Jan 06 2021
Off

Seek yourself second – Matthew 6:33

By Sodwana Bay

Day 1 Seek yourself second… Matthew 6:33 – Amplified Bible “33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.” It’s now more than ever, amidst the uncertainty of tomorrow that we need to put aside the fickle things of this world and honestly and sincerely seek the Father’s heart. This which is happening around us today is nothing new – the bible is full of stories where Gods people are “tested” by circumstances that are totally out of their control.  These challenges aren’t sent by God – they are part of life – if you are alive you will face difficulties; you can bet on that. If you walked a strong solid walk with God, these “tests” will not be difficult for you – it will be a walk in the park, but like most of us – we aren’t always at the spiritual place/level we should be. Our Father is forgiving and understanding but He can’t do anything – you are the one which needs to come closer to Him. He is always near… So, when we are faced with these challenges – our first response is to act out and moan how awful things are because we do not understand and are not in sync with the Holy Spirit. Instead of submitting our path and knowledge to God we go into a full on childish tantrum mode and miss the whole point of the exercise. When things get rough in our lives, I constantly have to remind myself: You chose this path: Read the full chapter for context >Isaiah 43 The moment I made Jesus my Lord and Savior; I started walking away from the masses into Gods glory and his Kingdom. I chose a personal relationship with my maker. This will be hard as I am now busy on my journey of RENEWAL.  The renewal process is one of discovery and honesty and takes courage to be real and admit flaws and faults. I will be tested with water – rivers – fire and storms so that I can be purified! I will get through this… these things SHALL pass. Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. God is always ready to help: The moment you commit or choose to sin – there is ramifications – Good & Bad! God will forgive you but cannot just rip you out of the place/circumstances you are in right now. You will have to endure the storm – GO through it! But there is a Bonus – even though you might not feel his presence Jesus is right there next to you.  It might be time to slow down and surrender “thy self”… our “ego” closes our ears to His voice – to his calling. You might feel God is stripping all the most important bits from you but He is actually removing all the burdens from your life; the clutter, the half truths and filth of sin. If you will only allow Him – you will see the awesome results! Yes, the covid-19 is a real threat but it is time to understand our part to play in the “foreplay” of the coming of the one true KING – JESUS CHRIST. Realize this today – Our Messiah is coming back! I can’t say how long or when precisely, but JESUS is coming. The covid-19 and all the things which will follow have been predicted – so God gave you a heads-up so that you will not be full of fear… or in the dark for all that is coming. Prayer: Lord, I am a sinner and need you now more than ever. I submit/exchange my will – plans – hopes – dreams for your purposeful dreams and plans. Help me to see through your eyes – to see others as you see them. May my hands – feet – voice be all yours. I am yours, make with me as you please… Amen! Put your lives secondly so our Fathers Kingdom will come – Maranatha!!!   [wp-review]

Jan 06 2021
Off

Isaiah 43 – Israel Redeemed

By Sodwana Bay

43 But now, this is what the Lord, your Creator says, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you [from captivity]; I have called you by name; you are Mine! 2  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. 3  “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt [to the Babylonians] as your ransom, Cush (ancient Ethiopia) and Seba [its province] in exchange for you. 4  “Because you are precious in My sight, You are honored and I love you, I will give other men in return for you and other peoples in exchange for your life. 5  “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east [where they are scattered], And gather you from the west. 6  “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from far way And My daughters from the ends of the earth, 7  Everyone who is called by My Name, Whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.” Israel Is God’s Witness 8  Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And the deaf, even though they have ears. 9  All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them (the idolaters) can [a]predict this [that Judah would return from captivity] And proclaim to us the former events? Let them provide their witnesses so that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say [in acknowledgement], “It is the truth.” 10  “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11  “I, [only] I, am the Lord, And there is no Savior besides Me. 12  “I have declared [the future] and saved [the nation] and proclaimed [that I am God], And there was no strange (alien) god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses [among the pagans],” declares the Lord, “That I am God. 13  “Even from eternity I am He, And there is no one who can rescue from My hand; I act, and who can revoke or reverse it?” Babylon to Be Destroyed 14 This is what the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says, “For your sake I have sent [one] to Babylon, And I will bring down all of them as fugitives, Even the Chaldeans [who reign in Babylon], into the ships [b]over which they rejoiced. 15  “I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 This is what the Lord says, He who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 17  He who brings out the chariot and the horse, The army and the mighty warrior, (They will lie down together, they will not rise again; They have been extinguished, they have been put out like a lamp’s wick): 18  “Do not remember the former things, Or ponder the things of the past. 19  “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. 20  “The beasts of the field will honor Me, Jackals and ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. 21  “The people whom I formed for Myself Will make known My praise. The Shortcomings of Israel 22  “Yet you have not called on Me [in prayer and worship], O Jacob; But you have grown weary of Me, O Israel. 23  “You have not brought Me your sheep or goats for your burnt offerings, Nor honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, Nor wearied you with [demands for offerings of] incense. 24  “You have not bought Me sweet cane with money, Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your wickedness. 25  “I, only I, am He who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. 26  “[c]Remind Me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together; State your position, that you may be proved right. 27  “Your first father [Jacob] sinned, And your spokesmen [the priests and the prophets—your mediators] have transgressed against Me. 28  “So I will [d]profane the officials of the sanctuary, And I will consign Jacob to destruction and [I will subject] Israel to defamation and abuse. Footnotes Isaiah 43:9 Lit announce. Isaiah 43:14 Lit of their rejoicing. Isaiah 43:26 Or Report to Me. Isaiah 43:28 Or pierce. Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.

