The Lord said to me: “Retah, the time has come when My children who are in My army will have to stand strong when the Spirit of God moves – otherwise I won’t be able to use them. This spiritual battle that is still to come is not for the faint hearted or for those who only focus upon themselves. The heathen should fall before Me, but I need My children to stand so that I can use them. Some can’t even stand in My presence... you need to come to a level of maturity so that you can abide in My presence without looking at yourself and your own weaknesses. You will not be able to hear My voice if you are focussed on yourself and your own abilities and shortcomings. I did not look at Aldo’s abilities or his worthiness when I called Him – I looked at the righteousness of My Son Jesus. I didn’t call Aldo because of who he is, but because of Who I am. The same goes for all My children.”
We have been engaged in heavy warfare for the last couple of weeks. I have been really calling out to my Abba Father. “Abba, Aldo is suffering so much because of these spiritual battles... I can see how it is hurting him. I am not sure if he has the ability that is required to withstand these onslaughts. Even Tinus and I stand amazed about what is going on in the second heaven and what Aldo is busy fighting. And yes, I receive so many e-mails telling me to only go into Your rest because we don’t have to warfare all the time... and yes, they are right and I honour these people; but what I face and experience every day is a different reality. It is in Your rest that I still have to fight – knowing that the battle belongs to the Lord.”
Abba Father is asking the body of Christ: “I am calling a warrior Bride to arise and to be My hands and feet on the earth. Who can I ask to do this?”
I am only a Mommy who is walking the road the Lord has laid out for her while seeking His help and guidance every step of the way – but I have said yes to this call.
“Lord, are You sure Aldo will be able to do it. Look at what he looks like after all the previous attacks...”
The Lord answered me, “All I see when I look at him is My righteousness. Yes, I can definitely use him in My army. The church is full of spectators and very few are willing to report for duty. Retah, there will come a time when Christians will be caught completely off guard because the do not know what it means to be a soldier in My army. Why are you crying when I am teaching your hands to war and your fingers to fight? It is exactly what I did with David. You are not fighting enemy armies in the natural like David had to – you have to fight them in the spirit.
“Moses kept on looking to his own abilities and he kept on complaining about how inadequate he was for the job... I knew what I called Him for, and his insecurities didn’t please me. This reveals something about so many of My children: They are looking more to themselves than to Me. That is the main reason why I can use so few of My people for what I desire to do.
“This false humility is actually a form of pride that causes many to miss their destiny. Retha - no man can ever make himself into the man that I want him to be – only I can do that. You must trust Me to transform Aldo into what I have destined him to become. Don’t listen to the world. Keep on trusting Me! My ways are far above your own, and what the world thinks about My ways does not even come close to what I actually have planned.
“Who can I send into the heavens? Who is willing to ‘love not their lives’ more than My calling? Your calling is unfolded when you abide in My presence.... when you allow My Holy Spirit to flow through you – then you will do My will.
“Life has many ditches Retah, but always remember that no one is too good to fall. And no one will be able to find their way out of the ditch without Me.”
Most of the time we fall into one of life’s ditches because we follow after our own ways, our own opinions or the world’s opinion. To be in a ditch is a place of torment where the enemy laughs over us.
Aldo fell into another ditch of rejection, and the enemy came to tell him all kinds of lies about how ugly he is, that he is not smart enough, and that he is not acceptable to society. Once you are in a ditch you have to fight to get out of it, because the lies of the enemy will be like fetters around you to keep you down. It only took one arrow to get him into that ditch, because the arrow hit an old wound that hasn’t been healed completely yet. Jesus is the only way out of the ditch. When you fall, don’t waste your time trying to figure out how to get out... just run to God! Call on His name, and ask for His help.
Our understanding always becomes clouded when we are in a ditch because we struggle to see the truth... but that is where faith comes in. Close your eyes and call upon His name. Take His hand and He will carry you out of the ditch. The key is that you shouldn’t take your eyes off Him again. It is when we listen to all the voices around us, or when we focus on anything else but Him, that we land up in another ditch. Come; let’s give our hands to Jesus so that He can pull us out. He will always come to our rescue when we call out to Him. His patience and kindness towards His children always astounds me. All He asks of us is to abide in Him.
