Just wanna say, ‘thank you’…

PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI

source: bestpoetry.blogspot.com

I don’t know about you, but for me, 2012 is a special year. I am alive. I am whole. I am blessed. I could have been dead. I could be lying on some hospital bed. I could have been on my way to the grave now, torn apart by the vultures that prawl in this world. The devil tried to sift me like wheat, but he was disappointed. The Lord is my shield. And because I am here today, I made it into 2012 and all is well with me, I thank you Lord.

There are many who never made it into 2012, not because they didn’t want to, but their plans were probably derailed by the enemy, the devil, who

…walketh about like a roaring lion,

seeking whom he may devour

I PET 5:8, KJV.

Lord I thank you for your grace that is upon my life, for enabling me to look after my family for the past two years after we lost my father. It has not been easy, but I thank You for ordering my steps, for making it possible because, as You have told me, with You, all things are possible. Without You, without the guidance of Your Spirit, I would never have made it.

I thank You for the hedge with which You have encompassed me, such that the enemy cannot successfully stretch his hand against me. I can hear him complaining about all you have done for me:

Hast not thou made an hedge about him (me),

and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?

Thou hast blessed the work of his hands,

and his substance is increased in the land.

JOB 1:1O, KJV.

I live in tragic times. Men everywhere say there is a casting down, but every day I see You lifting me up. Bitterness and complaint has become many a people’s speech, but my tongue is anointed for praise. I speak words that bring healing, comfort and edification, words that bring life to dry bones.

Many seek ways to cut corners, to grease palms, to do every kind of evil they can think of. But my prayer, Lord, is that I may be different. The cry of my heart is that even as evil spreads across the world unchecked, with everyone becoming a partaker, I may stand strong in You Lord, and in the power of Your might. I long that You may have the same testimony about me that You had about Noah, who chose to be different while living among an adulterous generation.

But Noah was different.

God liked what he saw in Noah. This is the story of Noah:

Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community.

Noah walked with God…

GEN 6:8-9, MESSAGE.

I thank You Lord for Your daughter – Simba Lyn – whom you brought to me in the fullness of time. She was the fulfilment of Your Word to me, when You told me that You were going to restore unto me all the years that the cankerworm, the palmerworm and the caterpillar had eaten. You are so true and faithful. She is an inspiration to me, the way she loves and seeks You, the way she ministers unto You – indeed an answer to the cry of my heart that night in Nyanga early last year when I cried out to your Lord and pleaded that you may give me someone right from Your Throne Room, someone who loves You more than she would ever love me!



source: tcabc.com

In this new year, in this season of revival, I long for more encounters with You. I hunger for Your manifested presence and thirsts for Your touch, like a deer pants for water in a dry and thirsty land. Many things get lost in the long haul of the walk of faith: intimacy with God, a love for the Word, those strong strides weaken and falter... So, I refuse to get familiar with You, because the revelation of You is progressive. You are a moving God and whenever You move, I want to move with You…

May You use me as an instrument of Your righteousness. May those who look at me see You in me, when I speak may their spirits hear Your Voice coming from me…

If a man therefore purge himself from these,

he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified,

and meet for the master’s use,

and prepared unto every good work.

II TIM 2:21, KJV.

My prayer, Lord, in 2012, is that You may use me to touch the lives of many people, that they may come to know and serve You. I know, even through that dream of the end-time you gave me in 2011, that the time is short. The end is continuously drawing near, and all the signs of the end times are finding fulfilment in the events unfolding in the world today.



source: desibucket.com

This Lord, is from my heart to Your Heart. Thank You for love, so generously poured into my heart by Your Spirit. May I spread that divine love to all, and may it be my yardstick, defining my interactions with others in this great year!

May Your Name be exalted above all names. I love You Lord with all that is within me. You are all that I have. Where can I go from Your Spirit, where can I go away from You. You have the Words of life. I am not ashamed to be called Yours, because I am Yours. You bought me at price. You loved me even before I knew You.

Blessed be Your Name, now and forevermore! I will always love You and I am forever Yours...

'DIVINE ENCOUNTERS' IN MOMENTS OF REVIVAL

PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI

It’s been four years now since I fell in love with the Lord. And in more ways than one, it’s also been an ambivalent walk of faith, during which I’ve also experienced a fair share of troubles in the trenches of spiritual warfare. But I must admit that when looked at in totality, I have enjoyed every moment of my walk with the Lord.

