Thanks for your response @Marathoner  Amazing testimony.  

2 hours ago, SIC said:

to another discernings of spirits

...

The way I see it is, it is not so much a 'gift' that I can use at will. It is more like God in His Infinte Mercy gave me the discernment necessary at key moments to keep me from getting deceived. To Him alone be the glory.

 

Thanks for your response @SIC   Discernment is indeed an important and useful gift, so long as we don't limit what can do when He wants to.   Remember, God sometimes uses the 'foolish' things of this world to confound the wise.  (1 Cor. 1:27) 

Thanks for your response @Waggles  Great to see other "Spirit Filled" Aussies on here.   I've only recently returned to this site after a 3 year hiatus. 

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace ..." (1 Peter 4:10)

What gift(s) have you received?   How was it 'given'?  And, how do you use it?    
(I want to hear about your experience:  not an explanation of how Spiritual Gifts work). 

1 hour ago, R. Hartono said:

How about ancient people who havent' heard the Gospel when they lived ?

Hebrews Chapter 11 provides some insight. 

Settling Accounts

Do I have a debt to pay You:
Is there something that I owe?
How can I make amends now:
Is there somewhere I must go?

What should I use for payment:
Is there something that You need?
With a humble heart I'm asking,
Is there something I can't see?

No, My son there really isn't.
There is nothing you must do.
It's in asking Me the question,
That I am very pleased with you.

If your heart is beating right,
And you're turning from your sin.
Just receive My loving mercy,
That is why I've given Him.

My Son has paid the debt in full:
There is nothing that you owe.
He chose the way of the cross:
There is nowhere you must go.

In His body was ample payment:
There is nothing that I need.
Because your heart was truly broken,
I'll give you so much more to see.

Your accounts have all been settled:
"It is finished," ...just for you.
He's My Son - I dearly love Him
And through Him, ...I love you too.

So, worry not about payments,
Just give your heart to Him.
Because it was the blood of Jesus,
...that paid the price of sin.

(1998)

I am very sorry to hear your "life is falling apart", @Equippers.  Not sure if you read the whole story (so far) but it wasn't always easy.  Yes, I was blessed with Christian parents (still am) but they weren't always available.

Be encouraged. The Father loves you in more ways than you can fathom.  

If you need help, simply and honestly ask Him.  Don't be afraid to tell Him exactly how you feel (you cannot offend God).  Ask Him to speak to you through His Word.  

I will pray for you. God Bless you Equippers.

The Cross

This is the cross, both just and true,

That I should give My life for you.

More than tears and blood alone,

More than a life or broken bones.

Through the pain, beyond all fear,

I took those steps to make it clear.

The Father’s love, so deep and wide,

That He would give His Son to die:

To suffer loss and feel despair…

To lead the way and meet you there.

A place of peace and joy abounding:

Many a voice in praise resounding.

It was for you, I bled and cried…

The curtain rent to open wide.

That you may come into My throne,

And know My Father as your own.

The price of sin and death was paid,

When on the cross My life I gave.

But now you must stand up and run,

From sin and strife, deceptive ‘fun’.

Into My light and joy and peace…

Now is the time: Proclaim Release.

(originally given to me in 2003)

... continued from above.

We were now living in Australia and I worked full time in a Family Welfare and Community Centre.   We helped many itinerant workers (fruit pickers) and homeless people as well as families and others in need.  We also ran a "Thrift Shop" (second hand goods store).

Mindy and I served in the local church and soon answered the called to full time ministry.  We then started preparing to attend Bible College.

One day, while working at the Welfare Centre, a woman came in asking for blankets, coats and other items of clothing, to give away to people living and sleeping on the banks of the Murray River.  She explained she was a Christian and ministered with her husband (he was at work) by going down to the river at night and giving away clothing/blankets, providing free tea/coffee/soup and having "campfire worship sessions".  She invited me to come take a look. 

