(no title)

Named By Him

by Tess Oosthuis

What a privilege it is to share with all you ladies today. I feel the word the Lord wants to release over you in this next season is a word of validation. Recently my father-in-law (Pastor Graham Oosthuis) spoke about the keys God has given us to His Heavenly Kingdom. One of those keys is the name by which He is has named us. We were named by Him before we were even conceived and He holds the scroll sealed with our name in His heart.

But now this is what the Lord says, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)

On expecting our first child, there has been much discussion on the naming of our son. Careful thought has gone into our dreams for him, and more importantly God’s destiny for his life…..who he will be, what he will carry, and what he will become…..as we raise Him up to be a laid-down-lover of Christ. Our heart is to see Him fervently advancing the Kingdom of Heaven……a forerunner in the next generation of believers – inspiring others to lay down all so they can know the lover of their souls and all that He’s called them to be! If these are our dreams for our son, can you imagine God’s dreams and desires for us!

I’m very sure many of you have looked into the meaning of your name and how it lines up with the destiny God has for you. Perhaps your parents didn’t have this in mind. The good news is…. God already knew your name from before you were born.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16

Our entire destiny was planned by God and written in His book. In other words, He has already given us everything we need to accomplish His plan for us as we seek Him with all our heart. Your mistakes or regrets are no surprise to your Father, just as our mistakes and regrets don’t change who we are in our parent’s home. His desire is to raise you as a son in His Kingdom, with an understanding of who He’s created you to be so that you can mature and walk in His authority….a son of the King! It doesn’t matter how many times you trip and fall. He’s always there to pick you up again and coach you…..until you’re mature enough to do that for others; raising up those around you to walk in sonship.

So what does God say about you in His book? Has He changed your name from that which has been given to you, or which you’ve labelled yourself with, to the name He already had for you? (as He did for Jacob in Genesis 32:28) Have you listened to what others have said about you and allowed that to define your destiny? Let’s stop listening to what the enemy calls us and let’s start proclaiming what God says about us!

In Matthew 16: 13-19 (NIV), Jesus asks his disciples “Who do the people say the Son of Man is?” Simon Peter replies with, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then states “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but my Father in heaven” and in verse 18, Jesus says “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Simon means “hearer,” and Jonah means “dove,” so in other words, Jesus was telling Peter that he was “hearing the dove,” – the Holy Spirit. Jesus pronounced a new name saying….YOU Peter are a ‘hearer of the Holy Spirit’. When we hear what Jesus says about us, our destiny scroll is unravelled and we come into full knowledge of who we were created to be! Jesus was showing Peter his worth, his function, his destiny and what he carried – that he had the revelation on which Christ could build His church. He was saying – YOU Peter, are not just Peter who doubted he could walk on water, but you are a rock, built on ME – the rock, on which I can build my church.
God takes names very seriously. There are many instances of Him renaming his people according to what He had for them or the transformation He brought about in them. In Genesis 35, when Rachel gave birth to Her second child, she experienced much suffering during childbirth, and as she passed away, she just managed to utter her son’s name -“Ben-oni” which means: son of my sorrow. However, Jacob knew his son was not destined to carry a spirit of suffering/sorrow…….so he changed his name to “Benjamin” – son of my right hand. This speaks of God’s favour and as many of you know, Benjamin was the one to receive a five-fold blessing from Joseph when Jacob’s sons visited Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 43:34).

You are born to embody and benefit from everything God has named you with! It’s time to proclaim it, embrace it, and walk in the power of it!! It’s time to get out of the prison of allowing others to ‘name’ you and start enjoying all that God has placed in you and equipped you with. The world needs you to take your place as a son named by your heavenly Father, because only you can accomplish what God has placed on your scroll for you to do. Let Him validate you and restore your worth as you seek to know Him and the thoughts He has about you.
With Love, Tess

More about the amazing Tess:

Tess Oosthuis resides in Bergville, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa with her husband, Wendell Oosthuis. They are the founders of Open Heaven Ministries. They hold various healing and school of the supernatural conferences as well as travel to different churches, teaching them how to engage heaven and release it’s supply into the world. Tess is also passionately involved in leading worship with her husband and her heart’s desire is to see the captives set free. She is a prophetic seer and she carries a strong anointing in healing and deliverance ministry.

Songs Of Victory

Yesterday I turned 32! With that, for some, may come the fear of aging and the things that come along with… wrinkles, grey hair, more responsibility, and even the possibility of acting more and more like my Mother. Which, most women realize is actually a blessing, all jokes aside. My Mom is amazing!

