THOSE WHO WITHSTAND IS THE ONE'S WHO WILL ENTER IN

For a while now Holy Spirit has been placing on my heart that I should share this testimony as well as all that Jesus taught me through it as it will inspire others so that they can step out and step up to the platforms that God creates for them as well as remind them that satan is walking around like a roaring lion looking who he can devour as he is set on killing, stealing and destroying our identity and therefore our calling, but that we can withstand him and then he will flee from us.

Testimony:

Last year God started speaking to me about "consulting", having influence in the nation and with that He started giving me revelation on governmental structure and what will make it succeed and what will make it fall and so I started to ask God why He was busy teaching me so intensely about governing and influencing and I started to sense that God was busy preparing me for what He has called me for and although he has been kind of using me in this "consulting" way my whole life, I felt that God was busy preparing me for when I would step into that Governing/Influencing position in full.

And so I have been harbouring this in my heart and I started to trust that when the time comes, God will open up a door and then I would just have to take the courage and step in. In Feb this year a truly awesome opportunity came my way...my friends’ company offered me the opportunity to start my own consulting business as they would then use me as a contractor to provide a specific consulting service to their clients (which will help their business), but this will also open the door for me to advertise and provide my full consulting service to their clients, so they would provide me their client base as well as office facilities and the potential to branch out to their Botswana client base. As you can imagine, I was overwhelmed and super excited as I thought to myself that not only is this potentially the beginning of the word that God has spoken over my life, but this is also a way to get a major influx of finances. And so I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and feet and I had a meeting with them and started conveying about what specific consulting service they will need me to provide to their clients and how the payment structure will work. As I met with them the Lord started reminding me of word that He has been sharing with me regarding this company  and the managers’ potential and what is keeping both him and his company from thriving and expanding (this was not just on a business level but also on a spiritual and personal level), The Lord also started to speak to me regarding the specific consulting service they first want me to provide to their clients (thereafter I can provide any other consulting service to their clients as I deem necessary) and how providing this consulting service to their clients will take up all my time and even though I may have the opportunity to provide my full consulting services to their clients I would not actually be able to do it as I would not have the time to do it and so even though this is a door that would be open, it is not really open for me to function in the full potential that God made me to be and if I choose to do this I will continually have to compromise in order to provide what they need as I am not the perfect solution so their need. Yes, I would be able to do it and yes, I would do a very good job but I would then have to do it not out of who I am but what I am able to do regardless of who I am and naturally function in. He also shared with me that this manager already had the solution to his need in his company as his most trusted employee (my friend) is the solution to their clients need because she functions in a risk management consulting way whereas I function in potential analysis consulting way. I also started to feel like maybe I am missing something maybe this door was not opened for me so that I could start my own consulting business and start getting major financial income but maybe God opened this door because He wanted to use me to speak His word into this managers business and life (in essence to consult this manager instead of his clients) and potentially have part in God changing this managers business and life (if he would choose to listen and adhere to what God says to him), but then that would cost me as I would have to give up the opportunity to start my own consulting business, getting full access to their client base, getting major influx of finances as well as the idea that this could lead to the fulfilment of the word spoken over my life…

Please note that I was also very frightened to give the word to the manager that the Lord has spoken to me as the agreement was not to consult him about his business, spiritual and personal life when he said that he would give me the opportunity to provide my consulting services to his clients and this was also the company that my friend worked at and she actually was the one who mentioned me to her manager in the first place.

This was no easy choice and so my heart and mind went into major turmoil as this was a life defining decision not only because it would influence my life but it would influence my friends’ life and the manager life as well, depending on what I choose.

As time went by I said to the Lord one night; “I have to give this manager an answer as to whether I am in or out and therefore I really need You to come and give clear direction as to what it is You want me to do cause I am willing to do whatever You ask of me regardless the cost” and so that night God spoke in my spirit and I knew that this door was not open for me, but it was opened for Him so that He could have a platform to speak into this mangers life and business and that I was only given the privilege to be used by Him in the process and so that night I decided to go to the company the following day and speak to the manager.

