As usual, I have again trusted the Lord for a word for His people for this season in which we are currently, and specifically, because I live in South Africa and mostly minister here, what His heart is specifically for us.

That is why there is this urgency in me to share what I have heard with you in the next few weeks.

Most believers around the world remind each other of the birth of Jesus in December, although research shows that God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, was born in September 3 BC.

Before I talk about this further, let me just remind you of events that took place in Jerusalem on April 12, 30 AD.

Read with me John 20:19 ff.

“It was late that same day, the first day of the week.

The doors where the disciples were gathered were locked for fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Peace is possible on earth and in each of our lives on earth because God the Son became man in Jesus. Yes, because He made SHALOM possible through what He did through His life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection.

This is what the angels prophesied about Him at His birth in Luke 2.

“Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, there was with the angel a heavenly multitude praising God:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those with whom he is pleased!”

Listen, peace is possible on this broken earth and in my life and yours!

But only in the lives of those who choose to believe this message from the angels! Yes, those who get to know this Jesus and accept Him as Savior and Lord in their lives, too.

Then His Spirit comes and lives in them as His people, who have begun to believe this Gospel. Galatians 5 further explains that if He controls our lives, then other people will also recognize in us the fruit and characteristics of Jesus, and also recognize this SHALOM and its effect in us!

Then hear how Jesus, as in John 20, to His disciples at that time, also says to you: Peace be with you!

Yes, He came, died on the cross, so that peace (Shalom) in every sense of the word is possible and available for you too!

If you will only believe it! If you will only accept it in faith!

When you accept it and also believe that He can also do it for and in you, He can send you to others to also tell them to go and preach this good news!

Let me share with you a slightly “different” story of the Gospel message this holiday season.

A young soldier was alone in his tent one Sunday morning in a war zone.

It was quiet that morning… for some reason, there were no mortars and distant gunshots.

The soldier just knew it was Sunday. You can feel it, there is always something different, something holy, about Sunday.

Then he took out a worn deck of cards and spread it out on his bed.

Just then a sergeant came in, saw the cards and asked: “Aren’t you out with the other men today?”

“No Sergeant”, replied the soldier, “I thought I would rather stay here today and spend time with the Lord.”

Amused, the sergeant remarked: “It looks more like you are playing cards to me!”

“No, Sergeant, you see, we are not allowed to bring our Bibles into this country, and now I am learning more about the Lord with this deck of cards.”

“How is that possible?” , asked the Sergeant.

“Look, the A reminds me that the God of the Bible is only One God. There in Hebrews 1, verse 1, He says that He spoke to us as humans in many ways and revealed Himself, but in “the last days” He came to reveal Himself to us as God the Son, who became human in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, born in the village of Bethlehem, there in Israel. According to the latest research, He was born in September 3 BC, most likely on the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, that year. Yes, and the whole world commemorates His birth as a human in December of each year.

The Two points to the two parts of the Bible, the Old and the New Testament.

The Three reminds me of God the Trinity who reveals Himself in the Bible as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Four reminds me of the four Gospels in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In these 4 books, you and I get to know God the Son, Jesus, who became human and here lived among us on earth for about 33 years. In these 4 books we hear about His life, everything He did and said, but also about His death on a cross for you and me, so that we can know and experience Life and it in abundance. But we also read how He rose and is now Savior and Lord for everyone who believes it. He is also the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. And totally in control of every day in my life.

The Five reminds me of the five virgins – there were actually ten, but only five were ready and received God's grace and Heaven.

The Six indicates the six days in which God created Heaven and Earth, yes, the entire creation as we continue to discover it more and more today, by speaking just a word.

The Seven reminds me of the Seventh day that God set aside to rest, so that you and I never have to be slaves who have to work seven out of seven days of the week, because we have a God who takes care of us.

The Eight reminds me of what the Bible tells us about Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives. They were the only eight people that God spared in the flood.

The Nine reminds me of the nine lepers that Jesus healed. He actually healed ten, but nine never came back to thank him either.

The Ten reminds me of how God gave the Ten Commandments that God wrote on two stone tablets and gave to Moses to tell His people exactly how He wanted them to live as His people so that they could look and be different from all the other peoples around them.

The Jack reminds me of Satan. The Bible tells us that he was also once an Angel of the Lord, but because of rebellion and rebellion against God, and his lies with which he deceived more than a third of the other angels, he and these apostate angels were kicked out of Heaven and now he and these demons are our invisible enemy that we read about in Ephesians 6. Yes, our battle is not against flesh and blood not every day, but against this invisible enemy and adversary every day.

