uThembi oThembayo Godcast: The Young Believers’ Podcast Thembelihle Terry-Lynne Whande

Produced by Simukai Whande

Produced by Simukai Whande

Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
One thing God warned us about from Genesis to Revelations is hard work.

Adam had a job before he had Eve.
Genesis 2:15-16 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work the ground and care for it. The Lord God told the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden.

- what is the soft life for you
Proverbs 12:11 The one who works his field will have plenty of food, but whoever chases daydreams lacks wisdom.

- what is the source for soft life?
1 Timothy 6:9-10 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

- soft life isn’t gained legitimately
Hebrews 11:25 He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors.

James‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ [Here] on earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to [the pleasures of] self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”

- thin line to sloth/laziness
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

- coveting
Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

- he will give you rest, his yoke is easy his burden is light
Matthew 11: 28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

- The fruit of your labour
Isaiah 3:10 Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Proverbs 6:10-11 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber.

- there’s a time to work and a time to rest
Exodus 20:8-11 8Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.

Ecclesiastes 5:12-14 Sweet is the sleep of a working man, whether he eats a little or a lot, but the excess wealth of the rich will not allow him to rest. I have observed a painful tragedy on earth: Wealth hoarded by its owner harms him, and that wealth is lost in troubled circumstances. Then a son is born, but there is nothing left for him.
PRODUCER: Simukai Whande

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Black tax is a term that originated in South Africa for money that Black workers, especially professionals and others with higher income than, give their parents, siblings, or other family members, often out of obligation or a deeply ingrained sense of family responsibility.

1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

First fruits is a biblical principle.
2 Chronicles 31:5 As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

And when you give, you need to give the very best.
Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

You can’t compete with someone who pays their tithes diligently.
Malachi 3:10 “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

When you give a portion of your money to God, all your finances are sanctified
Romans 11:16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Won’t he do it beloved?
Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

I have a theory about why you aren’t seeing the benefits of you tithing.
In Exodus 11:5–6, God declared through Moses, “Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.”

At the square root of all 3 of these financial principles lies the common denominator of giving.
Deutoronomy 14: 28 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

There are repercussions to squandering the blessings for your selfish needs.
Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them,” declares the Lord.

Where have you been stingy? To whom have you not been faithful in giving?

PRODUCER: Simukai Whande


Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
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I struggled a lot with my mental health these past couple of years. I finally gave up trying to breathe and journal through it and went for therapy. I did one session and I completely fell apart. In that one session, it felt like the therapist knew exactly where the pain was and which buttons to push to retrieve files in my mind that I had stashed away for years. I was so broken by that session that I decided I wouldn’t be going back.

Quick disclaimer, this is a personal experience and by no means a medical diagnosis. I’m not a medical professional.

Sometimes God will save your life and you’ll ruin it by revisiting old wounds.
Genesis 19:17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

You need to forget the former things.
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Holy Spirit is our counsellor
John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—

Am I saying getting therapy is wrong? By no means. But trying to heal in your own strength is futile. Who in the Bible had counselling? Many people needed it, definitely but what was their secret to overcoming? They had the Holy Spirit.

God is specialises in the new, he is obsessed with the new
Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Let’s talk old wine skins
Mark 2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” -

The issues you are facing you shall see them no more
Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

Put down the pride and admit that you can’t handle it by yourself in your own strength. He will absolutely heal you.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

What are some of the old things that you need to surrender to God today?

Thank you Father God for our helper who is the Holy Spirit. Thank you that he knows what we ought to pray for even when we don’t. Thank you that you are the God that heals us. We could never do it by our own strength Lord. Father, please search deep within our hearts and reveal issues that we need to address and hidden hurts we need to heal from. Curse the tree of bitterness at the root Lord and sprout a new thing in our lives.

PRODUCER: ⁠Simukai Whande⁠

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
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License code: O0KUKBCAJCFKVAQO

Where are the greater works?

Jesus said we would do greater works than his but to be honest we are clocking ordinary at best. We aren’t striving for excellence and the extraordinary. For us to be set apart, we need to be more than just ordinary. And when we go to God with our plans he puts extra on our ordinary and makes us extraordinary. I had to record this message because I found myself saying “at least” a lot. If I can at least work out once a week, If I can at least cook supper 4 times a week, if I can at least read one chapter of the Bible a day. I got caught up in the bare minimum and God wasn’t having it!

Be faithful in the little
In Luke 16:10 Jesus says, “Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones”

Do everything unto God not man
Colossians 3:23-24 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Work As Unto The Lord.

You complain about everything
Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing. Then you will be innocent and without any wrong. You will be God's children without fault. But you are living with crooked and mean people all around you, among whom you shine like stars in the dark world.

Your talents will make room for you
Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.

You have no discipline
Proverbs 6:10-11 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 5:23 He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

You procrastinate
Proverbs 3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

Psalms 119:60 I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.

You have no plan.
1 Corinthians 4:40 But all things should be done decently and in order.

Proverbs 24:27 says Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

Luke 14:28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?

You are confused
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

You are distracted
Galatians 5:7-10 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

You give up too quickly
2 Kings 13:18-19 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped. So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”

If Jesus sat down next to you today and said I will prosper anything in your life that you are doing at 100% heart and soul, what would you tell him to prosper in your life?


PRODUCER: ⁠Simukai Whande⁠



Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/straight-chillin⁠

License code: O0KUKBCAJCFKVAQO