A few days later, I did.

During the following weeks and months, I spent a lot of time with them and witnessed some very interesting and exciting events.  Lives were being touched and changed.  Alcoholics and destitute individuals were being healed and released from torment.  I had never seen anything like this.  This was no "snake oil healing show' or "name it and claim it" nonsense.  These were real people pouring out real love and concern (and their own resources) to needy people.

One night, when things were quiet, I was offered prayer.  Without going into all the details, I experienced what many have come to know as the Baptism of The Holy Spirit.  Wow!  My wife Mindy had a similar amazing experience the very next day (while praying alone at home).  It was amazing but it was also just the beginning.  We still had a lot to learn and I struggled with some aspects of my new found 'freedom'.  My logical mind kept trying to analyze and quantify the spiritual. 

We attended Bible college the following year, as planned.  It was challenging at times.  The college was somewhat conservative and we struggled to find staff and students who could relate to our experience, but we did find some.  I have always been somewhat reserved.  I really struggled with public speaking and other students would sometimes joke that I had left thumb prints in the pulpit because I was so nervous and tense.

During the second year, while doing some practical training, I met someone.  A minister offered to pray with me and I had another similar encounter (being filled with the Holy Spirit) as I had two years earlier.  But is was better, more powerful and brought much greater release.  I was able to preach with much great confidence and 'power' and immediately saw much greater responses from that preaching and teaching.  Even staff at the college were commenting on the huge changes they noticed.

After completing Bible College, we moved to Western Australia.

... to be continued.

The Third Decade.

She was beautiful! 

It was the eighties.  Big hair! Big earrings! Bold clothing!  She had it all.  When I first brought her home, my mum was not at all impressed.  My mother had been trying to hook me up with a 'nice girl' from their church and initally didn't know what to think of my new girlfriend.

Contrary to 'appearances' Mindy (my nickname for her) was a committed Christian with a very real love for the Lord and had always attended church with her parents. Interestingly, Mindy later told me she had been praying for a husband from Australia or Canada.

A few months after meeting Mindy, I entered the Army to complete my compulsory service (14 months) and two years later we were married.  Eighteen months after that came the birth of our daughter.  We were very happy, until the doctor informed us our new baby girl had a serious life threatening heart condition and would need complicated and (at the time) groundbreaking surgery.

My parents had already returned to Australia. I still wasn't walking with the Lord and life seemed to come crashing down around me.  I descended into a deep dark place of anxiety and depression. This lasted a few months but I eventually recovered and our daughters surgery (a year later) was successful, so life returned to some sense of normality. 

Sometime later, my parents invited us to come to Australia and even offered me a job, but we declined.  On the other hand, I had been attending church occasionally.  The Bible we used was a Dutch Reformed Bible (think KJV but in Dutch).  As Dutch was already my second language, I really struggled with the old dutch Bible.   One day while out shopping, I 'randomly' walked into a book shop and purchased a cheap hardcover NIV Bible and started reading it.

One day, I found myself reading First Peter.  When I got to 1 Peter 4:7-11 (NIV) something life changing happened.

¹⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

When I reached the words in bold, the Lord 'spoke' to me.  It wasn't an audible voice. It was an overwhelming sense of presence and a 'knowing' that God was addressing me.  He said: "I want you to return to Australia.  I want you to go into ministry and I want you to speak the words I give you"  (I understood this to mean preaching).  I told Mindy and said you won't believe what just happened.

We arrived in Australia a few months later (a small miracle in itself).

... to be continued.

The Second Decade

Just around the time I turned ten, we visited The Netherlands for an extended Holiday.  My younger brother and I attended school for a few months, learning some of the language in the process (we had not been taught Dutch at home).  We returned to Tasmania after about six months.  My parents were still in Christian Ministry.

The next few years went by quickly but my father started missing his family, so the decision was made to move to The Netherlands.  I was fourteen. Being a teenage boy can be tough.  Being a teenage boy in a foreign country, where you don't know the language is not fun, but I adapted and eventually it felt more or less like home.