The fear that is suffocating so many people today is because of the spirit of Jezebel. She hates repentance and the prophetic flow. I can see how she tries so hard to make Aldo stop writing his prophetic letters. She hates the uncompromising voice of a prophet. God requires our repentance and the surrender of our will to His in order for Him to act.
The witch who used to work for us is still harassing Aldo in the spirit, and we know that it is Jezebel working through her, because the Jezebel spirit hates it when God calls people back to the blood of Yeshua and back to holiness through Aldo’s pen.
Jezebel hates prayer, humility, righteousness and the message of the cross. I know that God is asking of us, and the whole body of Christ, if we are willing to stand up against her and confront her. Fearlessness and obedience – no mercy on darkness – is what will overcome Jezebel. And the weapons we will fight with are: humility, true holiness, the Word God and the principles of the Kingdom of light. So many people live with Jezebel and accept her manipulations without standing up to her to resist the works of darkness. Jesus came so that we can have freedom in every area of our lives – let’s take authority in Jesus’ name and walk in that freedom.
We are in Yzerfontein in the Western Cape at the moment for the school holidays. Tinus, the boys, Chans and the cousins are here with me. It is freezing cold in the Cape. With this special time together as a family we are all standing up against whatever (trauma, rejection or fear) that still wants to harass Aldo.
It is amazing to see how the children are fighting this foreign army. The fight fearlessly and they have not tolerance on the enemy – most importantly, they fight by faith. The worship is flowing continually in our house and they take turns to read out of the Bible to Aldo. No matter how fierce the battle is, we are still enjoying our time together.
We are doing well, and every day we are learning more about the spiritual battle. The one moment Aldo would be fine, and the next moment we would see how they attack him. The assault always starts in his thoughts. I am constantly praying for the Lord’s mercy upon him, because in my eyes his ability to resist and fight back is not what it should be. But when I feel discouraged I remind myself of what Abba told me: “Retah, I don’t see what you see. When I look at Aldo I don’t see him, but the righteousness of My son. Aldo will fight, and he will stand, because I AM who I said I AM.”
Now, more than ever, I have learned the importance of extending mercy to others – because I want to reap mercy in my own life. It doesn’t matter what people say about us or about me – I want to have mercy on them because I know how much mercy I need myself.
Thank You Jesus that You said we can boldly come to Your throne of mercy and grace to receive mercy in a time of need. (Heb. 4 vs 10)
Thank You Jesus that You always extend mercy before You execute judgment. We need mercy in our mercy bowl!
In His presence is where I want to stay, but I also know now that there is a responsibility that comes from being close to Him. Every part of hay, wood and stubble will be burned up in His presence. As a family we are using this time in the King’s presence to clean ourselves and we are asking Him to help us see through His eyes.
Aldo wrote the other day. “Mom, Jesus is holding me so tightly. Thank you for understanding that the fight is in the second heaven. We are fighting higher things now, Mom. Thank you that you never give up even though you don’t always understand.”
Aldo is right – I don’t understand everything. That is why I am asking you, who also might not understand all these things about the spiritual battlefield yet, not to judge what you don’t understand, but to ask the Holy Spirit to lead you. Every one of us is unique and we each have a different calling – let’s just do what God has called us to do.
This is definitely the hour when the fight in the heavenlies is going to intensify – but the battle belongs to God. He will never leave us nor forsake us. We have to learn from Him and be ready to report for duty when the shofar is blown. In the good moments we laugh with Aldo and the kids, and in the difficult times we pray and warfare together in the spirit. I just declare it today: We have a life of abundance because of the blood of the Lamb!
Love from a cold and wet Cape.
Retah and the family (Tinus, Retah, Aldo, Josh, Chans, Sammy, Elisma, Abigail (our helper who looks after us so nicely) and Moya (Josh’s dog)).
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