So alas, reviewing the past year before my birthday God has shown me some amazing things that have taken place in my life and what lies ahead. Shortly after turning 31, God began speaking to me about Destiny Doors and that this was the year to walk through those doors. Specific assignments had been given and a unique blueprint designed by Heaven was being unfurled. Now, this isn’t just for me, but I’m sharing my personal experience from this past year. Each one of you has a unique call and purpose you must fulfill! Seek God to know what it is.

Last year about 2 months after turning 31, God took me back to Beijing, China. It had been about 14 years since I stood on that soil where martyrs had given their blood to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was there that God began to fulfill a prophetic destiny and promise he had given me. It was the beginning of a change in season.

Over the next several months of that year, we transitioned from 2014 into 2015 and our family prepared for a 3 month missions trip to the United Kingdom and Europe. It was there that God began to spark dreams inside of me, that I didn’t even realize were there. I came alive in new ways!

As my birthday rolled around and I began to look into the Biblical and Spiritual meaning of 32, I discovered; 32 is comprised of the numbers 3 and 2. The meaning of number 3 is completeness, the God-head, Trinity, it can also mean the creative and so much more. The number 2 can stand for union, as in the marriage union or Christ and the Church. The sum of 3 + 2 = 5. The number 5 symbolizes God’s grace and favor. We also know that 8 x 4 = 32… 8 being New Beginnings! In all of this God has shown me for the new year I am entering into, the marriage or union of His completed work in me, the creativity he has placed inside me and the new beginnings he is taking me into this year and that His GRACE and FAVOR will be all over it!

I also asked him for a Scripture on my birthday and He led me to Psalm 32. Specifically, Psalm 32:7-11,

“For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.’ Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!”

The great thing about Scripture is that the promises are available to anyone who believes. God will surround you with songs of victory and guide you on the best path for your life! If you trust in the Lord, His love will surround you so be glad and full of joy. So just as God gave me this scripture yesterday on my Birthday, you also can take hold of the promise. It’s not just for me as I turn 32, but it’s for everyone who wants to receive from the promises of God! Today, no matter how old you are or what your circumstances are… God will surround you with SONGS OF VICTORY! I decree and declare the BEST PATHWAY for your life and that it is filled with the love, joy and completeness found in Him alone.

A Journey Into Prophetic Destiny

by Miranda Nelson

miranda headshot Many people ask me how I stepped into ministry. To be quite honest, it was a journey. I was released into full time ministry at the early age of 23, having preached and taught and moved in the prophetic and healing gifts long before that age, but truly started on my international platform of recognition at the age of 23. As a woman in ministry, and a young woman at that, it wasn’t an easy feat and I faced a lot of challenges, the biggest being the many times I was overlooked by pastors and leaders around the world and ignored because of the honor they had for my husband. I was proud of my husband and was always thankful for his gift and calling, but it was hard when we would go places that would honor him and not me, knowing that I was called, chosen, and gifted too. Ladies, do not lose heart in doing good, for in due season you will reap if you do not grow weary (Galatians 6:9). Know that even when man does not acknowledge you, God does. He sees every little or big thing you do for Him, and He believes in you! He will always make a way for you when there is no way and He will always open the right doors at the right time (Isaiah 22:22), as you remain faithful to Him.

I want to share with you a bit about my journey into full time ministry and the keys to promotion according to my experience and the Word of God. After all, everyone wants promotion, don’t they? I’ve been a Christian all my life and have been blessed with having gone to a Christian high school and ministry schools. I know that all these things were training grounds for me, but I also know that for anybody- whether saved as a child or just discovering Jesus later in life- abiding in Christ, humility, and servant-hood are the real keys to promotion. In fact, you can have all the training you want, do all the seminary or ministry schools you want, but if you don’t live in a place of intimacy, humility and servant-hood, you won’t go far. Jesus modeled this. I love Philippians 2; it truly shows the lifestyle that Jesus walked.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” (Phil 2:3-9)

