<![CDATA[THE PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN

<![CDATA[THE PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN - Blog]]>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 06:29:52 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[forgiven]]>Wed, 23 Jan 2019 06:16:09 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/forgiven

John 8:1-11

Dust filled my eyes and mouth as they flung me to the ground at His feet. My arm, hands and chin instantly on fire, as the skin peels back against the unforgiving earth.

So this is where it all comes to an end. The place where I will finally breathe my last.
I wonder if I will see the ground turn to clay as it mix with my blood. How long will I suffer pain as the rocks pound the life out of me.

I hope its over soon, but then the fear grips my chest and my blood freeze in my veins when I think of the horror that awaits me on the other side. There is no promise of paradise for a woman like me.
I am a adulterer. The lowest of any female form. The one that allowed my heart to be stolen away by another that is not my own.
Here I am, guilty as charged. No denying what I've done or who I am. I've been caught in the very act. The law demands my blood.
Adulterous Whore. I must die...

Who is this Man ? Why are they waiting for His judgement?

A lifetime of thoughts and memories flood through my mind. Faces, people, love, fear. Like the waves of the ocean it washes over me.
I see the little girl that I was so long ago, hiding behind the wall where no adult could see. I hear the talk about my daddy's disappointment, he wanted a son; but I am not. My brother was born 18 months after me: having his precious boy my father left us.
My mother cries a lot: it's so hard being a single mom and the scandal of divorce makes it so much worse.
Someone has to pay and it is my fault after all for being a girl. Sometimes I'm lucky and my diaper absorbs the blows, most times I'm not and I get another red mark to show....
I'll be a good girl. I'll try harder, you'll see.
Another blow.

Why are they stalling? I look up and see Him writing in the sand.
Oh God have mercy on my soul!

My husband is a good man. He works hard to provide, but I never did get the hang of being good. I tried, if only they knew how hard I tried to be what he desires, but I have realised that some people were created to serve, not to be loved. To fill the gap left by others and to be used. Used as a punching bag to help relieve the stress and hurt in others hearts. Used as a sleeping bag to help fill their emptiness with momentary pleasure. Used as a rubbish bag, to be filled and carry the darkness and blame of their disappointments and shame.
At least I'll be easily replaced and won't be missed.

They are shouting their accusations louder now. “She was caught in the very act. Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned. What do You say?”

Here I am again, being used for someone else's s agenda. They obviously have something against this Man.
Who is He and what is He writing?

I am guilty as charged, get it over with. We all know what must be done.
I look past the crowd and in the distance hiding behind a tree I see him, my lover watching from far away. He said he loved me you know. Said we were soul mates, but when the time came to show this love, to put it through the fire, to prove how true it is, he sold me out in return for his own safety. He should be here with me. The law demands his death to. I should cry out, I should tell them that he is there. Expose his lies. He should be here too...
But what good would it do? I've known what I am for a very long time. How can I make him pay for using me, when it seems like that is what I was created for? I watch him walk away in silence.
I hope he has a blessed life. Forgive him God, bless him Lord.
Have mercy on us all.

The stranger stands up, but I can't look at Him.
Here it comes.
There is something about this Man that is so different. What is it? He is not intimidated by this angry mob. Did He not hear them? That He is a Jew is plain to see, surely He does not need them to remind Him what must happen to me?

“ He that is without sin amongst you, let him cast the first stone at her”

His voice hits harder than every blow I have ever received, cutting deep and soothing all at the same time. I look at Him, He is writing again. Please speak my Lord, I want to hear That voice again.
Who is this Man that just shook me to the core?

Wait!
What did He say? Cast the first stone!

I close my eyes and try not to choke on my own breath. Everyone has gone silent. I hear the thump of a rock hitting the ground but I feel nothing.
Did they miss? ….
Another thump, and then one more. One by one I hear the dull thumps of rocks dropping and a low hum of voices carried away under bowed heads. What is going on I wonder but I'm to frightened to open my eyes. My pounding heart, the only thing I can hear, and then He speaks again.

“ Where are your accusers? Hath no man condemned you?”