The Queen reminds us of the Bride of God, God's Ekklesia, His Church here on earth, which consists of all believers who are faithfully and obediently waiting for Him to return to take her.

The King reminds me of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, before whom every knee will bow and every tongue will eventually confess His Name.

You know, Sergeant, if we count all the symbols on these cards, there are exactly 365; one for each day of the year. It reminds me that God protects me every day and is with me every day.

There are also 52 cards in such a deck of cards. One for each week of the year, which reminds me of how much time I have to do something for the Lord.

There are also four suits in such a deck: the "Spades" or spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs, which represent the four seasons: summer, fall, winter, and spring, which God says in maintain regularity. It reminds me how God is in control of everything.

So, when I need to talk to the Lord, or want to hear His voice, I just take out my deck of cards, and then I see how much I have to be grateful for.”

The sergeant was silent for a long time.

Then he asked with tears in his eyes: “Wow, Soldier, I just realized how much I also want to hear this voice of God speak to me! Can I borrow your deck of cards for a bit?”

There in the Lord’s presence I heard the Lord say to me and every believing follower of His: “Feed My sheep, and care for the nations!”

Therefore, I believe with all my heart that the Ekklesia of Jesus wears the mantle of a Joseph to care for people and to serve them in Jesus’ Name. As we seek the Lord and His will for our own times of need and challenges, the Lord is busy equipping us through His Spirit for a time like this.

We are called to make a way where there was no way for a long time, and to drill wells where there was only desert for a long time!

And because there was no way and there was not enough water, these times were also full of humiliation and we were humbled by it, because this is what causes shortage and the suffering that comes with it.

But as Rom. 8:28 promised, the Lord has also used it in our lives as His followers, to minister blessing, insight and wisdom to us for what He now trusts us with.

There is also an urgency in God’s voice when He instructs us in this time to set up Joseph structures of provision.

All around us the enemy is busy pushing his own agenda at a speed of white light through people in his service who do not hesitate to sell and rob the nations and people around them. Yes, eventually people on earth will have to choose whose service they are in and which kingdom they serve.

Therefore, every follower of Jesus in this season also needs supernatural insight and wisdom.

But God’s promise is that everyone who seeks the truth will be led by God’s Spirit in them.

But those who run around and are driven by fear, or greed, or a hunger for power, will experience hell in every sense of the word that lies in wait for each of them!

Yes, I know that wonderful scripture in 2 Timothy 1:7 where it says the following in the Old Afrikaans Translation:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”

Or as it is translated in the BIBLE FOR ALL:

“God has given us the Holy Spirit, and therefore we are not afraid. No, the Holy Spirit makes us strong and helps us to love people and to decide rightly what we should do. “

I had to learn every day in the presence of the Lord for the past 32 years to grasp these words in faith, along with a whole host of other scriptures that deal with money, the Lord’s total and faithful care for His children and His grace that is always sufficient for us.

I can also tell of hundreds of times that as a responsible man in my home, as a husband to my wife, and as a father to my children, I woke up at night with a heart racing a hundred miles an hour in my chest from fear and anxiety!

This is part of the reason why I had to learn new spiritual disciplines. Like getting up every morning at dawn before anyone else in the house, and there in the Lord's presence, grabbing His peace back in faith to also start that day with faith and with a newfound peace.

There I learned to recite a verse like Psalm 46:11 and 12 out loud to myself every morning:

“Be still and know that I am God, high above the nations, high above the earth.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

I have to learn every morning to calm this body and brain of mine, which tries everything to protect my “flesh”, and therefore only wants to fight or flee, or “pass out” when nothing works!

I had to learn to, as the Hebrew word literally says, breathe (= do diaphragmatic breathing, as we call it), to get myself out of this survival mode of a heart that beats at 100 miles an hour, with hands that are cold and sweaty, and a throat that wants to tighten from fear and anxiety.

This helped me to rediscover (“know” in the language of the Psalm) and to experience, even in my own body, that the God I have come to know in Christ Jesus, is with me and in me, through the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself is in and with me.

I had to choose every day, at the beginning of each day, to believe again for that day and to trust that my Lord will take care of me and my loved ones as He promised.

That is why I hold on to His promises every day, such as Psalm 23, Psalm 91, Philippians 4, and 2 Cor. 9:8.

“And God is able to make all things abound to you, that in all things, always having all sufficiency in all things, ye may have an abundance for every good work.”