The next day on my way to go and see the manager, I was so nervous and yes I was scared as this could go a million ways of which it would be a miracle if the manager do however listen to what I have to say and do not kick me out of his office…and so while speaking to the Lord about how nervous I am and praying to Him that He would give me the courage and strength I need to do what He called me to do, He started to share with me the following:

Denise, when David went out to face Goliath he picked up 5 stones and each of those five stones represents the fivefold ministry but that day I only needed David to function in one of the fivefold ministries and that was the prophetic ministry as My word will be backed by My power and that is enough to slay every giant, likewise I only need you to go and speak My word to this manager and with My word I will send My power so that My spoken word will reach all that I send it out to reach. This gave me the courage to go and face this "giant" and still on my way to the company the Lord said to me Denise do you realize that it is exactly 21 days that it took from the day that you got the offer and prayed to me asking what you should do, until you received the (breakthrough) clear answer last night…and so I immediately checked to see what day I was contacted and given the proposal and sure enough as I counted the number of days, I saw that it was exactly 21 days!!! This now definitely gave me the faith needed to step out of the boat, do as God said and speak into this manager’s life and business no matter what it may cost me.

And so, when I got there; I first started off by asking the manager whether I could share with him all that God has shared with me regarding him (personally and spiritually) and his business and he said yes. So, I started to speak to him and as I told him all that the Lord has shared with me I could see that this was not easy for him to hear but regardless of that he said that all that is being said to him is truth and that it is just a lot and he needed time to process it all and so at the end of a very intense conversation the manager stood up and said to me that he honours me for coming to him and sharing the word with him and then he greeted me and I left knowing that I was obedient regardless of how nervous I was and that God will send others to water the seed but only He will make it grow.

On my way back home God spoke in my spirit and said the following: Denise, in the beginning you thought that this door was opened for you so that you could start your consulting business, make money in the process and start to have influence in the government of the nation by influencing the corporate section but what you do not realise is that that is exactly what happened because I used you to influence the government of this company and in so doing you had influence in the corporate section of your nation because if this manager chooses to adhere to My word then it is one more company that would start to make a difference in this nation and its economy and so your obedience in the little will have an effect in the long haul.

Teaching:

During the 21 days that I was in turmoil seeking God in what He wanted me to do He started to give me revelation on Jesus that was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the tempter…

God started to show me that Jesus was sent to the world so that whosoever would believe in Him, will not perish but have everlasting life. But in order for people to believe in Jesus, he had to be able to function in signs, miracles and wonders (the kingdom that He was sent to proclaim and tell people about could not just be one of words, but should be one of power) so that they would know that what He was busy teaching them was Truth and worth believing. God also shared with me that for Jesus to be a perfect offer for the past, present and future sins of the world, He would have to be sinless, pure of heart and perfect in all His ways.

And so for Jesus to truly step into this and be able to fulfil his destiny, he would have had to be tempted by satan and tested by God…

John 4:48
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you [people] see [miraculous] signs and wonders, you [simply] will not believe."

The first temptation (Having power to do signs, miracles & wonders)

So the first thing that Jesus needed in order for people to start believing was to do signs, miracles and wonders and here we can see that the tempter tempted Jesus in exactly that…

having the creative power of God 

and God tested whether He can trust him with His power, to seek not his own will but the will of his Father. Not having to prove who he is out of what he does but out of knowing who the Father says he is, he will do.

satan wanted Jesus to prove that he was the Son of God by commanding the stones be made bread, but Jesus knew who He was not because of what He does, but because of who God said He is and that Gods spoken word is what gives him life (because He was made by God) and not only bread which is made by man.

Also…

Jesus knew that He would not have to command “stones” (people) to be made “bread” (a life giving source, like God) but that if He was who God said He is then the people would want to become “bread” (a life giving source, like God), cause they were made in His image and likeness, they only needed to be reminded of their true nature/origin.