I look around and there we were. No angry mob, no one standing around with stones lifted high and voices lifted even higher, and suddenly it was as if we were the only two people on the planet. All I could see was Him, and I got lost in His eyes. I hear my voice escape my lips: “No man, Lord”

“Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”

***********

I will never forget the grace and mercy shown to me by my beloved Lord and saviour Jesus, on that day my sins were exposed and it seemed that the only thing to do was give up and die, because of the destruction caused by me committing adultery.
When I deserved death, He gave me life. His life.
He said:” My darling Ilze, if you will hold onto Me, I will make all things new”

It's s been many years ago I gave the life I wrecked to Him, and He has been so faithful in making good on His promise. Our marriage were restored, and He has taken our brokenness and turned it into the greatest weapon against the enemy.

Marriage is a beautiful covenant designed by God to reflect the love and intimacy there is in Him.

If your marriage have been deviled by sin ( yours or that of your spouse ) I want to urge you to call on Jesus. He can do the impossible. It takes only one to save a marriage. One calling out to God and following His guidance to allow THE ONE, Jesus Christ to save you and your marriage from the stones of the enemy that is ready to condemn you to death.

Jesus is calling out to you. If you will hold onto Him, He will make all things new.

-Ilze Esterhuyse-

]]><![CDATA[A practical look at Biblical Christianity:]]>Thu, 11 Jan 2018 01:54:04 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/a-practical-look-at-biblical-christianity

In this video series we want to take a look at how we walk out our Christian faith in a practical way.

Reino and I both grew up in a very traditional church system,biblical terminologies was not new to us but our lives did not look anything like what we read in the Bible, and to be honest, God was a far away and someone that only interfered in human life from time to time. Never sure if He even noticed your prayers let alone answer them.
We were the masters of our own lives and our interaction with God was mostly petitions for Him to bless our will and meet our desires.

Twenty years ago both Reino and I met God and He became personal. We were born again, out if Spirit ( baptism with the Holy Spirit) and water ( baptism in water )and our lives have never been the same again. We had an overwhelming desire to serve God any way we knew how, from then on God has been demystifying His Word and His will.

We see the Bible is a living word, and it can and must be applied practically to our lives.
God says what He means and means what He says!

In the first video we take a practical look at repentance, and give testimonies of what it looked like, and still look like in our lives and the lives of some of our friends.

We are excited to start this practical journey with you! Be Blessed.

]]><![CDATA[Start 2018 with the people God entrusted you with]]>Mon, 01 Jan 2018 09:36:36 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/start-2018-with-the-people-god-entrusted-you-with

Happy New Year for 2018.

We read in John 6:56-66 that some of believers following Jesus turned away and stopped following Him yet we read a little later in John 18:8-9 That Jesus says He has lost none of the people God entrusted Him with.

Should you leave your job to travel the world making disciples? Yes and No. If Jesus tells you to this the answer is YES but start with the people God has entrusted you with.

We can get so busy with things of God that we can easily forget God in it all. Let's start this 2018 by examining our hearts, repent from sin that the Holy Spirit points out, spend more quality time with God daily and the let your family and friends pick the fruit from your life. Show them you are a new man with a new heart.

Learn to share the Gospel by practicing the (cups and cookies Gospel presentation) which is only one way but an very effective way. Share this with your Colleagues at work and your friends at home
What if you stand in front of God one day and you claim to have made many disciples all over the world and He asks “What have you done with the ones I gave you” ?

Be encouraged and go into the harvest, it's ripe and ready. If you are afraid DO it afraid! God goes with you!!
Blessings
Reino and Ilze

]]><![CDATA[ Recent article in "Gateway News" newspaper]]>Sun, 02 Apr 2017 01:32:06 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/-recent-article-in-gateway-news-newspaper

]]><![CDATA[Tried to take his own life but now God gave him a new life!]]>Fri, 17 Mar 2017 03:44:32 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/tried-to-take-his-own-life-but-now-god-gave-him-a-new-life

]]><![CDATA[The Gospel in Afrikaans]]>Tue, 14 Mar 2017 19:34:25 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/the-gospel-in-afrikaansA practical way on how to share the Full Gospel

]]><![CDATA[Filled with the Holy Spirit in Tokyo and then kickstarted in New Zealand]]>Tue, 27 Dec 2016 04:56:09 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/filled-with-the-holy-spirit-in-tokyo-and-then-kickstarted-in-new-zealand

]]><![CDATA[THE BLOOD of a Lamb neutralize Poisen]]>Thu, 17 Nov 2016 17:39:05 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/the-blood-of-a-lamb-neutralize-poisen

Why was Jesus crucified? Why did He really die? What is the significance of His blood? In this article I will answer these pressing questions and more. We will catch a glimpse of the potency of God, His ingenious actions to transform your life and His passionate love towards humanity.