Promotion (as seen in the life of Jesus) comes from humility, obedience, and servant-hood. Jesus laid down His life for others, even before it came time for Him to fully lay His life down on the cross. He empowered others, believed in others, and loved others well. He was a man of grace and truth (John 1:14). He is our model. Humility is the key. I knew since I was a little girl that I was called into ministry, but I also didn’t know how it would look exactly. When I was fresh out of high school, the Lord spoke to me to do a Discipleship Training School with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), and from there the journey into ministry started. God is looking for radically obedient lovers of Him- ones whom He can trust with His words, spiritual gifts, and supernatural nature. A huge part of humility is laying down your rights for God’s; it’s utter dependence on God. When you listen to His voice and obey whatever He says to do when He says to do it, you’re laying down your rights for His and you’re walking in one aspect of humility. God tests our hearts by looking at our actions and our response to His voice. Do you heed His voice and obey every little prompting He gives you? From the time I was 17 years old and I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I really began to hear His voice, but He would often ask me to believe for the impossible. Isn’t that like God? He asks us to believe for the impossible so that He can reveal His greatness to and through us. (1 Cor 1:24-25 and Luke 1:37) Many times He asked me to give all my money to another minister/ missionary in need and give into their vision and call. (This is what it looks like to put another man’s vision before your own, and in due season, God will raise you up.) He always provided for me. You’ve heard the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”; I believe (and have seen firsthand) that when there’s a call, there’s a way. God always provides for the call He has set before you. And when you sow (whether in finances, time, or energy), you will always reap. He asked me to go places and do things I could have never done on my own, except by His Spirit. These were all tests of obedience, which would later bring promotion.

As much as I gave financially (even as a teenager between the ages of 17 and 20 years old), I always reaped back provisions AND I began to walk in supernatural authority and power. I began to see and decree and see manifestations of the Kingdom of God in very tangible ways. I began to see the rains stop and weather patterns change as I did what Job 22:28 says: “Decree a thing and it will be established for you”. I also began to see healing miracles take place and began to grow in my prophetic gift. I didn’t have an international platform at this point, but I got to travel the world and grow in the gifts God gave me. As I shared my gifts with others, praying for the sick when I had opportunities (both on the streets and in church meetings and conferences), I was not only serving others, but God was watching me. He watches to see if we’re faithful with the little, so then He can entrust us with much. Through my late teens and early twenties, I did everything I could to serve ministries that I honored and admired, serving freely with joy, not even expecting anything back. I worked book tables, cleaned bathrooms for ministers I loved, and volunteered at ministry events and conferences. I went to early morning prayer meetings, served in youth groups, and gave my time to the work of the ministry, even before I had a real platform. This was the key to my promotion. I didn’t serve to be promoted; I served to honor God and people with a heart of joy and love, and as a natural principle, I reaped what I sowed. It was only a matter of time before people saw my prophetic gift, recognized the call of God on my life, and began to open the door wide for me to preach, teach, prophesy and move in the gifts in full services. As a young married woman, my husband was invited many places worldwide, and some places asked me to speak, and others didn’t. I learned to be content in the place God put me in. I learned to be content when I had the platform to preach (and sometimes it would be a massive platform with massive influence, other times not so large), and I learned to be content when my husband was the respected one and I would only be given the mic to prophesy, but not to preach. That’s ok. In due season the Lord would lift me up, and it was really only a matter of time before I became known worldwide, not as “Jerame’s wife”, but as Miranda Nelson, prophetic voice and preacher in this generation. I continue to serve and give to spiritual fathers and mothers, doing my best to live a lifestyle of servant-hood and humility and of course intimacy, understanding that no matter how promoted we become, there’s always more in the Kingdom. We must decrease so He can increase (John 3:30).

No matter what your call is, be content in the season God has you in. Know your call and don’t lose heart when you don’t see the fullness of it right away, but also know that God sees you, knows you, and believes in you. As you serve and honor your husband and his calling, as you sow generously into other peoples’ callings when the Lord leads, and as you love God and people extravagantly, you will see that He will raise you up. He will always open the doors that He wants open and close the doors He wants closed for those who love Him, know Him, follow Him, and walk with Him. In the meantime, do not fear the gifts He’s put on you, but use them as opportunities arise, both in the little and the large places. I guarantee you that as you step out in both the little and the large opportunities, you will find satisfaction and joy because God is using you.

More about Miranda: Miranda Nelson is a prophetic revivalist with a passion for purity, no compromise, and intimacy with God. She moves strongly in the prophetic, and demonstrates the Kingdom of God through her gifts of healing, miracles, and the supernatural. She preaches the Word of God with wisdom, passion and youthfulness, and she carries out her creativity through various forms of art and fashion. Miranda has a heart to see a pure and spotless bride arise who hears the voice of her Beloved and walks out her destiny in Christ. Miranda also has a passion for souls and one of her greatest loves is preaching in mass healing and evangelistic crusades worldwide. Miranda and her husband Jerame are the founders of Living at His Feet Ministries and together they travel the world full time, ministering the Kingdom of God through signs, wonders, and miracles.

www.livingathisfeet.org

The Hidden Mystery Of Wisdom

“…for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” (Proverbs 8:11) Never has a truer statement been made!

