As the 2019 December holidays was about to start, I thought... why is everyone watching NETFLEX?
I have never had a TV in my house and I know that it is quite difficult to pray after watching a movie (any movie) The images are so vivid in my mind so I had to have some boundaries for the sake of prayer.
But I also knew that I was going to be alone for a number of weeks so I checked out NETFLEX and when I saw it was only R129 a month I decided to try it.
Did I feel a tug in my spirit that day? Looking back... I guess I violated my conscience. Oh, this is hard to admit, I must say.
I started scrolling through the movies and was really taken aback by the amount evil stuff. I clicked on KIDS section and my eyes nearly popped out of my head... I could not believe the amount of witchcraft in front of me. It must be a struggle for parents to navigate that with children these days.
I finally found "sarah movies" Documentaries based on true is my favorite. Any true story usually gets my attention especially if it sheds light on history of nations as a bonus.
When my friend visited me for a couple of days I said (while watching a great "clean" Netflex movie) "I actually think God is asking me to cancel NETFLEX".
She responded by saying something like... the amount you watch and the shows you watch... I do not think anything is wrong with it.
I agreed.
Then came Sunday 12 January.
I woke up with a strong notion not to go to church but to watch a sermon online (which I have not been doing for a while cause I have been going to church (with real people).
That morning my home-church posted a sermon and I thought "This is it, God is going to speak to me" It was a great sermon! But I did not feel that... strong... word...
Seeing that this sermon took me to YOUTUBE, I clicked the next sermon and it was the MIDNIGHT sermon taking us into 1 January 2020. It showed 4hours and 20 minutes long.. and the guest was Benny Hinn. Ok... there will be lots of nice worship - so I opened the link and had the time of my life.
I worshiped the first 2 hours with them. At times you could just sense the Presence of God moving in my house. God spoke a few things to me... I wrote it in my prayer journal and kept watching.
Then came (their) midnight, they took communion and only THEN, after 4 hours did Benny say "I cannot let you leave until I tell you my message!" (I thought... wow, it has already been so rich)
IRAN: He started talking about Iran and the revival happening there. I will copy that part and show you on my FB page... I cried. I wept. It was so powerful.
(Did you know that the very first movie I participated in with Create International was for Iranians... and that we needed a Sunday school teacher for the "silent role" to show the church how to run a Sunday school for kids - I played that silent role seeing that I could pass for an Iranian woman - so I have been to Iran via DVD to 1000's of homes. It makes me happy)
Benny said... continuing with scripture "...you are in this world not off this world" & "... because we are heavenly lets not be connected to earthly things" (very scriptural - Col3:2)
Then Benny says I am going to ask you something you have most likely never done ...
He continues with a personal story about his TVin his house and said:
"...and the Lord was so specific with me.
He suddenly said "CANCEL NETFLEX NOW"
I could not believe my ears.
Then I knew... I just knew.
It was God telling me to cancel it
and here He is DOING IT AGAIN.
I clicked pause,
went to my subscription and hit CANCEL
because delayed obedience is disobedience
and I have delayed long enough.
The weight off my shoulders!
It felt like I took back my home!
I took back the spiritual atmosphere in my jurisdiction.
In some sense I took back authority.
My mind was set back on heavenly not earthly things
... and it felt good and clean. Obedience is always a good feeling.
The pain of obedience is always less
than the pain of disobedience...
and God has a way of getting a message through if He knows that we actually in our heart of hearts wants to obey.
I find it amazing how He got that one to me in such a gentle way.
Oh, He is good... and so patient with me.
The one point in my life where I allowed NETFLEX to really steal, was my evening reading time. (Thank goodness it was only a few weeks)
I go to bed between 7-8PM simply because I read a lot - I need to get through the OT two times a year by reading 5 chapters every evening. My morning reading takes me 4 times through the NT by only reading and meditating on 2 chapters with a cup of coffee around 7am.
I realized, if I watched a movie at night - my P.M. reading suffered. A few places in scripture admonish us to meditate on scripture in the morning & in the evening.
The enemy always battles for this in my life. I think it will be war until I die and I do not want to give up.
PS: On a loving note:
Conviction is from Holy Spirit - if you sense it, obey.
Condemnation is from the Evil One - if you feel it, ignore it.
We are called to walk different journeys.
This is part of mine.
Not yours.
And comparison kills.
So don't even go there...
unless like me,
God has an appointment with you
on this issue.