Jun 22 2019
Off

Verse of the Day ~ Psalm 113:3 MSG

By Sodwana Bay

Verse of the Day Hallelujah! You who serve GOD, praise GOD! Just to speak his name is praise! Just to remember GOD is a blessing— now and tomorrow and always. From east to west, from dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to GOD! Psalm 113:3 MSG

May 07 2019
Off

Romans 10:9 MSG – Verse of the day.

By Sodwana Bay

The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it’s not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story—no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying? The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!” Romans 10:9 MSG

Apr 25 2019
Off

A pure gift – Romans 3:23

By Sodwana Bay

April 25, 2019 Verse of the Day But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 MSG

Apr 24 2019
Off

First day of Traveling to Sodwana Bay @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

So the if you are traveling from Pretoria/Joburg you know that your travels could be between 8-9 hours. This is the most boring time you will have in your whole vacation period. We always consider traveling day as our first holiday day. We usually like to leave quite early in the morning to avoid adding time to our journey by getting stuck in traffic between Pretoria and Witbank. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your trip that will get you there sooner and make life so much easier: First of all – Try make sure everything non-perishable is packed and ready to go the day/night before. What I mean by this is, if you have ever been in Sodwana you know most places are self catering, meaning you have to bring your own food water and drinks to the camp site. So stuff that can defrost and go off you would rather pack in the morning instead of letting it thaw out through the night and still have to stay in hot car or trailer all the way down to Sodwana Bay. Quick Tip: What we always like to do planning our trips to Sodwana Bay is start saving frozen foods and vegetables before going down. We always like to start buying what we call “Sodwana food” months in advanced, when ever we see a special or a cheap piece of meat we will buy it chuck it in our freezer and forget about it. Once we start preparing to go to Sodwana Bay we go through our freezer and find we never have to buy extra meat when we go down and often times end up bringing more than half of the food back. Trust me you do not wanna buy anything in Sodwana. The town spar in Mbazwane is insanely busy all day long with nobody respecting each other and very little variety of meats to choose from and the little Town heading to the beach is way to expensive with very little to offer it is better just to prepare before hand. Also never try buy Alcohol there, they will charge you nearly double to triple the amount you would pay here in the city. Try pack all clothes and snacks (non-perishable) the day or even weekend before you travel (depending on when you plan to leave). We find trying to rest the day before you leave to be the best course of action, as it is a really long journey to go down. Make what we in South Africa call Padkos (road food). You really don’t wanna go on an 8-9 hour journey without having something to eat or drink. I guess you could just stop at a restaurant or gas station and getting something to eat there, but there are two (2) reasons I would not suggest that – (1) Its less spending money for when you are in Sodwana Bay. You wanna maximize your spending in Sodwana where your actual holiday is not use it on boring restaurants along the road. Why not save a few bucks by making some great home made food that is anyway in your very own kitchen. (2) The second reason is you can save alot of time, instead of spending an hour to 2 hours in a restaurant you could rather take a 5 minute toilet break every once in a while and eat whilst driving or just stop and take 10 min to eat rather than add hours to your journey. Take a lot of Drinking water with you! Sodwana Water is not the same as city water, most camp sites use borehole water and as a result can upset your stomach if you are not use to it. Rather just bring your own water from home, whether it be bottled or tap water and also make sure to bring enough to last your whole trip until you come back. Keep cold and frozen things together. I have found if keep cold (Fridge) stuff and frozen stuff in the same container it helps keep everything cold and for the most part frozen for longer. So the last thing to do before traveling is to get a good nights rest. Before any long journey you need to be well rested up, so I would suggest the night before your big trip try get an early night in. It is the big day! You are mostly packed early in the morning just got the last few things to pack before locking up your house and off on your exciting vacation. One last check through your to do list and were off on our exciting journey. GoSodwana!!!!!!!!!!!! Once you arrive in Sodwana, you will be exhausted, but still have to pack out everything from the car, first thing is get all the food in the fridge and freezer. That’s done! Next go dump all bedding, bags etc. in the chalet/tent/house. After that jump back in the car and go claim that beach/sea once more. Maybe you don’t need to go swim that very first day but just to see the sea once more and to breath that clean air is just so amazing. Makes me wanna go back there right now! Explore this Website a little more, start at Homepage and discover some of our cool finds in Sodwana and check out our Youtube Channel (Please Like and Subscribe while you at it)