My name is Joanna Ridgway and I’m honored to be asked by Brynn to be a ‘guest writer’ on her amazing blog! I may not be as eloquent as she is, but I hope you’ll glean some ‘pearls’ along the way.

I live in Pickerington, Ohio and have been married to my husband, Jeff, for 28 years and we have two amazing children. Lauren is 25 years old and lives in Queens, New York (of all places!) with the absolute light of my life, my granddaughter, McKenna and her daddy, Mark (who works for the New York Mets.) Lauren is truly the best mommy I’ve ever seen and also works a few days a week being a wonderful and compassionate nurse to oncology patients. And Chase, my 21-year old is a senior Nursing student at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Two years ago, Chase underwent major surgery to donate a portion of his liver to a family friend from our church who was dying with liver disease. They both recovered 100%! It’s an awesome thing to say that my child volunteered to do this of his own volition at the ripe old age of 19 during his college Christmas break. (You can’t tell I like to brag on my family, can you?!)

I’ve been on staff at World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio (where I met Brynn when she was there as a college student at World Harvest Bible College) for 28 years (yes, that’s a long time!) I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Pastor Rod Parsley in an executive assistant role for most of those years but I’ve recently transitioned into a position of research for sermon topics/ministry services and preparing for any ministry or speaking opportunities. And I LOVE it! It’s definitely my nitch. However, if you would’ve asked me ten years ago if I could do this, I would’ve shrunk away from such an opportunity, thinking there’s no way I could ever do that – but God has a way of stretching us and sometimes even proving us wrong, doesn’t He?

I met my husband, Jeff, at World Harvest Church ‘back in the day’! We were married there and raised our children there, and they even attended the school at our church. Jeff also worked at the church for 23 years before he was attacked with cancer in 2012. But God supernaturally healed him after he’d been in the hospital for seven long months and at death’s door three times. What a wild and crazy experience for all of us but needless to say, we’re all changed people after going through that ordeal. Let me tell you, you learn how to constantly gird yourself with the armor of God, confess the Word of God more than ever before, and come out the other side with faith that’s been tried in the refiner’s fire – but is stronger than you could ever imagine.

I’d like to take this opportunity to share a couple of nuggets I’ve learned on the subject of wisdom – things that I really wish I would’ve learned much earlier in life. (Please understand I’m no authority on this subject by any means – I just want to share some things I’ve learned along the way!)

Wisdom is truly a precious thing as the Scripture states – and it’s a much-needed commodity to make right decisions and to juggle “life,” not just major decisions but everyday ones, as well.

So how do you gain the wisdom of God? James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” That’s it – just ask! And He promises it will be given to you.

1 Corinthians 2:7 tells us that wisdom is a mystery that’s been hidden. Do you know why God hid it? He hid it so the devil – your adversary – couldn’t find it! He hid it FOR you – not FROM you. Neither the devil nor the world can have it, but you can access it and unlock the wisdom of God for every area of your life!

1 Corinthians 14:2 tells us “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.”

So here’s another key – pray in the Holy Spirit, and as you do, the wisdom of God is revealed or uncovered. And you will no longer have to ask God daily, “What am I going to do about this? I don’t know what to do.” You will begin looking up and saying, “Lord, what are You going to do about this?” And let Him begin to show you and lead you as you walk in the demonstration of His wisdom.

These truths have helped me in countless ways and in numerous areas of my life. As I stated earlier, I only wish I would’ve known them and applied them many years ago! But regardless of what stage of life or what ‘status’ you may find yourself – a daughter, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a single mom, a single adult, an aunt, a friend, a church leader, a pastor, etc. – the 35,000 decisions we’re all faced with daily can be made with Godly wisdom and eliminate unnecessary drama along the way (don’t we all need that?!)

I encourage you to carve out some time on a regular basis to pray in the spirit and in the understanding, specifically asking God for His wisdom. Gather some applicable Scriptures regarding wisdom and begin to confess them during this time of prayer. I believe this simple process can be a life-changer for you, as it has been for me!

Thank you, everyone, for reading my first ever blog entry and thank you, Brynn, for allowing me to contribute to Diary of a Preacher’s Wife!