Life is in the Blood
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given you the blood to sprinkle upon the altar as an atonement for your souls; it is the blood that makes atonement because it is the life. Lev 17:11TLB

The Bible is very clear. Your life is in your blood. In fact, when you think about it your blood is amazing! Your blood has a unique foot print. One drop of your blood will identify you. It may look red and ordinary. It may share many similarities with other people's blood, but make no mistake your blood remains precious. An adult human has approximately 100,000 miles of veins transporting precious blood to all the regions of the body! It carries oxygen, DNA and so on throughout your body. Infections many times run rampant when they reach the bloodstream. Take the venom of a poisonous snake for instance. Its poison spreads in your blood and wreaks havoc within, posing a danger that can lead to death if untreated.

A Lamb's Blood
For many years scientists have explored ways to develop antidotes for the poisons of snakes. Years ago they used horses, but today many places use lamb or sheep to develop these anti-venoms that neutralize the effects of snake venom. They would inject a lamb with specified quantities of venom. The blood of the lambs would immediately go to work, producing antibodies to combat the venom. When the blood of the lambs have generated enough antibodies those antibodies would be extracted from the blood of that lamb and an anti venom would be formulated. When a person now is bitten by a similar snake that same anti venom is administered and it would neutralize the effects of the venom within the victim.

Rom 3:25
For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God's anger against us. He used Christ's blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath
TLB

John the Baptist, identified Jesus on the banks of the Jordan river. As Jesus approached John to be baptized, John said: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) This is a wonderful thought! Jesus is the Lamb of God. If our blood is precious what can we say of His blood! If ours is unique, how much more so divine blood. If ours carry the genetic structures unique to identify us then His carry all that makes Him God!
He was conceived without the help of a man. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant with Jesus. (Luke 1:35) It was truly supernatural! You see the serpent that struck at Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden was indeed poisonous. He poisoned humanity with sin and the wages of sin is death! (Rom. 6:23) Sin was spreading, squeezing God's gift of life out of the souls of man. Something had to be done! A cure needed to be found. God needed the blood of a Lamb to develop that cure to save the human race from eternal damnation.
Jesus, the Lamb of God entered this poisonous world pure, innocent, and perfect. He was exposed to every temptation, evil and sinful condition imaginable, yet remained sinless in and of Himself.

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Hebrews 4:15 AMP.

Christ's Sacrifice
Jesus gave His life for us. He actually became sin for us. Our poison was introduced into His life so His precious blood could produce a cure for us. Can you see this? Only divine blood could produce a cure for sin!

For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]. 2 Cor. 5:21 AMP

When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago, His blood was released to work its miracle in our lives. Yes, we were dying in our sin, but Jesus provided the only antidote that would defeat sin in our lives!

Go ahead, step into the Light. Step towards Christ Jesus. Obey Him, Repent of your sins towards Him, get baptised to Jesus Christ for the Remision of your sins and receive the Holy Spirit. - Acts 2:38

Source by Rudi Swanepoel

]]><![CDATA[News from the Netherlands]]>Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:42:32 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/news-from-the-netherlandsWe have just finished the first week of the PTS school in the Netherlands and we stand amazed at how fast the students have grown after such a short time, there is still two weeks left and we can't wait what God will do next! We give Jesus ALL the glory, without HIM we are nothing!

We are heading to the Canada Kickstart tomorrow and will give you an update soon!

]]><![CDATA[ It's your turn to move ...]]>Fri, 09 Sep 2016 00:12:16 GMThttps://www.livingactsnow.com/blog/-its-your-turn-to-move

In any board game there are RULES: Each player in turn make one move each.

James 4:8 - "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you"
Who's turn is it to move? = OURS
Who Draws near first? = US

After we made our move eating of the tree God instructed us not to eat,
God moved by sending Jesus Christ to pay for our sins on the cross.

Now God is waiting for YOU to move, It's YOUR turn!

As soon as you Repent and put your FAITH in Jesus Christ alone, He forgives your sins.
As soon as you get Baptised in water on your own faith, He washes you clean.
When you ask for the Holy Spirit after repentance, He will Baptise you with the Holy Spirit.

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