God will never forsake you 

There have been such monumental trials in this journey, too. But today, they however stand as testimonials of how the Lord, in His unceasing faithfulness, has guided me to safety just as He had assured that He will since November 11, 2007, when I opened my heart to Him:

“…for he hath said,

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

HEB 13:5, KJV

My very first encounter with the power of the Lord, however, occurred on January 1, 2008, when He gloriously filled me with His Spirit, according to His promise. As the Holy Spirit invaded my life, I felt like an electric shock was going through my body and I was slain under the anointing because I could not stand the power from on high. And the Lord granted me the desire of my heart when I received the gift of tongues at that moment, confirming Jesus’ promise to believers:

“And these signs shall follow those that have believed:

in my name they shall cast out demons;

they shall speak with new tongues…”

MARK 16:17,  DARBY

While throughout the years following that experience, I never had an encounter of such magnitude with the Lord, there had always been in my spirit an assurance of His presence. But, December 4, 2011, was to mark yet another encounter in the least likely of circumstances, place and time.

Simba Lyn

A visit to see the love of my life, Simba Lyn, in Bulawayo, saw me getting much more than I had bargained for, as it turned out to be yet another divine encounter, surpassing by far the 2008 experience.

In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city (which has become more like my second home), there was a week-long revival campaign at Harvest House International Church (HHI). My heart’s cry was, as I wrap up this year, I would have yet another encounter and experience revival:

Wilt thou not revive us again:

that thy people may rejoice in thee?

PSALM 85:6, KJV

On Saturday December 5, 2011, HHI Harare's senior pastor, Pastor C. S Tuturu ministered in the 6th service at the invitation of his mentee, Pastor Zwelithini Moyo, who led in the worship. It was such an awesome moment in the presence of the Lord. Tears flowed down my face as I lifted my hands in worship.

As Pastor Tuturu did impartation to the 6th Service Leadership (most of whom also received prophetic words), a few steps in front of me as I was on the first row of chairs, I literally felt the anointing flowing down from my fingers right down my whole body in a quivering sensation. The man of God later on ministered to those convicted they had a call of God. When he laid hands on me, I fell under the power and lay prostrate, unable to move any part of my body, but just shivering under a huge dosage of the anointing.

I can’t help remembering Apostle Paul’s experience during his dramatic ncounter with the Lord: 

As he journeyed he came near Damascus,

and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

THEN HE FELL TO THE GROUND,

and HEARD A VOICE saying to him,

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus…”

ACTS 9: 3 – 5, NKJV

Now, this is striking. Pastor Tuturu says when you fall under the anointing, don’t be quick to get up, but first ask the Holy Spirit why you fell and He will minister to you!

As he rounded up the service, he walked down the podium, and as I lifted my hands in worship, he moved towards me and laid his hand on me again. I fell under the power again as my body just could not contain the power from on high (LUKE 24:49).

Sunday night, however, was the grand finale, and HHI founder and senior pastor, Apostle Collin Nyathi, was ministering. During worship, he moved round the congregation, laying hands on people, most of whom were also slain under anointing as the Holy Spirit swept through the congregation.

When he returned to the podium, I was sure I was “safe” having remained on my two feet all the while, but a few moments later, I was slain again while I was praying.

Worship brings the presence of God

Well, my point really, is not about falling to the ground, but the process that takes place in you as the power of God sweeps through you. It deals with strongholds, issues and weaknesses that may have hindered your spiritual walk – something prayer might never have done for you. The Bible does not say the yoke will be broken because of prayer, fasting or meditation, but because of the anointing:

...and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

ISAIAH 10:27, KJV

That anointing strengthens and prepares you for the new levels to which God will be taking you, which is why Pastor Tuturu said seek audience with the Spirit at that moment.

This is a spiritual transaction in which God deposits something in you. At such moments, the Holy Spirit may rub salve onto your eyes so that you begin to see opportunities where others just see closed doors. If there are any broken places in your life, while you’re on the ground, a gradual re-assembly occurs as the power of God sweeps through you. Those who can see in the spirit might actually see you on an ‘operating table’ as the Holy Spirit works on you. Or it could just be an injection of a dosage of anointing that God knows you need to navigate the a rough patch ahead in your life.

So, it’s about revival, renewal and transformation. After that encounter, you really cannot remain the same! You have to refuse to remain the same! Blessed be God...