My faith, during my teens, was weak and at times virtually non-existent.  I had a lot of 'head knowledge' about God but was rebelling and blaming my parents for all the moving around, etc.  I didn't really understand my need for a personal relationship with Jesus.

By the time I was nineteen, I had left school and was doing casual work, waiting to start my compulsory stint in The Royal Dutch Army. 

Then I met a girl. 

.... to be continued.

Recently. I was reminded of a diary I once kept and had started writing almost thirty years ago...   It stirred my heart and caused me to remember things long forgotten.  And, in a round about way, brought me to this forum.

But more on that later, perhaps.  I felt a desire to write down some of my experiences as a reminder, to myself, of all the great things the Lord has done in my life.  I invite you to join me on this journey of rediscovery, although I cannot promise it will be interesting, exciting or mind blowing in any way.  I do hope it offers some encouragement to those who take the time to read it

My Story.

The first decade.

I was born in a hot, dusty outback mining town, in 1960's Australia.  My dad, a young Dutch immigrant, had pursued my mother to this town after first meeting her at church in another small town, in a different state, where she had being living with extended family.  He lived in a small caravan behind the local Salvation Army Citadel.

My father was outgoing, energetic, hard working and a "born preacher".  He once told me, as a child he would go into the back yard and 'preach' to the birds and animals.  His father was a hard working laborer, a committed Christian and also loved to preach or just talk about Jesus when given the opportunity.  My grandmother was a beautiful Christian woman with seven children and the biggest heart you can imagine.

My mother was young.  Just sixteen when she met dad.  Life had not been easy.  Her mother was a "rough as guts" outback shearer's cook and her father was an alcoholic.  Mum and her sister often spent their afternoons and evenings outside the local pub, waiting for their parents to stop drinking and take them home.  My mother had been shipped off to live with her Christian aunt and uncle after completing school at age 14.

Not long after my parents were married, they were greeted with a new addition to their small family, but it wasn't any easy start.  I had serious health issues and my parents were told more than once: "If you are religious, you may want to call someone".  Three times they were told this. Three times I survived.  As a result, my mother often told me: "God has a plan for you life".

Shortly after my birth, my parents were advised by doctors to move to a "seaside" climate as this might be beneficial to my health.  So we moved to a fishing community on the south coast, and kept moving every year or two for the next twenty five years.  My younger brother arrived within two years.  Like my dad, he was outgoing, adventurous and actually enjoyed the constant moving around.  Me, not so much, although my health did improve.

My parents were committed Christians and soon answered "the call" to Christian ministry.  So, I started attending Bible College (for the first time) at the age of three.  Got to get 'em while their young.  Two years later, we moved to our first 'appointment', a year after that to the next one, and so on.

Obviously, I was young and don't actually remember a lot of the details from those early years.  I do remember one very significant event.  My grandmother passed away quite suddenly when I was eight and my father was completely devastated.  We were living in Tasmania at the time while my grandparents and uncles/aunties were all still living on the "North Island" as it was jokingly called in Tassy.  I was too young to fully understand and could not attend the funeral for logistical reasons but it did leave a mark.  These events had other lasting ramifications.  Many of our extended family members, including my heartbroken grandfather, returned to The Netherlands soon afterwards.

... to be continued.

Enjoyed reading your testimony. Thanks for sharing.

Reaching Out

Silently praying, I wait for You.
Help me O Lord, your will to do.

Humbly I bow, searching my heart.
Crying inside: 'Where do I start ?'

I stretch out my hand . . .
. . . Why can't I reach?

I know you're the Man . . .
. . . to heal the breach.

Still on my knees, I continue to pray.
You are my Lord. Please meet me half way.

Teach me to stand, upright and tall.
My whole desire, is to give You my all.

Amen

(originally written in 1995)