Jesus takes the wheel: Gauteng trip: week 5 –Julita Kok

The fifth and final episode of Julita Kok’s reports on her road trip to Gauteng with Jesus

Many of you have followed my journeys the past year around South Africa and then Namibia and recently Gauteng.  I asked the Lord for a little time at home to just finish the book I am busy writing and I will probably be home for the next two months before I “hit” the road again on God’s next assignment. 

But in this final article for now, I would like to recap on what I have learned about God, myself, the world and other people. Because ultimately, that is what life’s journey is about is it not? Gaining knowledge, finding God, yourself and relationship with others? Material things only makes the here and now more comfortable, but relationships shape your character and world. It is where the emotions and the knowing lies.

I have “known” God for the past 39 years. I am talking intimately. I am now 56 years old and have always known about Him, but got to know Him closely over the past 39 years. And the best that I can describe as to what I know is nearly nothing. He is such an amazing entity and there is so much to know, that I feel that that which I do know,  is less than the proverbial “druppel in die emmer” (Afrikaans for a drop in a bucket of water).

Let us start with me.  The biggest lesson that I have learned through all of these experiences the past year, is that I truly can do nothing. We as humans can be very spiritual and we as Christians can be very “holy”. We are sometimes of the opinion that  I fasted seven days and now God must do this or that. I prayed three hours this morning so I know God is going to help me. I read my Bible every day and I confessed my sins and I forgave everyone who wronged me and I go to church every weekend, I deserve God’s attention. 

We as Christians feel entitled to the fact that we, as His children, deserve certain things from Him because we have put in the time, so to speak.

I have learned that it is not because of me, but because of HIM that things get done and I will tell you why. He said that the rain would follow me everywhere and it did. He said new wells with fresh water would spring up in the dry land and desert and it did. He said lightning and thunder would follow me in Namibia and it did. 

I cannot make rain or wells to spring up or even make lightning and thunder. I do not have the ability or super powers.  I was sooooo busy with people on these trips that I did not have time for quiet time. I did not spend hours in the Word or in prayer seeking God. 

But I do have relationship with Him and He was with me always because the Word says so. I was sometimes so tired that I certainly did not “feel” Him. But I know that He is with me because I believe Scriptures that say He will never leave nor forsake me. 

So, I did not earn these things, or deserve them even. It happened because He said it would and it happened because I showed up. That is the only thing I did. I made myself available to the Holy Spirit and just showed up. He did all the rest. 

I saw many miracles and all of them happened without me praying big prayers or having a very spiritual moment, in fact, quite to the contrary….I just did what I knew He said in my ears and none of that was really spiritual. When He told me to speak to the locusts, he said: “Use the weapon I gave you and three times push it into the swarm.” And that is what I did and millions of locusts disappeared overnight. 

To this day the farmers are puzzled as to how they could have vanished like that. I do not know!! I did not do anything.  I was just obedient as to shove my spiritual weapon three times into those millions of locusts.  

And so I can go on. So I truly know with my heart now, there is no pressure on me. I cannot do it. But by showing up and sharing on the goodness of God, He comes and He works alongside me and signs and wonders follow, because He does it. If it does not happen….it does not. No pressure on me to perform anymore. Or to show my spirituality even. 

I have none but HIM. And quite frankly, I do not need anything else. I have nothing to give but my time and myself. Mark 16:20 says this best.  “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen”

I learned that God is a sovereign and holy God. I have always known this, but it seems I found a next level of truth concerning His sovereignty and holiness. We cannot tell Him how He must do things and many times we do not understand how He works because we cannot see or know what He does. 

I therefor trust in all situations, especially the ones that make no sense whatsoever, that HE knows what is going on and what it is He is doing. In THAT lies my trust, not what I experience. I learned that His love is an overwhelming force. It is not the love of man and even that is powerful. But God’s love!!!! Eish, nothing can stand against it. And we can never love as He does unless He makes that available to us which He so often does and we do not accept it. 

