The ladies meeting held mid month was extraordinary. 78 women turned up to hear the word of God, to discuss various issues and enjoy being in God’s presence. As usual, the praise and worship was excellent as the women freely expressed themselves in song and dance.
The message I shared was entitled “Overcoming Intimidation” and the key scriptures were
1) 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Love, power and of a sound mind.”
2) Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”
3) Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”
Five points were highlighted:a) Intimidation: What is it? It is the act of continual harassment until your walls of resistance is broken down. You begin to see yourself as small, as not being able to do anything. It quenches the anointing and takes your joy away. Don’t be intimidated, manipulated or controlled. The works of the flesh will be made manifest. Know who you are in Christ. There is much freedom in Christ.
b) Provocation: When a message s being preached, people talk, crack jokes, whisper. They get up at an important point to use the bathroom? It’s distractive and disruptive. Let the Holy Spirit move and do things. NOTHING is as important as the word of God.
c) Criticism: This works hand in hand with intimidation. You get people who are critical of everything. They got to prove themselves and its performance based; “See if you can do better than me. See if you can measure up!” Critical people normally suffer from anger because nothing is “good enough”. Criticism breeds criticism as seen with Cain in Genesis 4. He passed these attitudes down to his children and grandchildren and they behaved in the same way. Criticism causes discouragement as it tears people down. Critical people are defensive. Their feelings become frozen and they put others under their performance standards. They sell themselves into the capacity to sin more. They cut God off. A negative person spreads it without saying anything. It makes people around them feel uncomfortable. God looks at the inside, not external appearances. Let’s be humble.
d) Accusation and condemnation: The church is founded on Apostolic Foundations and yet there are people who will make the minister or Elders feel like they are not doing anything or they are not doing enough. Questions arise like why are you doing this or why are you not doing that? The church can become a need –centered church and not Christ-centered. We ALL have a part to play, we all have strengths and weaknesses and NO-ONE can do it ALL on their own. We need each other but Christ needs to remain the focal point.
e) Fear: This operates where there is no faith. We had an opportunity to discuss fear as women because in the community at Kezi, fear is very real. At birth children are dedicated. But, to whom? What if one doesn’t dedicate the child at birth? What of syncretism? The issue of ones culture was high on the agenda. Fear of being ostracized or sent away from the community. What about Biblical culture? Where exactly does fear come from if the Bible specifically states that God does not give us a spirit of fear but of love, power and of a sound mind? How then can we apply Biblical truths to our lives?
The women prayed and took a stand to believe and trust God more. Feedback given is that the Ladies meetings are so relevant to what the women are experiencing in their day to day lives. With God, CHANGE is possible. I see a community that genuinely love God and love one another.
By Molly Manhanga
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