING !

We live in an incredibly fast-paced world. Our mobile phones are constantly buzzing, distracting social media apps pinging with notifications of likes, reposts, comments, new content on the feed, Netflix always has something new to binge on, I loveeee me a good Korean series. There’s always something else to do that can be done later or shouldn’t be done but we choose to focus on the distraction first and find that we have little or no time to focus on the serious things. You can open your laptop to work in the next two mins you’re on TikTok laughing at videos that you can save and watch later.

Today l want us to go into behavioural reflection, particularly, speech/words. Did l say the right thing? Would Jesus say it? Did l have to say that at that time? We need to get used to the process of diving deep into our thoughts and actions and determining the great, “Why?” behind them. Think about the conversations you’ve had this week, you obviously won’t remember all of them but there’s a couple I know for sure you remember. Was it gossip? A lie? A rude remark? Or dishing out information you shouldn’t YET? Or maybe just talking to someone you had made a decision to not talk to again? The question is WHY?

Self Reflection helps us to understand what took place, why something took place, what the impact was, whether it should happen again. There are people who may have started the conversation with you, you may not be the one who initiated the talk. You are however , responsible for your engagement. Your response is completely your intended Input because you could’ve chosen to not respond. You could choose to respond in another way. I didn’t respond so well to my mother last week and it started ringing in my mind. I went over the conversation in my head and reflected. When I realised I could’ve done better, I apologised. From then I made sure I try by all means, to not respond emotionally. What I’m saying is, we can all do better if we want to. If we choose to.

Practicing self-reflection takes discipline and intentionality. The bible says Jesus is both the mirror we are to look at and the reflection we are to see. You evaluate your words by The Word (Jesus) and you work on your words to resemble Jesus (The Word) . He is called the word and if He is in us, should we not be speaking The Word? Take sometime on this today. Is my tongue that of an evangelist? I hope you know, this has nothing to do with title. Do you know what Isaiah said?

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Unclean lips are not a “new” thing but they are not a “cool” thing. When Isaiah encountered the Lord , he had a moment of self reflection. God’s Holiness must’ve highlighted the stains of Isaiah’s garment. The presence of God questions the presence of uncleanliness in us, be it words or actions. Nowadays people may not necessarily be verbal, they can text their unclean words. You don’t have to argue. You don’t have to be rude. You don’t have to lie. Infact, you shouldn’t. Part of self reflection is, repentance and forgiveness.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

May the Lord help us. 🤎

Hey guys! Soooo l have been seeing posts about the new movie on Netflix (The Deliverance) which is supposedly demonic. I have never watched it and don’t intend to. The reviews from “sober and sound” believers is kkraaaaazzzzy!! Besides all this, pray and ask Holy Spirit what He wants YOU to watch, to listen to! Don’t do this thing of just following the crowds. The Bible talks about the gates, These gates are known as the eye-gate, ear-gate, mouth-gate, touch-gate, nose-gate. These 5 senses are the guardians of the body and sometimes referred to doors or windows. This is what the devil uses to tempt and destroy mankind.

This is how different we are, some are allergic to certain foods, the food is not unhealthy, but they’re allergic to it. We even have different foods that we like, I love chilli but someone can get a bad tummy ache from eating it. “Suggest movies for me” no my friend. Ask Holy Spirit. I’ve asked for movies from people and then as it played I just knew nah. Not for me. Does it work for them? Yes. For me ? No. My niece likes pizza with mushrooms, she enjoys it but if I had to eat it, my mouth gums get irritated. Are mushrooms unhealthy? No! Are they unhealthy for ME? Yes! Refuse the feeling of missing out on things that you should actually miss out on.

On Chilled Thursdays I post links to movies sometimes, ask Holy Spirit. Don’t just run with “ Oh l know Vanessa she’ll post nice things” then you watch it and it doesn’t edify you. The gates. Protect your senses and your gates. The truth is, nobody will do it for you. I leave the lounge once I see that the movie they’re watching is heading EAST. Heee because I don’t want to go EAST! I want to stay in the South side of the kingdom 😂. It’s because I know I am flesh and blood , I am also spiritual. The two push and pull each other daily. The choice I make is my spirit man. You choose to listen. You choose to watch. Nobody forces you. Your diet is in your hands.

Please pardon me for the delay in posting on yielded Tv. I lost my work , l am creating from scratch. Please if you know an animator let me know❤️

Remember, protect your gates.