The second temptation (Having everlasting life)

The second thing that He would have to show is that he could overcome sin and the wager thereof by overcoming death and therefore live forever cause that is what He was going to teach and proclaim that we would be able to do and receive if we believed in Him and His teachings and so we can see that once again the devil tempted Jesus in exactly that…

having the redemptive and resurrection power of God.

satan wanted Jesus to prove that scripture is true (when it says you will not die when you jump from this building as the angels will keep you from hurting even your foot) by testing it, but Jesus knew that His inheritance was everlasting life and that scripture also said that you should not tempt God.

The third temptation (Having & releasing the Kingdom of God)

The third thing that He would have to show was why we needed to believe in Him and live forever and that was so that we could rule and reign with Him in heaven and on earth, again Jesus was tempted by the devil in exactly that…

having the kingdom of God and its glory in heaven and on earth.

satan wanted to give Jesus all the earthly kingdoms, governing systems, but Jesus knew that His inheritance was ALL authority in heaven and on earth, but this would only happen if He worshiped God and God alone.

Jesus was tempted in all three areas that He would be given as He would need it to step into and fulfill His calling once He withstand the devil and his temptations, but if Jesus did not withstand the devil and his temptations he would not have received what he needed in order to reach the fullness of His calling and so likewise a lot of times we find ourselves in a dessert and we are tempted by satan but God asks us to withstand the devil and once he flees from us, all will be given unto us that we will need so that we can be who He called us to be and out of that place we will do what He shows us to do.

If I took the opportunity that was given to me according to my own will, thoughts and understanding I would have received a major influx of money, the opportunity to have my own business that I can govern and use to further my influence in the nation but I do believe that the question whether I would have reached the fullness of my calling would have been seriously debatable as I would have taken the opportunity not according to the will of God but according to my own will.

But because I sought God and His will no matter the cost, He led me to be tempted by satan which let to 21 days of turmoil but He also gave me the strength to withstand satan by laying down my own will and thoughts and in doing so the devil fled and I received breakthrough by getting clear direction as to what God wanted me to do and with that He gave me what I needed so that I could go and be what He called me to be and that is…His voice to the nations, speaking His word that will influence governments and leaders so that if they adhere to His word they will become all that He called them to be and yes this will only reach its fullness if I keep on being obedient to Him and keep on seeking to do His will instead of my own.

And yes if I did take the opportunity I would have had many clients whom God could have used me with to speak into their lives and so many may think that this is exactly why I should have taken the opportunity, but to God it was not about the multitudes but about the one and the time had come for that one to be reached and touched by God and this was all that God wanted me to do at that time.

In the 21 days that I was seeking God to give me clear direction, I asked a friend in ministry to pray with me about the situation and all that he said is that this is Gods door for Gods opportunity and this hit me so hard because that was so true! When God gives us the privilege of being used by Him, He opens doors for us so that if we are willing to step through the door, it is His opportunity to reach His goal through us for His glory, we only have a choice if we want to be part of His plan and letting Christ work in and through us for His Glory!

If you are reading this post then I want to encourage you to know and realise that the Holy Spirit led you to read this testimony because God wants to do the same to, in and through you as with me because scripture says that He does not play favourites and whatever He does to, in and through me He wants to do to, in and through you if only you would believe that He has called you by name and you are His therefore you are capable of all things through Christ who strengthens you and you were made in the image and likeness of God which means that if you believe in Him and adhere to His word then you will be able to be used by God to create, redeem and resurrect as well as release the kingdom of God and its glory in the heavens and on the earth.

God gave my husband the following powerful revelation:

Calling is not what you do, but who you are because what you do does not depict who you are but who you are will determine what you will do.

Through that Jesus taught me that satan will always try to make you believe that you are only if you do, but God says:

 “You are and therefore you can do”

Always remember that whatever word God has spoken over your life will not return void, but it will accomplish all that God set it out to accomplish and know this, the devil will temp you to give up your word in order to get what he offers which is nothing compared to what God has already given (allocated to you) but you will be tested on whether you can be trusted with it when He releases it to you…so always seek Gods will instead of your own and He will make His glory to shine on you as He will honour you if you honour Him with your life.