But God is not a man. And I sometimes feel and see that we as humans treat Him as such. A mere man. He is not. HE IS GOD!! SOVEREIGN!!! HOLY!!!! And He always knows best. I saw Him change lives by simply telling me what to share with people or telling me to ask specific questions…..He knows His people. He made them. 

By listening to His voice, I could help so many people and learn from it myself. Which is the other thing I always see with God. Everybody benefits. The one who brings the message and the one who receives it. I change all the time when I am in His presence. I cannot NOT be affected by what I see and hear when God is moving. 

Such an amazing, loving God. And God is never moved by any emotion or need. He looks at the soul. What is best for this soul to receive his/her eternal life with Him.  And that motivates Him to do certain things. That is LOVE in its ultimate form. To never be moved by emotion, but by what you know is best for someone. To us as humans, that is nearly impossible. And we do not execute love on this level. Love sometimes says NO.  sometimes allows bad things to happen because there is a greater good coming from the bad. We as humans cannot operate there. And that is why He is God. He can. ALL HIS PLANS FOR US IS GOOD. Mostly, we cannot see that in the moment.

So, I have also learned that people do not really understand what Jesus did on the cross and the freedom it brought. I find they are still stuck with what is sin and what is not. They are stuck in religion as to the “right” way to serve Him.  They say they have a personal relationship, but they do not all have that. They serve Him mostly because they do not want to go to Hell, but to Heaven. They do not realise that HE is their full inheritance. HE is what you receive for eternity. To be in His presence. 

Heaven comes with the package — as this is where He lives, but heaven is not the “prize”. HE IS. I did not find ONE person who, when they truly grasped what I was saying, did not break out in tears. In that moment of understanding and knowing, everything changes because I think, for the first time we understand how much He truly loves us and that just blows you away.  

I also saw many people who pray, but they only pray words. Not that they are not sincere, but somehow they were taught to pray in a certain way. But then I saw men and women who truly speak to their God and there is just a difference. Some people might take offense by this, but there will be those who understand exactly what it is I am referring to. There is prayer and prayer. And without relationship, it sometimes, not always, are just right words that we are using. It is religion. God came and many times, turned this around in people’s lives and the freedom that this brought, is truly very emotional. Heart warming. People are actually set free and this is a beautiful thing to witness.

And from everything I learned, the biggest of it all, that I also always knew, but now, more than ever I know it with both my mind and my heart….. GOD IS IN CONTROL!! That little song we use to sing as children….”He’s got the whole world in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands”  ……this is the truth. Let your children sing and proclaim this every day!!! This is truth.  

We so often quote John 3:16. It truly is what God and Jesus sacrificed here, which gave us life in abundance here on earth and eternal life as well. We quote it for that is what Christians do, but do we LIVE what was given us in this Scripture?? And that is what I do. That was what God told me to do. Do not only go tell them, but make them truly understand for once they understand, everything else changes. And a relationship with the One who sacrificed it all, starts and when this happens, lives are truly born again and a new walk starts that no one can take away from us. 

On a side note, I also saw how much God loves creation. This was interesting and overwhelming to say the least. I knew that nature and all of creation was important to Him, but I saw something else this time and that was a “WOW”. He never ceases to surprise me.

My life was changed once again and I must be honest, I am spoiled now. I hunger for these things of God. Being in His presence, seeing people truly “get it”, seeing how their lives are impacted by Him….it is addictive. I want to see this happen to each and every person I meet. The fullness of it all that Paul speaks of all the time and that Jesus spoke of. I want nothing less than ALL OF HIM.

So, for now, I want to say goodbye and thank you. Thank you for prayers and sending me emails and messages.  Please stay in touch. My email is Julita@nuelight.co.za and let us remind each other that Jesus is coming back and that He is our inheritance. 

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”!!! — John 1-1.  This is Who we serve!!